London Heathrow, 13th June, 2021

After my visit to Brize Norton, it was a quick drive down the M40 to get to Heathrow for the Air Force One show.

I arrived at the Urban Farm at 1130. My arrival wasn't a moment too soon, as I found it incredibly busy, and I secured one of the last 'nose in' parking spots and settled down for what the day would bring. 

The airport was still far from busy, and Iran Air's A330 is nowhere near as enigmatic as the A310s and A300s they have replaced:

It was good to see a 737 from Egyptair rather than the more normal 777:

If Egyptair were operating a smaller than usual aircraft, Swiss went the other way, with a widebody operating their Zurich service rather than the more normal A320 series: 

At 3pm everything went quiet, as arrivals moved to the northern runway to keep the southern one sterile ahead of the main event. However, by now the parking area was way busier than I had ever seen it before: 

At around 330 the two US Marine helicopters - one of which would be taking the President to Windsor Castle - along with several other helicopters - arrived from Northolt. 

An hour later, the peace and quiet of the Urban Farm was broken with a cacophony of radios announcing the arrival of the VC-25. Most of us had been tracking the aircraft on Flight Radar, so while its arrival may not have been a surprise, it was certainly a special moment when that most famous of call signs called up on Heathrow Tower, and the controller cleared Air Force One to land some 12 miles out:

Five minutes or so later the support C-32 arrived from Newquay:

With nothing now happening for the next few hours, most of the spotters present relocated to the spot by the Esso garage to capture the departure:

With nothing happening on the runway in front of us, most were keeping an eye on overflights. A strange shape appeared that was not on any of the tracking apps - once it got closer it was apparent that it was a cluster of balloons that must have escaped from their owner:

The helicopters returned from Windsor at around 1845. They routed south of the airport so we could only hear them, but Air Force One had already called for start before they arrived, and it was only a few minutes later that the traffic was literally bought to a halt as the 747 left for Brussels:

Being followed just a couple of minutes later by the supporting C-32:

And then this was followed shortly after by another C-32 taking the First Lady back to Andrews AFB:

A lot of the people present then started to leave, but many of us stuck around for an extra few minutes to see the helicopters return to Northolt. It was good to get a close up of the Presidential VH-3, albeit unfortunate that it was back lit:

The helicopters pulled a tight turn back over the airport to get to Northolt - as well as the two VH-3s, there were two RAF Pumas, a Police EC145 and - not visible in the photo - an Army Air Corps AS365:

That was the end of the day's activity, so it was time to return home. 

All in all, an excellent day - here is the log:  

09-0016 Boeing 757-2Q8(C-32A)     USAF - United States Air Force

159354 Sikorsky VH-3D Sea King USMC - United States Marine Corps
159356 Sikorsky VH-3D Sea King USMC - United States Marine Corps
4X-EDK Boeing 787-9                         El Al Israel Airlines
82-8000 Boeing 747-2G4B(VC-25A) USAF - United States Air Force
90-0002 Boeing 757-2G4(VC-32A) USAF - United States Air Force
A6-BMB Boeing 787-10                         Etihad Airways
A6-EPV Boeing 777-300ER                 Emirates
A7-BEG Boeing 777-3DZER                 Qatar Airways
A7-BEM Boeing 777-300ER                 Qatar Airways
A7-BHC Boeing 787-9                         Qatar Airways
A9C-FE Boeing 787-9                         Gulf Air
B-1132 Boeing 787-9                         Hainan Airlines
B-6545 Airbus A330-243                 China Eastern Airlines
B-LJM Boeing 747-867F                 Cathay Pacific Airways
D-AEAJ Airbus A300B4-622R(F)         EAT/DHL Worldwide Express
D-AINA Airbus A320-271N                 Lufthansa
D-AINC Airbus A320-271N                 Lufthansa
D-AINW Airbus A320-271N                 Lufthansa
EC-MKI Airbus A330-202                 Iberia
EI-DEK Airbus A320-214                 Aer Lingus
EI-DVL Airbus A320-214                 Aer Lingus
EI-GAL Airbus A320-214                 Aer Lingus
EP-IJB Airbus A330-243                 Iran Air
G-CLAA Boeing 747-446F                 Cargologicair
G-DBCD Airbus A319-131                 British Airways
G-DBCE Airbus A319-131                 British Airways
G-DBCG Airbus A319-131                 British Airways
G-DBCH Airbus A319-131                 British Airways
G-DBCK Airbus A319-131                 British Airways
G-EUOE Airbus A319-131                 British Airways
G-EUPD Airbus A319-131                 British Airways
G-EUPJ Airbus A319-131                 British Airways
G-EUPZ Airbus A319-131                 British Airways
G-EUUD Airbus A320-232                 British Airways
G-EUUG Airbus A320-232                 British Airways
G-EUYO Airbus A320-232(SL)         British Airways
G-EUYP Airbus A320-232(SL)         British Airways
G-EUYR Airbus A320-232(SL)         British Airways
G-EUYU Airbus A320-232(SL)         British Airways
G-MIDS Airbus A320-232                 British Airways
G-MPSB Eurocopter EC145 C-2         National Police Air Service
G-NEOR Airbus A321-251N                 British Airways
G-NEOU Airbus A321-251N                 British Airways
G-ROYM Robinson R44 Raven II         HQ Aviation Ltd
G-STBO Boeing 777-300ER                 British Airways
G-TTNH Airbus A320-251N                 British Airways
G-TTNI Airbus A320-251N                 British Airways
G-TTNL Airbus A320-251N                 British Airways
G-TTNO Airbus A320-251N                 British Airways
G-TTOE Airbus A320-232                 British Airways
G-VIIE Boeing 777-236ER                 British Airways
G-VJAM Airbus A350-1041                 Virgin Atlantic
G-VPRD Airbus A350-1041                 Virgin Atlantic
G-VSXY Airbus A330-343E                 Virgin Atlantic
G-VTEA Airbus A350-1041                 Virgin Atlantic
G-ZBJG Boeing 787-8                         British Airways
G-ZBKA Boeing 787-9                         British Airways
G-ZBKL Boeing 787-9                         British Airways
G-ZBKP Boeing 787-9                         British Airways
HB-JMC Airbus A340-313X                 Swiss International Air Lines
JA731J Boeing 777-346ER                 Japan Airlines
JA787A Boeing 777-381ER                 All Nippon Airways
N719AN Boeing 777-323ER                 American Airlines
N795AN Boeing 777-223ER                 American Airlines
OH-LVL Airbus A319-112                 Finnair
SE-ROZ Airbus A320-251N                 SAS-Scandinavian Airlines System
SU-GEM Boeing 737-800WL                 EgyptAir
VQ-BEG Airbus A321-211                 Aeroflot Russian Airlines
XW214 Westland Puma HC.2         RAF - Royal Air Force
XW216 Westland Puma HC.2         RAF - Royal Air Force
YU-APE Airbus A319-132                 Air Serbia
ZJ783 Eurocopter AS365N3 Dauphin Army Air Corps