John Rowland wrote:
Paul Terry wrote:

In the end, I guess Heathrow offered more room than Fairlop for
expansion - but I also suspect that a site to the west, rather than
east, of London was preferred because flying was an extremely
expensive way to travel until the late 1960s, and Heathrow would be
more convenient than Fairlop for wealthy passengers needing to be
chauffeured to and from the west end, Kensington or the stockbroker
belt.

Heathrow, like nearly every main airport in the world, is upwind of
the city it serves, in order to maximise visibility at the airport.

I always understood that Heathrow was unusual in being almost directly
upwind of the city, meaning that generally planes fly over the city
centre on their approach to land. (Anti-noise campaigners always claim
this is unique to Heathrow.) It's better to locate the airport at 90
degrees to the prevailing wind relative to the city.

Also, I don't buy the visibility reason, as it's in the Thames Valley
area which is probably one of the damper and more fog-prone areas around
London.
--
Richard J.
(to e-mail me, swap uk and yon in address)