London Heathrow Spotting Update March 2021 Dave Rose
I had some business in London so grabbed a few hours at Heathrow. The weather looked sunny so I looked on FR24 as to runway usage. During Covid they use one runway only, and alternate each week, luckily it was 27 left during my visit, which is best for photography.
A lot of fuss is made of Myrtle Avenue, but I prefer Bedfont sports field, as its slightly further away from final approach, and you can see aircraft before they are on top of you. To get there, cross the A30 at Hatton Cross tube station, and turn immediately right into Hatton road. Continue past the turn for Myrtle Avenue, and you will see Bedfont Football club on your left. If you need to park, carry on another 200 yards, and there is a car park next to a playground.
After walking back, enter the club car park at the gates, and you can squeeze through if they are closed. Then bear left over the practice field and the best spots are along the left side fence. It was popular during my visit, with about 20 spotters scattered around. The shots below are all from this spot, some are taken the following morning and its good here for most of the day, although in summer it should be OK till about 4pm.
Click to enlarge
Hilton Garden Inn
Hotel rooms are a bit scarce during Covid, and I usually stay at the PTI T4, but its closed, so I booked into the Hilton Garden Inn at Hatton Cross. This was built about 10 years ago as a Jury's Inn and was recently aquired by Hilton, after a full refurb. Its not to be confused with the Hilton Garden Inn at T2, which has just opened, and looks a great spotting prospect, with a top floor bar with 360 views!!
The hotel is of good quality and built in 3 interlocking blocks. I chose the westerly facing block as it overlooks most of LHR. Room 649/648 and 647 are fine, as seen in the shots below. If you are on foot, its close to the tube station and the spotting spot mentioned above, and has a free shuttle to the terminals. If they are using 27 left, then request a south facing room, and a northerly room if the are on 27 right. During normal times it has a bar and restaurant on site.
