Originally Posted by
Heathrow Tower
I first wrote this post in.....
This thread
but thought others might be interested.
In terms of departure sequencing......
(Or, how I learned to lean back and relax as lots of other aircraft overtake me...)
At LHR specifically, but this holds for most major airports.
Building the 'ideal' departure sequence takes a lot of practice and is a complex task. There are various factors to consider:
Firstly, we separate for wake turbulence. At LHR we use a wake separation scheme called 'RECAT-EU' (RE-CATegorisation EUrope). This divides all aircraft into categories by weight and strength of wake turbulence:
Super: Basically A380 (and AN124s)
Heavy: 777, 787, A330, A350 etc
Upper: 767, 757, A300
Medium: A320, 737, A220, E190
Small: ATR72, Dash8, medium bizjets
Light: Small bizjets down to ultralights.
...
Very interesting, thank you for posting. Out of interest are 747s Super or Heavy in this line up? (I assume there are still cargo flights). Also, in which category was Concorde?