BA Citiexpress flight report

Well this was the weekend I had been waiting a while for, 4 BA flights around the UK.
Friday night I checked in at Southampton Airport, and went through to the tiny departure lounge, getting a good view of Easterns new leased Saab2000. Eventually we boarded the delayed (20 minutes) BA Dash 8 Q300 G-BRYX, before briskly taxiing out to runway 02. We departed uneventfully and were served the usual cold roll, and after an hour touched down on Manchesters runway 06L, sadly we had to park on the cargo apron, however this was in between G-BDXE, one of EALs 742s in the new colours, and G-BOAC, Manchesters newest inhabitant! Getting the bus all the way across the airport I saw a Flyjet 757 (Again A330!) before going through arrivals to stay the night at my Aunt and Uncles.
Next day was a 6 AM wake up before driving down to Birmingham, where we viewed the majority of the Duo fleet, and then checked in for our flight to Edinburgh. The aircraft was an Avro RJ100 (146 to most people) G-BZAY, and we settled down at the back of the aircraft, clear of the wing in our comfortable, but cosy seats. After a long taxi out to runway 15 we got airborne, and were very surprised to see the crew of 4 (Yes 4 crew on a 146!) handing out whopping great cooked (read: hot) breakfasts!
Scrambled egg, bacon, sausage, Hash brown, tomato, bread roll, orange juice, and tea! This is part of BAs new catering initiative, free hot breakfasts before 10 on every flight!
We noticed very much the grinding noise the flaps make when being raised and lowered between 0 and 18, and it seemed to startle a few people! After a bumpy descent we touched down on runway 06 at Edinburgh, and after a bit of sucking up we were allowed to visit the cockpit for 5 minutes where the crew enthusiastically guided us around. According to them it is a common misconception that people are not allowed in the cockpit full stop, and they were actively encouraging us to get more people to visit them when they were on the ground due to the lonesome factor!
After a pleasant day sightseeing in Edinburgh we went back to the airport and walked straight through to the lounge. The excellent ground staff at BHX had checked us in for both flights that day, as well as allocating our seats just how we wanted. In the lounge we saw a flyglobespan 737 and the Air Scotland 757, before boarding our Embraer 145 G-EMBK. This flight was only about a third full, as opposed to the other 2 which had been about 2 thirds full, and so the 2 cabin crew were able to get around a bit quicker and offer that slightly more personal touch. Again we were offered a cold roll after the amazingly smooth takeoff, very quiet, with no adverse rattles. The flight itself was incredibly smooth as well, and both myself and my uncle concluded it was the nicest flight we had done, before touching down on runway 33 at BHX, and again getting a short look around the cockpit!
Yesterday after a days spotting at Manchester I boarded a very wet Dash 8 300 G-BRYJ. The lack of a Q (For quiet) in the aircraft name made a big difference! It was older, noisier and falling apart, I nearly got knocked out by the cabin divider which fell down half way through the take off roll, and was quite happy to leave the plane after landing on Southamptons runway 20 on time!

In two weeks time I’m off on my Ryanair jolly, STN-PIK-DUB-STN which should make an interesting comparison, and 2 weeks after that I am flying LGW-BHD, although this might not happen as I booked the wrong days, and now have to take the day off college!