Kate Humble anchored the programme with the air traffic controllers at the almost 90 metre high control tower where she found out about ‘go-arounds’. This is where a pilot decides to abort a landing and power back up into the sky. Go-arounds can be due to the runway ahead not being clear or strong winds affecting the stability of the aircraft as it’s landing.
Turnaround featured again. Anita Rani spent time with turnaround managers from Virgin and British Airways as they worked to ensure flights stayed on schedule. She also got to see some of the high-value cargo transported around the world from Heathrow including a Ford rally car and a Corvette endurance racing car worth more than £1m transferring to Le Mans from the US. And even the family pets got to take a trip on board, with cats and dogs travelling in the hold.
Dallas Campbell had a chance to strip and repaint an aircraft in the British Airways painting bay. He helped spray a special peroxide mixture on to an Airbus that caused the old paint to peel away baring the primer coat underneath. Afterwards he took part in the pain-staking process of creating the template for the British Airways livery on the fin of the aircraft.
