Thanks!

The inflight magazine was handed out in good time.

View through window.

We were told the flight would last an hour, and there would be some turbulence. At 10:19 we were pushed back and taxied to the right side runway (cannot remember the number). The flight was code shared with British Airways, Finnair and SWISS 😡 😡 😡 😡 We took off at 10:32, and climbed through the cloud and murk.

Just after take off.

The initial climb was smooth, but we soon came into increasing turbulence, and the seat belt lights came on again. After a while though, we were flying in blue skies with scattered clouds. Then the snack was handed out. It was fruit crumble, with a carton of water and orange juice.

The purser on the flight. We had a good, professional and very efficient crew. After the snacks there were chocolates handed round. Soon we crossed to Belgian coast.

The weather improved when we reached Belgium.

We approached towards runway 25L, past my favourite spotting place. The landing gear lowered at 12:26.

On final approach.

We touched down on 25L at 12:29.

Touchdown.

The landing was smooth, and we taxied to the terminal. Our luggage was with us very soon after, minus its padlocks! We complained to the Managing Director of Birmingham Airport and sent him the bill for the replacement ones. But we had a brilliant flight!

The STA site did have problems a few months ago, but then it came back. Now it seems to have gone again but there is no info about the airlines which made up the alliance.

1. Gear down for landing.
2. Back view turning off runway. Note thrust reversers, this plane is a real beauty and fantastic to handle!
3. Parked at the gate in Dublin.

Thanks for all the comments! I think the only airshow my Grandad went to was Finningley, it used to be an annual outing for us. Some of those photos are before my time so I can’t provide much info. The photos were all scanned fron slides so they are a bit of a nightmare to transfer well, sorry one was the wrong way round. My Grandad was ex-RAF so he was always into aircraft but WW1 was more his interest than WW2.

Also what frustrates me about the British is that they stick to one beer for like an hour. Belgians drink aprox 4 pints an hour. Normally that means if you enter a bar at 11 o’clock in the evening, apart from the bartender and some new-age alcohol-haters you won’t meet anyone sober. If you stick to one beer for an hour, every beer tastes like urine!!! Ohh, and another big mistake. Tourist usually order half a liter of beer. Don’t. Order small beers, they are much tastier. Especially this time of the year your beer will became warm and bugs will be swimming in it. I like my beers ice cold, even the ones which should not be put in the fridge like Duvel or Westmalle. I always put them in the freezer for a while. That’s my humble opinion ofcourse, most beer-specialist will think I’m nuts however warm beer is disgusting.

I stick to a beer for so long because it is impossible to get it at home so I appreciate it while I am able. It is Ok for Belgians to drink so much because they have access to those beers all the time and don’t view them the same way. And I just order beers which are poured from the bottle, a 33cl measure like Sloeber and have one in a night then I can appreciate the taste. You don’t appreciate the taste of beer if you’ve had a different one immediately before it. I could not drink a heavy chilled dark, chilling Rochefort 10 is sacriledge in my opinion 😀