http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/feb/01/government-negligent-third-heathrow-runwayNever seen aircraft that close on approach before

http://www.guardian....heathrow-runwayNever seen aircraft that close on approach before

No. That is the perspective a long-range zoom lens gives,but having stood right next to Rwy27R, I can confirm that they do land one after another in less than 60 secs

Hi GrahamI ride down the M4 past Heathrow everyday, and one of the few delights of that stretch of road is seeing the planes coming in. In the evening, if the weather is clear, you can sometimes see five or more on approach - their landing lights look like a highway in the sky..I used to live in Windsor as a child, under the flightpath to 09R and it was good fun sitting in the garden watching them come over, every minute or so. Don't think I'd like it now!Ian

No, its not photoshopped but as Rich mentioned its the effect of the telephoto lens used, is like using a high powered spotter scope of binoculars for example. At night time or in winter time in the evenings or mornings when it is darker then it can be like looking at stairways of lights with planes on approach.

With pressure appearing for a third runway, and never mind Stansted, Gatwick, Luton & City, you have to wonder what is the upper limit regarding what seems to be a conveyor belt of people all wanting to arrive in the same place at the roughly same time..There's a positive feedback effect at work that's turning the entirety of GB (or at least England) into no more than London + dormitory suburbs.

Edited February 1, 201214 yr by Raindance

With pressure appearing for a third runway, and never mind Stansted, Gatwick, Luton & City, you have to wonder what is the upper limit regarding what seems to be a conveyor belt of people all wanting to arrive in the same place at the roughly same time..There's a positive feedback effect at work that's turning the entirety of GB (or at least England) into no more than London + dormitory suburbs.

Well there certainly doesn't appear to be anymore space in the sky around LHR, that's for sure. And the road infrastructure is at bursting point already. Personally I'm all in favour of the plan to build a new airport in the Thames Estuary.Ian

Gatwick could easily accommodate another runway, if only it were allowed!

Here at CYYZ they have them zooming to the OM at 180kts....

Gatwick could easily accommodate another runway, if only it were allowed!

Stansted could have accomodated a second runway easiliy too. But public pressure put a stop to it.

I remember myself being truly astounded at how close in they approach LHR, on my first time spotting there I was literally mind blown.I'll be honest, just to stick it out there. I'm tired of hearing those damned words "public pressure". LHR needs a 3rd runway - people who live round there can't say much due to the fact it won't make much of a difference at all in the noise factor (because of the high density there already) and Greenpeace.... i'd better not say anything about them. I'd get shot at dawn.Rant over - End of. Disregard my outburst :(

In a democracy publuic pressure has to be taken into account, like it or not. Or wopuld you rather live under a dictatorship?

Correct - but suppose it's like snow. At first you like it, but then a while later you wish it was gone.Was only meant as a rant anyway

In a democracy public pressure has to be taken into account, like it or not. Or wopuld you rather live under a dictatorship?

I see a false dichotomy here. Of course governments should be aware of public pressure and even take it into account -- even smart dictators will do that. However, we elect governments to act in the best interests of the nation, which should involve ignoring public pressure in some instances. If the results of doing so turn out to be wildly wrong they can always be removed at the next election, which is the primary distinction between democracy and dictatorship. MPs, ministers and their departmental staff are not delegates; they are paid considerable amounts of money to take (ideally) knowledgeable decisions on issues that the rest of us don't have the time or money to research properly or in detail.Part of the problem with excessive bowing to public pressure is that such pressure can, in some cases, be generated by a popular press with its own agenda (though as we've seen recently that can rebound dramatically), or its natural inclination to generate sales by playing histrionically to a populist gallery. It's how we've ended up with nonsense like the Dangerous Dogs Act.(OT) I'm fairly agnostic as regards a third LHR runway (I don't live there), but it strikes me that the issue of how much more congestion the airspace of London and the south-east can take will have to be addressed at some point, and it might as well be now.