Height.

[RedhillPhil]

Some years ago I sat out in the garden of a friend of my wife's who owned a large house close to Kew gardens. It was pleasant enough with the exception of the seemingly nose to tail amount of A/C approaching Heathrow which seemed to me to negate the effects of having a flash house in a posh postcode.
My question is, what height would an aeroplane be passing over Kew?

[Capetonian]

Pretty variable for many reasons but typically 1000 feet or so, could be anywhere between 800 and 1500.

[Talkdownman]

Phil, have a pole about on this site:

WebTrak

Locate the place of interest and watch the levels of the overflying aircraft. I suspect it's based on Mode C data ie. based on SPS, but not certain.

[Double Hydco]

Pretty variable for many reasons but typically 1000 feet or so, could be anywhere between 800 and 1500.

I would have thought that once the aircraft have left the platform altitude, they'd all be pretty much exactly at the SAME height over a specific point if they're following a 3 degree glideslope?

DH

[Talkdownman]

…especially if flying an ILS, because it is a PRECISION approach!

[Groundloop]

Kew is 5 to 5.5 nm from runway thresholds so at 300 feet per mile on the ILS that would put them at 1500 - 1700 feet. They would NEVER be as low as 800ft!

[Molemot]

I used to live in Kew, under the glide path...got so used to the aeroplanes that I never noticed them.....just the unusual stuff, like the JU-52 that came over...or, back in the day, Stratocruisers with an engine hanging off the wing!
Was jolly noisy in the days of Trident and their autothrottles....they would lower the undercarriage as they passed overhead and the automatics would increase power....wow....!

[DaveReidUK]

Locate the place of interest and watch the levels of the overflying aircraft. I suspect it's based on Mode C data ie. based on SPS, but not certain.

Yes, WebTrak uses Mode C with the relevant hour's baro correction applied, ie height AMSL to the nearest 100 feet, though could be a bit out if the QNH has been changing rapidly.

[Big Eric]

27L or 27R arrivals are at around 1,300' when over the Kew area, just have a look on www.flightradar24.com

[Talkdownman]

Originally Posted by DaveReidUK

ie height AMSL

…so altitude, then.

Originally Posted by Big Eric

just have a look on Flightradar24.com - Live flight tracker!

…which is probably ADS-B data including Flight Level based on SPS, so would not necessarily equate to altitude, height above Heathrow, or height above Kew. If Webtrak is corrected to the relevant QNH then one would have to subtract Kew elevation to obtain height. Whatever, quite noisy...

[DaveReidUK]

…so altitude, then

Yes.

Provided you mean True Altitude, rather than Pressure Altitude, Absolute Altitude or Density Altitude.

[RedhillPhil]

Thank you to you all for you replies. I still can't understand why someone would want to pay all of that money for a house to live under a major flightpath. I used to describe our visits there as going for tea and Tridents.

[onetrack]

I recently made the mistake of staying in a beachside apartment at Tugun, South of the Gold Coast and probably within 1 NM of YBCG - and very close to being under the flightpath to YBCG.

There's some very expensive houses sitting on outcrops under the flightpath that must be around 200-300' higher than the surrounding houses, that are perhaps mostly 50-100' AMSL.

I sat and watched in awe as flight after flight appeared to be close enough to those houses on the outcrops, that I reckon anyone in the house or yard would be able to read the ply rating on the tyres!

In addition to the constant noise levels, practically every time an aircraft flew in, at one precise point, that aircraft cut off the TV signal!

We rapidly understood why the beachside apartment was "on special", as far as accommodation rates went!
It didn't help that the apartments were constructed in an industrial fashion, using inadequate soundproofing and large quantities of steel, which rang and vibrated with any noise!

[Sandy Boots]

I have lived in Brentford all my life which is closer to Heathrow and you get used to the aircraft noise plus the new generation aircraft are far more quiet than the Tridents quoted above.

[susier]

Molemot...I am green with envy! How cool.


I spent many happy childhood holidays under the Southampton flightpath, reading the lettering on the fuselage was a favourite pastime.


I actually find it very comforting having regular planes passing overhead. Sadly we live a bit further out now, near Manston which has just been sold to someone who doesn't want to reopen it as an airport


It's a shame as no one wants an airport down the road at Lydd, where they are trying to put one, and many of the locals at Manston are mad keen on the idea but it ain't happening.

[Capetonian]

The only time I can recall finding aircraft noise disturbing was when I was staying in a flat on NW 36th. Street very close to MIA international. I know this sounds like the Daily Mail but early in the morning they almost seemed to 'skim the rooftops'. There was an Aeroflot that came in at about 0700 which seemed louder and lower than anything else and used to rattle the crockery.