Simon Schus

Thank you all for your amazing suggestions, insight and help

I've been tracking the FlightRadar website over the week to see what happens with different wind patterns. Anything coming from the East seems to be going around Canterbury, then around via Croydon and down to LCY. Anything from the West seems to be going around via Canterbury then down to LCY. That makes sense given rcspeirs's comment about landing with tailwinds. I did look up one of those super unreliable medium-term forecasts for NYE and the one website showing wind direction suggested a wind coming from the East (hurrah!)... but the reliability of such means one cannot make the decision.

At the very least, I've learnt something about LCY even if I went a bit overkill on the thought process I've never flown into LCY before as I've never had a journey warranting it. I'll have a chat with my love and see what we come up with

It might be the train for us I've taken both the Exter-Waterloo (SWT) the Exeter-Paddington (GWR) trains before so I know what we'd be getting. It's not like we wouldn't be flying a few times that week anyway on the way back to the US (we're doing MAN-LHR-BOS after visiting some friends/family up in the North after New Years).

Thank you again all Can't wait to be back in Blighty, if only for a short while

Oxon Flyer

If you've not, it's definitely worth doing LCY once, just for the experience of it, especially the high-power, steep-ascent takeoffs.

WorldLux

and the steep approach. Loved to fly in on the F50.

stut

The F50s were great - the noise they made on the final descent sounded like you were about to swoop siren down and bomb something.

Another fun aircraft for LCY is the 146/ARJ with its airbrakes that make you feel like you're suspended motionless above Canary Wharf.

Oaxaca

On the (less common) days of easterly operations and you approach over SE London, if you are sitting on the right side it can feel like you could almost reach out and touch The Shard as the aircraft turns for final approach. Also remember being on BA2 arriving on a dark winter morning landing towards the east, seeing the runway lit up as we turned for final approach and thinking "we're really going to land on that?", despite having done it many times before...good fun.

KARFA

I think the approach paths to LCY have changed recently due to the implementation of LAMP by NATS. Not sure I fully understand it or can explain it, so probably best to look at NATS own information here http://www.nats.aero/news/newsbrief/...ange-now-live/

Oxon Flyer

Have changed recently to or from the posted path ?

KARFA

As noted in the link it appears to have changed earlier this year.

I don't know all the details or whether the particular path you showed is a LAMP result, but it is the case the approach paths have changed at LCY recently and therefore do differ from what they were before. In fact if you look at the link and the video in it the path seems very similar to what you posted.

Oxon Flyer

Just to clarify : the path is current, from the last few days, and posted simply to illustrate the route description in post #5 and to give the OP a helpful indicator of what they might see if they took the LCY option.

Simon Schus

Thanks again for all your kind, informative posts and insight

I've booked some seats on the BE1301 flight, as my wife was quite keen on getting to London early for a full day! With full knowledge that forecasts are only that and not perfectly reliable, I'm hoping that the projected Westerly wind direction on the morning in question will turn out to be accurate - that'd hopefully set us up for a view over London, albeit perhaps a cloudy and dark one.

As ever, thank you

rcspeirs

The westerly wind is not what you want - that would give you a view of the Ford factory or Belmarsh prison. You want an easterly (ie, wind coming from the east) to get the full "tourist delight" sightseeing approach. You shouldn't pay too much attention to long range UK weather forecasts, they have such a low accuracy that most of us ignore them.... Only start believing the forecast with 48 hours of departure.

Simon Schus

Typo on my part! I meant easterly. Ever since moving to the US from the UK, I've mixed up East and West!

lhrsfo

Not the only thing that gets mixed up in your adopted country. Enjoy your chips and football while here!

flatlander

I suggest sitting on the left, because if you are approaching from the East you get a fine view over the Thames Estuary, the Thames Barrier, the outlying islands, etc. It does get less natural-lookingcloser in, but you still see an interesting industrial mixed use landscape that is no less worthy of consideration than countryside.

Meanwhile to the left on an approach from the West, you'll see central/west London, Hyde Park, etc, and that will be fine.

Sitting on the right is slightly better if you get an approach from the West, but those are less likely, and the view on the right from the East is much less interesting in my opinion.