Helicopters
Laura asks:
Does anyone know about the continuous roar of helicopters over Greenwich yesterday (Sunday) such a beautiful day was spoilt by the presence of them
The Phantom Replies:
Maybe there was a riot at the Friends of East Greenwich Pleasaunce fun day? I didn't notice anything untoward there - no escaped criminals or jewel heists that I could see, though there were a lot of kiddies with balloons...
Seriously, folks, on this particular day I have no idea. But I do know why we have so many helicopters flying over us on a general basis. A friend of mine is a helicopter pilot, and I asked him one particularly trying day.
All aircraft need special permission to fly over London, but they usually have to wait well outside the area before they are allowed in. Helicopters are allowed to fly in a bit further, but they, too, have to join the queue for the real centre. The holding pattern for the City of London and Docklands is - you've guessed it - directly above us. My pal showed it to me on a helicopter map of London.
Add to this the weather and traffic helicopters for the media, police helicopters for escaped convits, the London Hospital airlift, M25 road safety helicopters, army chinooks (they're the ones with two rotors) and the various private helicopters for businessmen and sundry bigwigs, and that's one hell of a lot of noise. It gets worse on sports days - the Marathon, for example, with TV crews. Expect more on the weekend of the Red Bull Air Race - though of course you're more likely to hear the jet aricraft themselves that day.
So - yesterday's particular problem - I don't know - every other day it's -well, sheer weight of traffic (so to speak...)
Does anyone know about the continuous roar of helicopters over Greenwich yesterday (Sunday) such a beautiful day was spoilt by the presence of them
The Phantom Replies:
Maybe there was a riot at the Friends of East Greenwich Pleasaunce fun day? I didn't notice anything untoward there - no escaped criminals or jewel heists that I could see, though there were a lot of kiddies with balloons...
Seriously, folks, on this particular day I have no idea. But I do know why we have so many helicopters flying over us on a general basis. A friend of mine is a helicopter pilot, and I asked him one particularly trying day.
All aircraft need special permission to fly over London, but they usually have to wait well outside the area before they are allowed in. Helicopters are allowed to fly in a bit further, but they, too, have to join the queue for the real centre. The holding pattern for the City of London and Docklands is - you've guessed it - directly above us. My pal showed it to me on a helicopter map of London.
Add to this the weather and traffic helicopters for the media, police helicopters for escaped convits, the London Hospital airlift, M25 road safety helicopters, army chinooks (they're the ones with two rotors) and the various private helicopters for businessmen and sundry bigwigs, and that's one hell of a lot of noise. It gets worse on sports days - the Marathon, for example, with TV crews. Expect more on the weekend of the Red Bull Air Race - though of course you're more likely to hear the jet aricraft themselves that day.
So - yesterday's particular problem - I don't know - every other day it's -well, sheer weight of traffic (so to speak...)
Labels: Ask The Phantom
posted by The Greenwich Phantom at
13:49
7 Comments:
We've still got one of those balloons wrapped around my daughter's bedpost. It's a bit deflated now, but we're still happy from the lovely party yesterday. I talked to one mum about it today and she thought it was a bit small. Um, yeah. It's not exactly Greenwich Park. Where I come from we don't even get parks the size of the Pleasaunce let alone a Pleasaunce right next to a Greenwich Park right next to a Blackheath. I thought it was all brilliant and I take my hat off to the Friends of the Pleasaunce.
I've seen an awful lot of military helicopters since I've been south of the river. Chinooks are the most common but I've seen Apaches (mean looking attack helicopters), Puma's (big transport helicopters) and even and even a single huge American one (a Super Stallion I think).
I've heard several reasons for why we see so much military traffic. Some of it is due to the army at Woolwich.
However I read somewhere that they use the river as a navigational aide and fly along it when crossing London in order to get from A to B.
I wonder if anyone reading can give a definite answer?....
Many Thanks for the hat-removal andrekabu.
We're all knackered & sunburnt today, and it's feedback like this that makes it worth doing. Cheers.
Kate
Friends of EGP Committee
Quick plug for our next do: Please check out www.fegp.typepad.com in a couple of days for our Boule Competition / Kid's Tour de Pleasaunce that we're having on the Tour de France weekend.
We have an extremely beautiful trophy to award to East Greenwich's most stylish Boule player...
I should have mentioned what a lovely day the Picnic was. Helped by the weather, of course, but a charming day in a place that has been too long neglected. Mmm. Cakes. Mmm.
Charlton Average, I have no idea about the number of military helis there are. I don't think there's enough at Woolwich to warrant it. I suspect it just goes to show how many military hardware flies above our heads. They, just like everyone else, have to go through Aircraft Control, and presumably have to wait in line directly above us too.
We had a lovely day at the picnic, it's such a sweet open space and all the lovelier for being compact in my opinion. I was surprised at how well it was attended and all the children has a wonderful time, loved the treasure hunt!
I would just like to say a big thank you to the friends of the east Greenwich pleasaunce for a wonderful day. The children had a great time and so did my husband thanks the pleasaunce punch!
Kate, I am currently getting a team together for the Boules evening, sounds like a lot of fun! We may even have the secret weapon of a Frenchman on our team too. ;)
Lovely day on Sunday, my first visit to the Pleasaunce and not the last hopefully. My hats off to the creator of the rum punch!
Greenwich Lalas
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