Things you find on Google Earth
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Joined: Nov 2000
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From: not a million miles from old BKK
Things you find on Google Earth
I'm not sure where to put this so I'll leave it to the mods. Also, apologies if it's been ppruned before.
Look at Stansted Airport (EGSS) on Google Earth and draw a line along the extended centreline of 23. Zoom in at the point where the line crosses the M11 and you will see an Easyjet B737 on final to 05 (2.3 miles to go).
OK. So what?
Go back to the runway and zoom in on the second exit for 23 and you will see not one but two Ryanair B737's exiting together.
What is happening here? Two aircraft - one exiting and one waiting to exit with a third aircraft arriving from the opposite direction
The Easyjet is about a 45 seconds from touchdown.
Is it the exact moment when a runway direction change is taking place or do they sometime accept opposing arrivals at Stansted? If so, is it normal to leave so little time to clear the runway?
Also it seems evident that the second Ryanair landed very close behind the first, certainly well before the first aircraft had reached its intended exit.
The Easyjet on final has been on Google for more than a year to my knowledge so the incident happened at least that long ago. Also, I can't find any obvious breaks in the picture so I have to assume that it is taken from a single satellite image.
Any comments?
Look at Stansted Airport (EGSS) on Google Earth and draw a line along the extended centreline of 23. Zoom in at the point where the line crosses the M11 and you will see an Easyjet B737 on final to 05 (2.3 miles to go).
OK. So what?
Go back to the runway and zoom in on the second exit for 23 and you will see not one but two Ryanair B737's exiting together.
What is happening here? Two aircraft - one exiting and one waiting to exit with a third aircraft arriving from the opposite direction
The Easyjet is about a 45 seconds from touchdown.Is it the exact moment when a runway direction change is taking place or do they sometime accept opposing arrivals at Stansted? If so, is it normal to leave so little time to clear the runway?
Also it seems evident that the second Ryanair landed very close behind the first, certainly well before the first aircraft had reached its intended exit.
The Easyjet on final has been on Google for more than a year to my knowledge so the incident happened at least that long ago. Also, I can't find any obvious breaks in the picture so I have to assume that it is taken from a single satellite image.
Any comments?
The 'image' is made up of multiple tiles taken at intervals. So aircraft moving around on the ground can appear on multiple tiles. It's not one big image.
Joined: Aug 2007
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From: UK
If it has the resolution for you to make out individual aircraft in terms of which airline they are- it is a picture taken from an aircraft flying overhead, not a a satellite- so obviously, it has taken the pictures in strips running in a different direction than the runway, so you are seeing pictures that could be hours or even days apart.
A Runyonesque Character
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From: The South of France ... Not
Antwerp
Something that's been puzzling me - what's the big twin at the far end of the apron at Antwerp? I can only think of a CV580, but it has a very curious shape to the rear fuselage and horizontal stabiliser.
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From: not a million miles from old BKK
OK.
Oversteer - There is no need to be 'sarcastic' here. Diaz - I take your point but no-one ever did an aircraft overfly photo composit of Thailand where I live but the image of my house is good enough to show full details of my swimming pool.
If we are looking at 'tiled' images then why do we not see parked aircraft stacked one on top of another on the stands?
Oversteer - There is no need to be 'sarcastic' here. Diaz - I take your point but no-one ever did an aircraft overfly photo composit of Thailand where I live but the image of my house is good enough to show full details of my swimming pool.
If we are looking at 'tiled' images then why do we not see parked aircraft stacked one on top of another on the stands?
Joined: Oct 2000
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From: Berkshire, UK
I was under the impression that Google pics were all satellite images??
As for the aircraft mentioned... How about if the two on the runway were simply taxying from one side of the airfield to the other? No problem there with the next lander at a couple of miles out..
There's a forum somewhere, which i becamke rapidly bored with, where there are dozen of such "sightings" listed for Google.
As for the aircraft mentioned... How about if the two on the runway were simply taxying from one side of the airfield to the other? No problem there with the next lander at a couple of miles out..
There's a forum somewhere, which i becamke rapidly bored with, where there are dozen of such "sightings" listed for Google.
Joined: Aug 1998
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From: London, UK
HD, a lot of the higher resolution images on Google are aerial photos. Look at the name of the image supplier at the bottom. Companies like Infoterra supply aerial photography. I know some satellite imagery is quite incredible these days but won't show the level of detail as those Stansted images - close but not close enough!
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From: not a million miles from old BKK
HD
This is the image I'm talking about.
No-one moves aircraft around like that on an active runway. And in any case, both are showing flaps in landing configuration so they are certainly not manouvering from A to B.
If it was a duplicated image as suggested by others here then why isn't the aircraft on the taxiway in the bottom left hand corner duplicated also?
I accept that it is possible that the image of the arriving Easyjet and the movements on the ground at Stansted may be from two different timeframes. That is why I made the point that I'd looked for image breaks between the two but could find none.
