Siam Addict Posted August 28, 2023 Share Posted August 28, 2023 I have just looked at Heathrow Airport on Google Earth and there is a total of three planes at Heathrow two are taxiing and the third is Concorde Also a lot of the carparks are empty! Anyone any ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stillearly Posted August 28, 2023 Share Posted August 28, 2023 "According to the Google Earth blog, Google Earth updates about once a month. However, this doesn't mean that every image is updated every month. In fact, the average map data is between one and three years old." 🤷♂️ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Siam Addict Posted August 28, 2023 Author Share Posted August 28, 2023 Even if it was during lock down there should have been some aircraft there, especially around terminal 5 which is BA's own terminal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freee!! Posted August 28, 2023 Share Posted August 28, 2023 I would recommend using Google Maps, Google Earth is rather outdated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butch Posted August 28, 2023 Share Posted August 28, 2023 I noticed on some websites, the Fire training plane has been deleted (the green one) but on others it is still visible. No idea why they do this though. It's also showing Terminal 2 as a building site from the Terminal building to the Gate area. Could be perhaps for security reasons. LHR has a load of anti drone measures fitted now, along with other stuff to spot the ne'er do wells. After all, an old picture still shows the Airport infrastructure wrt runways etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lirchenfeld Posted August 28, 2023 Share Posted August 28, 2023 (edited) 2 hours ago, Siam Addict said: I have just looked at Heathrow Airport on Google Earth and there is a total of three planes at Heathrow two are taxiing and the third is Concorde Also a lot of the carparks are empty! Anyone any ideas? The picture is prolly from the time during covid, hence the low activity. If you look at the bottom of the Google Earth (PC version) there should be a note about when the picture was taken. Day, Month and year. Edited August 28, 2023 by Lirchenfeld Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Siam Addict Posted August 28, 2023 Author Share Posted August 28, 2023 Tried Google Maps and Google Earth and I get the same picture. I have also tried Google Earth Pro and the plane on the runway and plane approaching T4 have also disappeared. I have found a date and it is April 2020, But if a plane is not been prepared for takeoff it would be moved onto the apron away from the terminals. But there are NO planes whatsoever at Heathrow not even at the area to the East of the Airport where they service the aircraft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butch Posted August 28, 2023 Share Posted August 28, 2023 2 minutes ago, Siam Addict said: Tried Google Maps and Google Earth and I get the same picture. I have also tried Google Earth Pro and the plane on the runway and plane approaching T4 have also disappeared. I have found a date and it is April 2020, But if a plane is not been prepared for takeoff it would be moved onto the apron away from the terminals. But there are NO planes whatsoever at Heathrow not even at the area to the East of the Airport where they service the aircraft. Yep, I found the same thing mate. strange and no real reason to it as far as I can see. When I focus in on my house the image is very recent. Although my car was at work, and I've no idea what the minibus from the local reggae club was doing parked outside... Have you checked LGW or STN for the same thing?. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lirchenfeld Posted August 28, 2023 Share Posted August 28, 2023 7 minutes ago, Siam Addict said: Tried Google Maps and Google Earth and I get the same picture. I have also tried Google Earth Pro and the plane on the runway and plane approaching T4 have also disappeared. I have found a date and it is April 2020, But if a plane is not been prepared for takeoff it would be moved onto the apron away from the terminals. But there are NO planes whatsoever at Heathrow not even at the area to the East of the Airport where they service the aircraft. If it is the concorde you are thinking about, then it is on display for historical reasons. https://www.heritageconcorde.com/g-boab-208 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forcebwithu Posted August 29, 2023 Share Posted August 29, 2023 Google Earth uses an algorithm to choose what they consider the best quality satellite image when you first select a site to view. In the case of Heathrow that happens to be an image from April 10, 2020 when air traffic was almost nil. To the view the most current image, one taken this month, click on the Show Historical Imagery icon. That will bring up the most current image, regardless of quality. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forcebwithu Posted August 29, 2023 Share Posted August 29, 2023 ^^^ Just realized the date displayed when you click the Show Historical Imagery icon is not the date of the latest image. To see the actual date you have to click on the slider bar which then shows the is July, 2022 for the above image. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horizondave Posted August 29, 2023 Share Posted August 29, 2023 Looking at the picture on Google Earth, it is pretty obviously photoshopped or a composite. Zooming in, you can see quite a few jettys are fully extended, that would only be if there are planes present. Heathrow was operating in April 2020 so the picture has been edited for effect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butch Posted August 29, 2023 Share Posted August 29, 2023 that's odd, if you look at the rhs of the image, there appears to be building going on, I think this is Terminal 2 link to the gates which was finished ages ago. iirc there's 2 massive escalators which take you to ground level, along with a looong walk to gate 46 for the TG/BR flights. afaik there's no construction ongoing at LHR for the last year or so, apart from mainetenace etc. I may well be wrong though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fygjam Posted August 29, 2023 Share Posted August 29, 2023 Google Earth has layers which you can switch on or off. LHR December 1945. LHR December 1945 with the Photorealistic layer enabled Now I may be mistaken but I'm pretty sure that they didn't have 4 engine swept wing jetliners in 1945. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horizondave Posted August 29, 2023 Share Posted August 29, 2023 Flyertalk is a good forum for anything to do with aviation. Just looked and saw this thread, tends to agree with the composite, photoshopped theory. https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/british-airways-executive-club/2079887-no-aircraft-lhr-google-maps.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forcebwithu Posted August 29, 2023 Share Posted August 29, 2023 Here's a post on GE Help that explains the lack of aircraft. Where are the planes at Heathrow? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bexwell Posted August 29, 2023 Share Posted August 29, 2023 If you look at the bottom left of the picture there's an icon with 1945 If you click on it it opens a sliding scale that allows you to look at every year that there's an image for Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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