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Hi,
I would imagine if you show up at the Heathrow fence with a large ladder that would cause a significant security incident. This reminds me of a situation when I entered the upper level of one of the parking lots at Heathrow (without a car) for a good view to watch the air traffic while I was waiting for my departure. That was maybe 15 years ago and ended with the Police showing up and forced me to leave the parkdeck immediately. The same happened to me also at Honolulu International some years later when around 20 security person showed up to chase away me and my wife. I think we even had been lucky that they did not arrest us for 24h. It is a pity that security forces (especially in the US) are notorious paranoid and tending to overreact on harmless situations.

Hi Jakob. I have seen photographers set up tall ladders in the past, normally with a road and two fences separating them from the active airfield, this may have changed since enforcing the 3 metre from fence exclusion zone. Times have changed, so I understand the need for extra security, I would definitely miss being able to get shots like the one above.

I definitely miss being able to visit the flightdeck during a flight. My very last was on a British Airways B744 flight from Harare, Zimbabwe in 1993. The first visit to the flight deck I can remember was flying Sydney to Nadi Fiji, enroute to Honolulu, Hawaii on a QANTAS B707.