Someone else mentioned that you can see the date/time stamps of the images used on Google but I don't think my version supports that. I would be happy to be proven wrong here if someone could show me how.
What isn't clear is why two aircraft are queued at the exit from 23. Basically that is the question I'm asking. The fact that a third aircraft is approaching from the opposite direction may well prove to be erroneous. I really hope so.
This is the image I'm talking about.
No-one moves aircraft around like that on an active runway. And in any case, both are showing flaps in landing configuration so they are certainly not manouvering from A to B.
If it was a duplicated image as suggested by others here then why isn't the aircraft on the taxiway in the bottom left hand corner duplicated also?
I accept that it is possible that the image of the arriving Easyjet and the movements on the ground at Stansted may be from two different timeframes. That is why I made the point that I'd looked for image breaks between the two but could find none.
Someone else mentioned that you can see the date/time stamps of the images used on Google but I don't think my version supports that. I would be happy to be proven wrong here if someone could show me how.
What isn't clear is why two aircraft are queued at the exit from 23. Basically that is the question I'm asking. The fact that a third aircraft is approaching from the opposite direction may well prove to be erroneous. I really hope so.
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From: UK
I think the shadows of the aeroplanes look very slightly different, so I think there is a good chance the aeroplanes are from different images. And indeed the other aeroplane further along the taxiway has a different shadow altogether.
Isn't http://local.live.com, the Microsoft version of Google Earth, actually better? Certainly is for my area.
Isn't http://local.live.com, the Microsoft version of Google Earth, actually better? Certainly is for my area.
Joined: Jul 2003
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From: Manchester
Its simply a mosaic made up of consecutive digital images, the 737 is still moving and has covered a considerable distance between shots. If you were to put the image in photoshop and zoom in you would probably find the join between the frames.
Joined: Oct 2000
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From: Berkshire, UK
Groundloop - OK, many thanks for that.
"No-one moves aircraft around like that on an active runway. "
Well I'm sorry to disillusion you, but it goes on all day all over the world! I've certainly done something similar at Heathrow many, many times with aircraft crossing or backtracking a runway. I accept your point about the configuration and the aircraft are obviously not re-positioning. However, they certainly didn't land either!!!!
"No-one moves aircraft around like that on an active runway. "
Well I'm sorry to disillusion you, but it goes on all day all over the world! I've certainly done something similar at Heathrow many, many times with aircraft crossing or backtracking a runway. I accept your point about the configuration and the aircraft are obviously not re-positioning. However, they certainly didn't land either!!!!
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From: Home at last
I think you will find it is the same aircraft. Follow the link which is Microsoft VE, (one aircraft) then click on Google Maps in the top left hand corner and it appears as two aircraft.
http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=51.88....7&r=0&src=msl
http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=51.88....7&r=0&src=msl
Last edited by tcinbg; 22nd May 2008 at 07:00. Reason: Corrected link
Thread Starter
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From: not a million miles from old BKK
Thanks everyone for the comments. I'm still not 100% convinced. It's the aircraft on the taxiway at the bottom of the picture that has me bothered. Maybe if Groundbum could tell me how to establish the date and time of the images it would help.
One thing puzzles me. I remember the original aerial photo survey that took place in the UK during the '80's. An aircraft flew a grid pattern at a constant altitude across the UK and established the first photo 'map'. Diaz and Groundloop mentioned current aerial photography. Is this still an on-going project and if so, who is funding it?
I, like HD, always believed that the Google Earth maps were generated by satellite imagery. The detail provided is not that bad. I already mentioned the detail that is visible of my home in Thailand where, I know, no aerial photo mapping has ever taken place.
One thing puzzles me. I remember the original aerial photo survey that took place in the UK during the '80's. An aircraft flew a grid pattern at a constant altitude across the UK and established the first photo 'map'. Diaz and Groundloop mentioned current aerial photography. Is this still an on-going project and if so, who is funding it?
I, like HD, always believed that the Google Earth maps were generated by satellite imagery. The detail provided is not that bad. I already mentioned the detail that is visible of my home in Thailand where, I know, no aerial photo mapping has ever taken place.
Joined: Aug 2007
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From: Scotland
er...its just google earth.
53°20'48.09"N 2°16'37.78"W
Hate to rain on your parade, but have a look at MAN specifically 23L
There are about 5 aircraft on the runway in the picture... Still think you've found something?
just go to Manchester airport, UK and look at 23L/05R
Hate to rain on your parade, but have a look at MAN specifically 23L
There are about 5 aircraft on the runway in the picture... Still think you've found something?
just go to Manchester airport, UK and look at 23L/05R
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From: United Kingdom
Go to the north of the one-winged B747 and you'll see the line of the 'stitched image' by the difference in colour of the fields etc. Hence, the one-winged B747 was right on the join of the image... yet the shadow remains intact by virtue of the position of the sun. Simple really isn't it 