MAN-EDI-MAN on BMI in J

Hi all and welcome to my first trip report.
I had no intentions of making a TR for this trip so please excuse the lack of pictures…

Background to the trip…
For a good number of years now i have been traveling back and forth from my home in Halifax up to Galashiels to visit my Girlfriend(doing the old long distance relationship thing!).More often than not i will drive,but being a lover of all things related to the world of commercial aviation,i will sometimes let the plane take the strain.

The 1st leg…
Woke up on the morning of the 28th Sept with a smile on my face knowing its time to fly again.Only the small matter of a few hours at work to deal with and then the fun can begin.Returned home from work at 12.30,jumped in the shower,packed a bag for the weekend and set off for the 1HR drive to MAN.As some of you will know the M62 can be a bit hit and miss at this time so i always give myself pleanty of time just incase.
All went well on the drive over and got a parking space in the short stay car park T3.
It was almost 3 HRS till departure!!! but there is always alot to keep me occupied,so i checked in and had a bit of a look round the place.
Decided to go airside soon after.Security was a breeze and i was downing my 1st Stella in the loung moments later.The lounge dragons seemed to be in high spirits today which is always nice to see ha ha!!
After reading a couple of magazines,watching some tv and another couple of beers my flight was called to board from gate 6(i think).

BD361 MAN-EDI E135

I walked over to the gate with that happy feeling inside knowing its time to fly,presented my boarding card and headed out accross the tarmac to the waitng plane G-RJXJ.
First time on a 135 and was quite suprised to see only 1 member of cabin crew!!!!Welcomed aboard and took my seat 4A.
Doors were soon closed and a short announcment was made from the flight deck.
Push and start was right ontime 18.20 and we taxied out to 5L.Altough this is the less frequent takeoff heading i seem to have got this runway alot more than normal this year!!!Maybe the winds are a changing(prob down to climate change caused for the most part by aviation ha ha!!!!! yea right)
Takeoff roll was super short no doubt helped by what looked like a good headwind showing on the windsock and the fairly light load factor(50% i guess).

Climb out with sun just starting to set

And another

As we climbed out of the cloud the lone F/A was given the all clear to start the service.
Dinner this evening was Cottage Pie,peas and carrots,warm bead roll and crackers and cheese,washed down with a tasty G+T.
No en-route info from the flight deck,but woud guess a FL somewhere in the low 20s.
Empty trays were collected just as we started our decent and hot towls were handed out soon after.
It was now dark outside as we slowly decend through some cloud giving a few bumps and jolts,then on to a very smooth toucdown on 06.
We were soon parked up and collecting our belongings from the overhead bins.Thanked the F/A for a great service and made my way onto the bus to the terminal.I rang the Mrs to let her know i had arrived and she was already waiting in arrivals for me.My bag showed up in no time and we were on our way down to my second home…

The return leg…
The Mrs did me the honour of driving up to EDI on Monday afternoon and again was there in plenty time.We had a quick drink in a coffe shop before saying our goodbyes(in a descret fashion,unlike some folks you see who are almost making love in the terminal):rolleyes:
There was some confusion at the bag drop area and a que soon built up.Things soon started to move again tho,but as i was called forward some guy barged through ranting about how this is not acceptable for business class pax!!!He was soon told whats what by the lady at the desk and moved back into the que.Honestly some people are just on another planet.We were held up for less than 5mins and this guys whole world came crashing down around him.I just dont get it!!!!!!!I had a giggle with the bag drop lady about it and went off to security,which was holding up quite well to the start of the early evening rush.
I decided to have a quick look around a few shops before making my way to the lounge,but nothing took my fancy.
The BMI business lounge at EDI is much nicer in my oppinion to the one in MAN.More open and airy,but i feel the selection of snacks could do with a bit of a boost as there is a limited selection really.
Anyway time soon passed by and before i new it the flight was called.I Said goodbye to the lounge dragons and went to the gate to board.

BD388 EDI-MAN E-145

As i made my way across the tarmac there was G-RJXN waiting to shuttle us down to MAN.My 3rd flight on a E-145 and flight number 21 this year.These E jets really do look the part in BMI livery.
I was greeted by a attractive F/A at the door and made my way to 3A.Door was soon closed to a light load of around 25 pax.Message from the flight deck was we were “ready to go” almost 15mins early..so we pushed back and started the taxi out to 06.As can be the case tho we were held back on a taxiway off to one side of 06 while all the “on time” aircraft took priority.After this tho we lined up and set off down 06 on time again at 18.20.Amazing views over the Firth of Forth as we made a left turn back to what i imagin would be Dean Cross VOR then south over the Lakes.
Dinner was Chicken and Potatoes again served with a warm bread roll and crackers and cheese.Just took a Pepsi to wash it down this time as i had to drive home from the airport.
There was a empty seat behind me,so after eating i reclined the seat and took in the views while i listend to the trusty old I-POD.
As we neared MAN i could see it was quite busy up here this evening,but ATC must have been on the ball as there was no hold.
Approaching from the North i could see the airport as we made a right turn followed shortly by a left for the base leg.Would you beleve it 05R was again the landing runway!!!As we turned for final i could make out a EK 777 just about to touch down.
We landed real smooth again and made our way in to park up at the same gate i left at only a few days earlier…

Overall BMI showed themselves in a good light on this trip,and will be my airline of choice on this route in future.Having used the now defunct BA connect and FLYBE on this route,i feel they cant match BMI for service and certainly not punctuality.

Again my appologies for the lack of pictures,and hope i my 1st report is up to the standard often seen here in this forum.

Next trip is MAN-SIN-KUL-SIN-MAN on Oct 20th-26th and will be sure to write a report..

Thanks for your time
Lee