PLANE SPOTTERS

Heathrow's Myrtle Avenue:

A plane spotter's paradise

By Andy Dangerfield BBC News, London

BBC News spent an afternoon with plane-spotters
at Mytle Avenue near Heathrow

As tens of thousands of Olympics spectators arrive in the UK via Heathrow Airport, few of them would think that they have spectators of their own.

But they do.

From a small residential road in west London, the arrivals are being closely watched and, in many cases, photographed.

Myrtle Avenue looks like your typical suburban street: pavements shaded by trees; semi-detached houses; family cars parked on driveways.

It is only when you walk to the end of the road that you notice a patch of grass where dozens of middle-aged men are sitting in a row, armed with binoculars, flasks of tea, high-frequency radios and expensive cameras.

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The conditions are ideal. The sun is shining and the grass is dry.

A rumbling noise reverberates in the distance. There is a buzz of excitement in the air.

Suddenly, a gargantuan Boeing 747 appears from behind the rooftops and flies directly overhead.

The men snap furiously on their cameras and scribble in their notepads.

Seconds later, the plane will have landed on Heathrow Airport's south runway, a few hundred meters away.

Myrtle Avenue has become a prime destination for aviation enthusiasts since the closure of the only official area in Heathrow for plane spotting.

Until 2009, aircraft lovers would congregate on the roof of the Queens Building - next to Heathrow's Terminal 2 - to watch planes take-off and land.

But the terminal was shut down two years ago, with the buildings demolished to be completely rebuilt, and since then plane spotting pilgrimages to Myrtle Avenue have been on the rise.

One of the dozens who were there on a weekend morning was Samy Mamoun, who is originally from Sudan but now lives in Golders Green, north London.

"It's a perfect place for plane spotting," he says. "We love watching the take-offs and landings.

"We look out for the types of plane - their airlines and logos. We're particularly looking out for the A340s, the A380s and Boeing 777s - all the big, heavy planes."

"And the Boeing 747 of course - she's an old lady now," he adds, with a sentimental tone.

The plane spotters deploy a multitude of tactics to identify the aircraft - they look for the type and position of their engines, the number of vapor trails they leave, and even listen to the distinctive noise the aircraft make.

Mr Mamoun has travelled far and wide to pursue his hobby. He has been to Amsterdam and Paris - and as far afield as Dubai, Addis Ababa and Cairo. More on BBC News

Peter’s Comment

Plane spotting is something I find hard to resist. Mention an international airport or an obscure country airfield to me and I’m ready to go.

I’ve watched take-offs and landings in hundreds of places including SYD, HNL, LAX, JFK, LHR, DFW and dozens of places where the three letter designators are less than famous, or non-existent. I’ve been to places where aircraft appear from behind a mountain 30 seconds before touch-down.

But at the opposite end of the world to Heathrow, my favorite spotting place is Wellington International Airport in New Zealand.

An Air New Zealand Boeing 777
touches down at Wellington International
on a nice day

Not only does WLG have a wide variety of aircraft, from home-builts to B-777s, but it has a relatively short runway with sea at both ends. Wellington International can have cross-winds and turbulence to test the most proficient pilots.

The surrounding suburbs are hilly and scenic and abound with excellent vantage points, some quite close to the action.

Wellington is one of New Zealand’s busiest airports, but amazingly it has not had an injury accident since opening in 1956, in spite of lots of Youtube close shaves.