Forum Topic

Aeroplane noise

Has anyone noticed more planes over Acton in the last 24 hrs ? Is something changing with the flight paths ??

Charlie Hickman ● 5858d5 Comments

Yeah, I've noticed as well.Someone on Chiswick forum recently mentioned something about plans for runway maintenance at Heathrow.  Perhaps they're taking off from the runway further south. Not really an explanation but might be a factor.Large planes often bank sharp right miles away, almost as soon as they've taken off, probably over Hounslow.The planes over Acton are slowly banking to the left. They usually start turning left further back.( Hopefully Richard Jennings will pass by and word all this a little better )Ear plugs back in, here comes another plane.

Fred Bray ● 5858d

Not as bad as the excessively low flying helicopter earlier in the week - circled barely above the treetops - or that how it felt.

Sara Nathan ● 5858d

The only thing that's changed is the weather: an easterly wind and good weather for opening windows or spending time out of doors.Planes take off into the wind where possible, so if there's an easterly wind, they take off towards the east, and then turn either left or right along one of a set of standard paths, known as Noise Preferential Routes.  One of the NPRs passes over North Acton, but any part of Acton will experience more noise during easterly operations.Sometimes a pilot is directed by Air Traffic Control to follow a different route, which can lead to noise in areas that don't usually suffer.  If this happens, you can investigate after a delay of 48 hours by replaying the radar tracks on WebTrak ( http://lhr.webtrak-lochard.com )

Richard Jennings ● 5858d

And there it is again, right now - the same old Police helicopter has been over the park and Goldsmith area a few days now.

Ben Smith ● 5858d

Yup, good old Easterly conditions. I believe only one (the Southern) runway is used under these conditions, because of the Cranford Agreement, which prevents planes taking off east over, you guessed it, Cranford. Some break north, others break south. I'm not a plane spotter (honest) but I did happen to get a very good view of all this from the canal, between Ladbroke Grove and North Acton. You can see planes take off from Heathrow then either come up over us or turn south over SW London.As for the helicopter, not sure about earlier this week but today it arrived soon after we passed Police in Acton Park (and fair) helping a mum look for her child. So I believe the helicopter was helping in the search.

Hayes Thompson ● 5858d