Heathrow Gnomes
The first time I heard of the Heathrow gnomes I thought I had misheard. I was sitting on the flight deck of an A320 taxiing towards the take off runway with a set of headphones on when the Captain asked me if I had ever seen a Heathrow Gnome. I shook my head and wondered desperately what he had meant. Had he said “Crows”?
He went on to say that they were often seen at the foot of the orange windsocks which ware dotted around the runways. “He must have meant crows”. I thought to myself. “Or perhaps some other sort of animal”.
Andy the Captain went on to say that they moved around and were spotted in all sorts of random places around the runways doing random things. I was getting very confused and decided to humour him by smiling blankly. “God help us” I thought. “This man is flying the plane today.”
He must have seen the look of “You’re a nutter” on my face because he turned towards the windows and started to studiously peer out as the First Officer took control of the taxiing. Suddenly he gave a shout and I nearly wet myself. I am not used to people shouting on aircraft unless its an emergency. He pointed out towards a windsock. “There’s one!” he said triumphantly. “Over there! Look! Can you see it?”
To my complete and utter disbelief, sure enough, sitting merrily under the windsock was a cheeky little garden gnome.....
The first time I heard of the Heathrow gnomes I thought I had misheard. I was sitting on the flight deck of an A320 taxiing towards the take off runway with a set of headphones on when the Captain asked me if I had ever seen a Heathrow Gnome. I shook my head and wondered desperately what he had meant. Had he said “Crows”?
He went on to say that they were often seen at the foot of the orange windsocks which ware dotted around the runways. “He must have meant crows”. I thought to myself. “Or perhaps some other sort of animal”.
Andy the Captain went on to say that they moved around and were spotted in all sorts of random places around the runways doing random things. I was getting very confused and decided to humour him by smiling blankly. “God help us” I thought. “This man is flying the plane today.”
He must have seen the look of “You’re a nutter” on my face because he turned towards the windows and started to studiously peer out as the First Officer took control of the taxiing. Suddenly he gave a shout and I nearly wet myself. I am not used to people shouting on aircraft unless its an emergency. He pointed out towards a windsock. “There’s one!” he said triumphantly. “Over there! Look! Can you see it?”
To my complete and utter disbelief, sure enough, sitting merrily under the windsock was a cheeky little garden gnome.....
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