Dear group

I am having an interesting problem that I hope someone can explain to
me.

I live in the UK, about 30 miles from Manchester airport. When my radio
alarm wakes me in the morning, tuned to 98.5MHz (BBC Radio 1), I
sometimes hear air traffic conversations intermittently. These are loud
and very clear, as if the plane is flying directly above.

I also own a radio scanner - an Icom IC-R5. However, I have tried to
intentionally tune to the Manchester airport frequencies, but only ever
get a weak signal. I find this strange as my alarm clock only has a
basic wire antenna - far inferior to that of the Icom.

So my questions a Why am I hearing air traffic on 98.5MHz? and if my
radio alarm can receive such a strong signal, why can't I pick it up
with my R5?

Regards

Greg Bolshaw