Low Flying planes

[user15681]

I live under the approach of Southend for a couple of night flights. Don't know why, but I quite enjoy seeing the lights come over at less than 5,000 ft. For the rest of the day we have Gatwick and some Heathrow planes at around 10,000 ft. Nothing really exciting, but like a lot of the south east there is a constant sound of planes all day (not that it bothers me at all).

I remember once being on Broadstairs beach when BA's first A380 landed at Manston for the first time (it was based there for a month last summer for training). Nobody was expecting it or knew about it, so a lot of people thought it was an emergency landing of some sort.

 

[fowler9]

I live under the approach of Southend for a couple of night flights. Don't know why, but I quite enjoy seeing the lights come over at less than 5,000 ft. For the rest of the day we have Gatwick and some Heathrow planes at around 10,000 ft. Nothing really exciting, but like a lot of the south east there is a constant sound of planes all day (not that it bothers me at all).

I remember once being on Broadstairs beach when BA's first A380 landed at Manston for the first time (it was based there for a month last summer for training). Nobody was expecting it or knew about it, so a lot of people thought it was an emergency landing of some sort.

Ha ha. Know what you mean. The flights from John Lennon come over ours very low. We get Manchesters trans Atlantic flights over ours between 10000 and 15000 feet. The Virgin 747's are pretty cool. We don't get many heavies low over Liverpool apart from the Belugas,

 

[hassaanhc]

I saw a huge number of low planes when I was living in my uni accommodation, which is right next to the runway of London City Airport . I remember the first couple of days when a plane took off and I wasn't expecting it, I thought it was thunder :P (there was wet weather). Got used to it later, found it more noisy if they took off towards London than away from London (the latter would take it past my building), but that is due to being behind the engines if going the opposite way to us. I thought it was less noisy next to City Airport than the Hounslow area where I'm from, which is near Heathrow. As the planes were lower down at City Airport, they passed quickly, therefore leading to less noise (even if they were taking off or landing). I narrowly missed witnessing the engine fire they had at City a few months ago as I'd just gone in for a lecture then.

 

[Class172]

The only aircraft that fly over my house at a low altitude are military flights. We often get Tornado GR4s and occasionally Chinooks. A couple of days ago we were treated to a very low pass (~200m) of two Merlin helicopters.

 

[fowler9]

I saw a huge number of low planes when I was living in my uni accommodation, which is right next to the runway of London City Airport . I remember the first couple of days when a plane took off and I wasn't expecting it, I thought it was thunder :P (there was wet weather). Got used to it later, found it more noisy if they took off towards London than away from London (the latter would take it past my building), but that is due to being behind the engines if going the opposite way to us. I thought it was less noisy next to City Airport than the Hounslow area where I'm from, which is near Heathrow. As the planes were lower down at City Airport, they passed quickly, therefore leading to less noise (even if they were taking off or landing). I narrowly missed witnessing the engine fire they had at City a few months ago as I'd just gone in for a lecture then.

I understand what you are saying but I reckon the difference in noise was not really related to them passing by quickly because they were lower, the smaller aircraft at City Airport have a lower take off speed. They will take longer to pass by. At Heathrow they will generally be larger and louder and passing by more quickly.

 

[pompeyfan]

At this point, it might be worth mentioning the 'flight radar24' app available on android and iPhone. The basic app is free, but for £1.99 you get loads of details, works for most commercial, some private, and a few military flights.

 

[pompeyfan]

Proof if you wanted it.

 

[Strathclyder]

At this point, it might be worth mentioning the 'flight radar24' app available on android and iPhone. The basic app is free, but for £1.99 you get loads of details, works for most commercial, some private, and a few military flights.

Does it work on the Blackberry?

 

[DownSouth]

Does it work on the Blackberry?

You might need to make do with just the plain website – flightradar24.com

It certainly made for amusing viewing during the Tour de France with the TV/radio datalink planes circling to follow the race!

 

[Strathclyder]

You might need to make do with just the plain website – flightradar24.com!

Thought as much.
Thanks anyway.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

I saw what i think was a low flying Lancaster at about 1 30 flying SE over Middlesbrough on Friday any ideas anyone?

Might have been the Canadian one? It's over here for 6 weeks, will be flying in tandem with the BBMF one at shows but is also giving pre-booked members and veterans rides.

 

[nw1]

I am located right underneath the flight path into Liverpool John Lennon International. I have gotten pretty used to it by now, although at my school, they are even lower and more noticeable but they are only the boring stuff like B737's and A320's.

Where I am in Southampton is under the flight path of Southampton Airport but also for longer distance stuff also on the LHR - Spain and South America flightpath ,and the LGW to Orlando, Caribbean etc. You occasionally get a New York to London come over as well, though normally they go further north. Noticed that an evening (1900 or so, don't have flight number, sorry) Iberia London to Madrid is often an A340, which is a bit odd for a short haul flight: I guess the diagram (if that's what they call it in the airline world) includes Madrid-London-Madrid as an infill turn between long-haul flights.

I do remember Harriers and similarly regularly in north-west Sussex at the end of the 1970s and early 1980s, for a period in the middle of the night: they were absolutely deafening. I guess there was some Cold War tension going on at the time.