Help if possible please
 

HI guys,
Need a bit of help if possible. I was outside filming when an aircraft passed overhead. I was using a canon XL1s camera with zoom lens. This was a single engined aircraft extremely high and fast. The puzzlement though was the fact that it flew directly over Heathrow airspace (I don't know how high restrictions over Heathrow are). Please if you have time have a quick look to see if you can tell me what kind of aircraft this is (although I'm not holding my breath).

Thanks in advance for any help.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=HVlW5F5bmJA

Doesn't look single engined to me. Possibly one of those 2 or 3 engined Falcons or Gulfstreams. Maybe even a 737/767.

Well it's sufficiently high to be making a contrail !

Lots of traffic at various levels routes overhead Heathrow. In the last year I've been on Paris-Birmingham at cruise level, and Cork-Stansted at a lower level. Come down on a clear contrailing morning and look at all the high level traffic heading overhead.

Just because there's one contrail visible doesn't mean it's single engine. Twin (or triple) rear engined aircraft will give this effect as the engines are close together. Only where engines are wing-mounted are they sufficiently far apart to be distinguishable from the ground.

Passing over LHR at high altitude is very common- I do it often. I reckon that is a high altitude twin or MD11- could be any- SE Med flights to the US, European flight going to DUB. Sometimes the contrails appear single only.

As one who lives under a confluence of airways, I very much doubt that it's a heavy such as the MD-11 (sorry Rainboe). Most likely a rear mounted twin-engined airliner or large bizjet.

As one who's been flying and spotting the darn things for over 40 years, I'd say its a light twinjet (73/320) or a rear tail mounted bizjet! The apparent absence of twin contrails can be misleading.

Diedtrying - I'm afraid I'm going to close this thread as it seems to be heading off into a slanging arena - not your fault! Without a time and date even our ATC colleagues cannot help more.

PM from anyone with a positive contribution always welcome. More than happy to re-open if it is worthwhile.