4U341-4U348 LGW-CGN-LGW 21/7/04

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So here's my last trip report of the week. A flight i flew yesturday

Flight No. 4U 341
Aircraft: A320 D-AIQR
Departure 0830
Arrival 1030

So i got to LGW by 0615 via the train again. I checked in and then wen to have brekkie. the i went thru to departures, and went to the lagr bay windows once again. I spen bout 30misn there, due to th fact i had to go to the Satallite Peir at Gatwick. That was the st time i'd used it.

I spent a few mins going round it, trying to get some regs off the N Term, then my aircraft arrived. It was a A320, something i had never flown before. I really wanted to get a A320, and a A319 today cos i'd never flown them before! :p

I was the 1st to board in that scram to get the best seat. I chose a seat in front of the engine, so when we landed i could see the sort of buckets being deployed on the CFM engines. We pushed back a few minutes early, as there was oly 54 of us on board, so i got an aisle to myself!

But the hope of reaching Cologne early were dashed, as the Captain announced that there was about 4 6 aircraft to depart, and about to land. So we had qite a bit of a wait holding next to 26L.

So at last we took off, and departed towards Dover. We went over Brussels and climd to FL290. We saw nothing but clouds till the German border, and by this time we were well into our decent! We approached right over Cologne, and i saw the Dom standing out in the Skyline. We landed on 14L and did a high speed taxi to Terminal C.

The i took the newly built train connection to Cologne, from the very new station which had been opened last month. The return cost of the train was only 5 Euros, nd it cost me £6 to get to LGW that morning.
I spent the day going around Cologne, which is a v nice city!
I then went back to the Adenhaur Flughafen, and spent an hour of the viewing area, which is OK i guess.

Flight No. 4U348
Aircraft A319 D-DLII
Departure 1910
Arrival 1950

So i checked in for this flight after 1500. This time we were boarding from Terminal D, which is the newest of the 4 Terminals at the Airport. We should have started boarding at 1750, but there was no sign of any crew, i wasnt sure where the aircraft was if fact. 1820 we should have been in the air, but we had oly just started barding. We had to catch a bus to our gate. We all thought it was quite a far distance away, but infact it was only 20 metres or so!!
I got wot i had wanted, an A319, tho pity it was an ex-Luthansa one, and the all-white one, with no IFE which 4U A319's do have. We were ready by 1840, but cos we were late, ATC were a pain and made us wait for an extra 30 mins!

We pushed back, started the engines, and stood there for 25 mins doing nothing. I was on seat 15A behind the wing this time so atleast i could watch the arrivals.

So at 1910 we lined up on 14L, did a rolling take-off then started on our journey. After we cleard Cologne, the Captain said there was a few thunderclouds heading our way, with just a BIT of turbulence, but the turbulence we were about to have, was the worse i'd ever had!!

Just after the seatbelt sign was swiched off, it began.
We shook just a bit,but then i could see the tunderclouds getting higher, and when we entered one, the force of it was incredible. The Aircraft shook violently, the crew rushed back with the trolley to their seats, the winds were bending at an angle i'd never seen before, and we dropped 100ft in one go!!! Nobody was screaming tho, which was good, but at one time, there was a bit of worry withing the cabin of wot we were going to get. The Captain said that we had gone thru a storm of a greater force than he had expected, and now we were heading towards Holland to miss the rest of it. We had gone up to FL320 to try and escape it, but u could see the tops of the clouds getting up to FL360!

It was a bit less bumby then, but still there was some moderate turbulence, until we statd the approach into . We were told that a sudden rush of aircraft was approacing LGW, and that we would have to hold, which would add yet another 20 mins to our flight. But we landd at 1950, and then taxied back to stand 37 on the Satallite Peir.

So it was a great day out for £30, and i highly recommend Germanwings.

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