Have you ever wondered how many Londonian airports have been built since the 1900s? Here is one of the best videos I have seen about this topic. It is one of a series produced by the comedian Jay Foreman. Thanks to this great source of information, you can have the answer as well as some fun.
Another interesting video tells us the train options to connect the six London airports to the City of London:
As you can see, it may cost an arm and a leg to travel to London. However, London airport system is the busiest one in the world. It demands a lot of concentration from its air traffic controllers as shown in this previous post: https://airforces.fr/2016/06/25/london-air-traffic-well-explained/
Here is a remarkable video for training purpose. It is not easy to understand how air traffic is managed at Heathrow airport but this video helps a lot to make out the stakes: Voici une vidéo remarquable à but pédagogique. Il n’est pas facile de comprendre comment la circulation aérienne est gérée à l’aéroport de Heathrow mais cette vidéo est d’une grande aide pour comprendre les enjeux:
Note that there are four stacks in the vicinity of London. The word « stack » means « holding pattern » here. However, stack can mean another thing in aeronautical and general English. For instance:
Notez qu’il y a quatre « stacks » aux environs de Londres. Le mot « stack » signifie ici « circuit d’attente ». Cependant, stack peut vouloir dire autre chose en anglais aéronautique et général. Par exemple:
Stack of folders = Pile de dossiers
Smokestack = Cheminée d’usine
Hay stack = Botte de foin, meule de foin
Radio stack = Equipement radio à bord de l’avion (radio com, radio nav, transponder)
Wood stack = Tas de bois
Stack up / Stack down = Espacement décalé vers le haut ou vers le bas entre des avions de chasse ou d’acrobaties aérienne
Vent stack = Colonne de ventilation
To stack = Empiler, entasser
Stack = Circuit d’attente dans l’espace aérien londonien pour les avions à destination d’Heathrow
Note that easterly operations match westerly winds, and westerly operations match easterly winds.
Notez que les opérations d’est correspondent aux vents d’ouest, et que les opérations d’ouest correspondent aux vents d’est.
This Dallas Fort Worth air traffic controller well deserved her NATCA award two years ago. Had she not responded quickly, the pilot would have passed out on board his Piaggio P180 Avanti (registration N501PM, callsign shortened into N1PM) and could even have passed away. Another pilot was alerted by slurring in the pilot’s speech. Video:
Warning – This voice communication does not comply with the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) recommendations. However, you can click off, and listen without reading the script on this video in order to jot down this radio communication for listening training purpose: