What do these clearances by Heathrow Director mean?
 

For context: I know what a hold is, I know why we have them, but this is something I have not heard before.

I was recently flying VFR outside CAS (Controlled Airspace) with a friend of mine and we were outside the London CTA. We thought it would be interesting to eavesdrop on Heathrow's FIN Director Frequency - 120.4 on COM 2.We both heard a clearance which we couldn't quite get our head around, it was:

"BAW819K, Turn right to Lambourne, cancel the hold, leave Lambourne 265"

We both look at each other and go "Eh, that sounded different". Shortly we heard it again:

EIN1LT, Make a right turn back to Bovingdon, leave Bovingdon heading 180 degrees"

Could anybody explain what this means? Any explanation?, I have never heard such a way to exit a hold!

Never heard of the 'London CTA'.
As for the ATC instrucrions, I'll leave that to those who operate on 'Heathrow Approach' bearing in mind the aircraft were being given instructions while operating in a complex envirionment where aircraft are climbing and/or descending and where four arivals controllers feed traffic into a single stream for landing.

In both instances ,unless you heard previous instructions to the aircraft,you don`t know where they are in relation to the beacons,either in`a hold/joining`.However,the instructions appear clear,to turnback to the `beacon` ,and BA `leave 265,`presumably the 265 radial,as `heading` is not specified.For `EI`,From BOV,leave on a heading of 180*...In both cases,no mention of height/speed is mentioned,so they should be maintained until further directed.
One should look up the appropriate `star plates` for arrivals ,depending on whether H-R was on Easterlies,or Westerlies to check `hold` patterns at the relevant `beacons`....

Unlike many other places, most STARs into Heathrow terminate at a VOR with a hold: unless further clearance is provided, you automatically enter the hold there. While arrival transitions connecting these VORs to the ILSes are published, they are rarely used, ATC preferring vectors most of the time. Consequently, it is typical to be instructed to leave the VOR on a heading, either after exiting the hold or immediately upon first overflying the station, before receiving further vectors toward final approach.

Yes. Both ATC instructions sound like standard calls to cancel the hold the aircraft are in and rather than finishing the hold circuit; to immediately turn right to fly towards the respective beacon and then leave the beacon on a particular heading or track.

That way the controller knows the aircraft will be manoeuvring within the safe hold area and will then leave the beacon, flying in a specified direction.

Chevron; 'CTA' means controlled airspace found in the vicinity of an airport. We don't normally refer to "the London CTA" though

Don't worry, I'm well aware what a 'CTA' is having been an ATCA then an ATCO for nearly 50 years before I retired; it's just that I get frustrated when non ATCOs use the wrong teminology when referring to types of airspace.

The OP appears to be a relatively new flyer, so bear in mind that we all started there and were not necessarily completely in tune with all the terminology at that stage. :ok:

All will be revealed when you do your IR ........ Hope you have sunnier skies for your VFR flights in 2024. Enjoy.

They're pretty self explanatory really! Route to the beacon/fix then fly the assigned heading. It's an expeditious & efficient way of positioning aircraft into the sequence for landing rather than following a full STAR procedure. You gotta pack em in at LHR and similar airports!