I was lucky enough in late April to receive an invite from British Airways for the opening ceremony they were having at their Heathrow maintenance base, where one of the hangars had been modified to accommodate the new 787 and A380 aircraft that will be joining the fleet in 2013. This ceremony would coincide with the prototype Boeing 787 visiting the base on its World Tour. Naturally I jumped at the chance and planned a bit of a spotting trip around it.

I drove down on the Sunday morning, dropping in at East Midlands to break the journey. Only a few Ryanair, DHL and Atlantic Airways aircraft were present. I then planned a visit to the Cold War Jets collection at Bruntingthorpe. Whilst I'm not particularly a military fan, I greatly respect what the guys there are doing to keep these classic aircraft active, and I also thought it would be a good chance to get a glimpse of the VC-10s and other aircraft being scrapped on site.

The collection is only open on Sundays, and costs £5. I got shown around the hangar where work is taking place on the two Lightning jets. Then I was free to drive over to the line-up of Buccaneers, Jet Provost, Hunters and other types. Most impressive were the Comet 4 and Super Guppy - the latter of which was open to go inside.

I could see all the aircraft being scrapped from a distance, including four VC-10s, a Spanair A321, Air Italy 737, Hercules and Nimrod. But given that it was blowing a gale and pouring down, I decided not to try and get closer and just carry on my journey south.

I had a bit of time, so went on to Lasham as a recent report showed four Boeing 727s on site. When I got there, I could see two of them, along with seven 737 classics and a 757. Most went into the logbook, so a fruitful visit.

Back on the road, I reached Heathrow about 3pm and checked into my room at the Holiday Inn Ariel. I'd stayed here before and know that Executive Rooms on the top floor have good views (if you request an airport view in advance, as I did). I wasn't disappointed, as you can see from the pictures, and it's a lot cheaper than the Renaissance. Given the weather and long drive, I spent the rest of the day by the window with my feet up and flightradar24 running on the laptop. Bliss!

The next morning I was up and out early. I drove round to the west maintenance area, following the signs for the Dreamliner Event. I parked up and checked in with the welcome committee, before getting on board the waiting bus that was to take us airside and into the hangar. A bunch of the guys who had been on the Seattle 777 Delivery trip with me were also there, so it was good to have a catch up.

Inside the hangar, the 787 dominated the view. This is the 3rd prototype, N787BX, which also visited Manchester recently. Today was much brighter than the previous day, so the light was much better for photographs. I spent quite a while wandering around the aircraft, photographing every angle. Also inside the hangar was the Olympics 'Dove' scheme A319 G-EUOH.

After the complimentary drinks and snacks, Garry Copeland, Director of Engineering, said a few words about the multi-million pound works that had been done on the hangar (which is Grade II listed) to accommodate these new aircraft. It still features the original arch from the BOAC days, and now has bespoke rigs that can surround the aircraft when in for maintenance.

At 10.20am, my allotted time came to take a tour of the 787. I boarded the R2 door and was now in the hands of Boeing employees who were keen to show us around the features. First of all, the entrance way is very spacious, and described as the cathedral space because of the domed effect across the roof. Unfortunately most customers will likely fill this area with seats in their 787s, as space is money.

We were shown around the First Class area. The window tinting button was demonstrated (the aircraft has no window shades), and the mood lighting overhead was changing from blues to oranges to darkness.

Up front, we were welcomed into the cockpit by one of the pilots flying the aircraft on the tour. He explained the various features, including touch-screen information displays. I scrolled around a map of Heathrow and looked through the Heads Up Display. The cockpit has loads of room compared to the 777, and many of the systems introduce a lot more automation over other types. Having said that, the conversion time for 777 crews is only five days.

Walking back along the cabin, we saw the Economy seating with its huge in flight entertainment displays, and saw demonstrations on video screens of the testing the aircraft had gone through prior to certification.

At the back, we saw the toilets, which are situated to allow wheelchairs to pull up, and have space age seats that glide up and down. I wonder how long that will last with Thomson's bucket 'n' spade crowd!

Then, we got a glimpse behind the unassuming door which leads up a steep staircase to the crew rest area. The small attic room has six beds, with their own mood lighting to presumably aid rest when crews aren't on duty.

We finished by descending the rear steps and were given commemorative badges and stickers.

It was hard to top that, but since I still had most of the day free I decided to have a drive around a few spots at Heathrow to get some shots whilst the sun was out. The shop at the Heathrow Academy is still open, and at the moment parking is free there for the small grandstand. But it's no good for photographs.

I spent a couple of hours parked on the Stanwell Moor Road as 09L was in use for arrivals. Then, departed north through the thick M25 traffic, stopping briefly at Luton to log a few biz jets.

Thanks once again to British Airways, and I look forward to seeing these aircraft operating with the airline, and even flying on one!

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