HEATHROW - FINAL APPROACH

Over the years I have photographed many subjects and enjoy all aspects of photography including architecture, disused railways, astrophotography although my favourite is my work with the wonderful models I have been fortunate to know over the past ten years. This has included fashion, portrait, cosplay, swimwear and boudoir/lingerie photoshoots. I have been fortunate to have been published in several magazines and even had one of my images used as the cover on a local magazine. More of my work can be seen on my Instagram page @peterlewry and on my Purple Port profile... https://purpleport.com/portfolio/peterlewry/

Recently I discovered another subject to photograph...planes, and in particular capturing them taking off and landing at London Heathrow Airport. In this latest article I look at the history of the airport,  the history of plane spotting and photography along with my own experiences and examples of my work.

Heathrow Airport was called London Airport until 1966 and is now known as London Heathrow. Located 14 miles from Central London it is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system, the others being Gatwick, Luton, City, Stanstead and Southend.

It was founded in 1930 as a small airfield but in the years that followed the end of World War Two it developed into a much larger airport. Over the past seventy-five years it has expanded and today has two parallel east-west runways, four operational passenger terminals and is the main hub for both British Airways and Virgin Atlantic.

There have been many significant events at Heathrow over the years... The first non-stop flight to California sets a record for distance and time (1957), The Beatles are mobbed when they leave and arrive back from America (1964), Terminal 1 opens (1969), Concorde makes its first passenger flight (1976), London Underground link is established (1977), Heathrow Express rail service launched (1998), Airbus A380 makes its first landing (2006), Terminal 5 officially opened by Her Majesty The Queen (2008), Brand new Terminal 2: The Queen's Terminal opens (2014), Terminal 1 is closed permanently (2015) and Heathrow records its busiest year to date with more than 80 million passengers served (2018). 

There are many airlines operating at Heathrow including British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Air France, United, Qatar, Emirates, Cathay Pacific, American Airlines and several more. Among the types of planes used by these companies are Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner's, Boeing 737's and 777's, Airbus A319's, 320's, 321's, 330's and the impressive A380.

Plane spotting is a hobby similar to that of train spotting with enthusiasts watching, photographing or detailing their movements... or even all three. People have been watching planes since aviation began although it wasn't until the Second World War that the term 'plane spotters' became a common term. It was during the war that civilians were encouraged to observe aircraft for public safety in the United Kingdom, something which was organised and encouraged by the Royal Observer Corps.

The activity led to the publication of a magazine, The Aeroplane Spotter, first published in January 1941 and, after 217 issued, ceased publication in July 1948. 

With an increased interest several groups and publications have formed over the years and the following years saw a steady increase in the hobby.

Although I had attended many military air shows throughout the 1980s, at bases including Biggin Hill, Mildenhall, Fairford, Middle Wallop, and watched the planes taking off and landing at the end of the runway at Gatwick Airport I'd never considered taking photographs seriously.

It was after seeing images on social media of planes flying low over the houses on their approach to London Heathrow that made me want to try my hand at similar photography. I spent some time researching suitable locations and the dates and times planes took off and landed in both directions, using the Heathrow Alternation Schedule which was available on the Heathrow site. There are two runways, 27L and 27R, and the direction of flights change every other week, although sometimes this is different, as I would find out during my first trip.

Research showed that Myrtle Avenue, a short walk from Hatton Cross Underground, was a popular stop for plane enthusiasts and photographers. It is located at the eastern end of the south runway 27L. At the end of the road is a large green field where those with similar interests congregate. At times there can be just 2 or 3 people while more often there will be well over 20 people, with their cameras, chairs and a good supply of food and drink.

In March 2024 I made my first trip and on arriving at Heathrow discovered the planes were only taking off in the direction of London rather than coming into land. This was due to the weather conditions and wind direction.

Although I was disappointed that I wouldn't be able to capture the planes approaching over the houses I did learn a lot about plane photography on this first visit. I was still able to capture some images which, for my first efforts, I was very pleased with. As they were taking off it was harder to get good images of the whole plane and most of the images I took that day showed more of the underside of the planes, but it was still a fun and interesting few hours.

It was amazing to see the variety of planes, airlines and the frequency which meant there was a plane flying over every 90 seconds. 

I had the chance to chat to a few other plane enthusiasts/photographers and learnt a lot from them, including a few tips on the times and dates that were best for photography and also suggesting that I use the Flightradar24 app. 

Once home I downloaded the Flightradar24 app and found it was invaluable for anyone interested in spotting planes. It is the best flight tracker for both IOS and Android on which you can track live air traffic around the world from a mobile device.

The app allows you to see flights around the world in real time, follow flights in 3D, search flights (by flight number, call sign, airline or route), find out which flights are nearby with AR View by pointing your device at the sky and see data from past flights. Most importantly for those wishing to photograph planes is the option to view airport departures and arrivals with flight status, delay stats, weather conditions and aircraft on the ground. This is also available by choosing a particular airport in the menu or tapping on the airport pin on the map. Although I only refer to it for flights at Heathrow it does cover every other airport in the world and has been an invaluable tool during my photography trips.

My next trip was a couple of weeks later and having checked my app before leaving home I knew that I would be able to capture images of the planes coming into land.

I captured the best photos I had taken so far as I had the opportunity to watch and photograph the planes as they came into land on Runway 27L.

It was quite a sight watching the planes flying low over the houses and trees and flying so low to where I was standing as they crossed overhead and approached the runway.

I stayed for almost three hours and among the airlines that I photographed were Qatar, Logan Air, Air France, Emirates, Singapore Airlines and even one operated by DHL. 

My favourite images from this trip were those of the Emirates and Singapore Airlines Airbus A380, an impressive plane, and worth the long wait. It was the final plane I captured before I headed back into Central London. 

My third visit was another opportunity to capture planes landing on Runway 27L and again I was really pleased with the images. It was during this visit that I captured the best, and my favourite, images of planes and the houses/trees which really showed how low they are when coming into land.

I also took this opportunity to get some close-ups of the undercarriage and engines. 

My last trip found me viewing the planes taking off again and with everything I had learnt during my previous visits meant that there was a marked improvement on the images I took during my first efforts.

The images I have included in this article are only a fraction of those I have taken during my four visits.

Until now I have only used Myrtle Avenue, and the immediate area, as my location but there are several other places which I plan on visiting in the future and will be making more photography trips to Heathrow. Keep an eye on my Instagram profile... @peterlewry for more images.