Big Plane, Heavy Plane! Killing time in the F Lounge – an Airplane Art Special!

Big Plane, Heavy Plane! Short-Haul A380s with British Airways
Killing time in the F Lounge – an Airplane Art Special!

Index:

• Big Plane! Heavy Plane! (The Introduction)
• Chiltern Railways to London, Heathrow Connect and the Holiday Inn Ariel
• To Heathrow T5 and a Sinking realisation
• Killing time in the F Lounge – an Airplane Art Special! – THIS SECTION
• A Look at the lower deck of the BA A380
• BA910 London Heathrow T5 to Frankfurt T2
  
• A Frankfurt Stopover
• BA911 Frankfurt Airport T2 to London Heathrow T5
• The work of a photographer
• A bright future?

Editors Note: Ok. Yes, I’m chopping and changing the titles as I’m going along. Not the best thought out titles, but work with me on this… it’s worth it. Mostly… 

T5A.. Again.

If you’ve arrived here before reading what happened before, head to the previous post to find out why I’m still at T5 and not on-board an A380.

Once through security, I made a beeline back to the lounge… but not before releasing the battery in the phone wouldn’t make it through the day. So I took matters into my own hands – and get a charger for the phone… and yes, I paid £97 for a charger.

It also had a HP Slate 7 with it, but that is besides the point (Truth be known, I’ve needed a replacement tablet for a bit since my olde one that I picked up in Hong Kong acted oddly… and then the screen cracked).

So I had technology, and I was ready to face the lounge again.

I was welcomed into the lounge, and found a nice window spot… and some bubbles. After the morning I’ve had so far, something to calm my nerves would be appreciated.

Now for those who enjoy watching planes… it isn’t that easy (even in the T5 F lounge). So this was a case of a big lens, ducking and diving the metal struts that Terminal 5 likes a lot of.

In my case, this was pairing up the 6D with a 70-200L f4 with no tripod. Oh well. who wants a controlled lens anyway?

I therefore sat down, recharged the phone, powered up the Tablet and made sure everything worked… whilst sipping a glass of the bubbly stuff.

But anyway: Pretty photos time.

American Airlines Boeing 777-200

British Airways Airbus A319 “Dove”

Qatar Airways Airbus A330

BA Airbus A320

Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner

Emirates Airbus A380

Now this spotting is hard work. So drink is needed:

Well… It’s the BA First Lounge – what else am I meant to drink?

With a spot of Breakfast – The British Breakfast sandwich.

The sandwich was nicely done, with the egg not overly runny, and the bacon nicely done. A nice breakfast snack. It seems that the food has finally improved since the dark days of May when the quality of the food in the T5 First Class lounge wasn’t exactly brilliant.

Of course, my camera needed a break too…

The Canon 6D with a 70-200L f4 resting between duties. Yes, that is a battery grip attached. Yes, this day drained the cheap batteries I popped in it.

G-VFAB – “Lady Penelope” taxiing. When I saw her last, I was off to Denver and things went well… this could only be a good omen…

Malaysia Airlines Airbus A380

Singapore Airlines Airbus A380

Of course, as time ticked on, it was time for lunch… and being in the BA lounge, there was only one option really – the BA Burger.

The BA Burger

The Chibatta bread top wasn’t bad, and the contents were nicely well done. The potato wedges were flavoursome… and the combo was quite filling.

Checking out the food situation at lunch, things are improving, with an interesting selection at lunch:

Cold items

Hot Items

However, this time I wasn’t going to miss my flight. I therefore headed off out the lounge and off to the gate.

But it seems Heathrow Airport seems to have captured a new market… Not just flights. But an airline that offers journeys in Time and Space:

Well the leg room is bigger on the inside obviously.

Although how this Supreme Dalek got past Heathrow Security is concerning… hang on.. does that mean Heathrow Security are now servants of the Daleks?

Anyway, I headed for the third time that day back to the transit system, and headed back to T5C once again… and this time I couldn’t miss the damn gate… or plane.

But of course, I needed to go through the transit system. And a bit of long exposure photography too.

Yarrhh. There she blows!

G-XLEA resting between duties

Two big birds…

A boarding call was made, and this time – I was at the right gate. My boarding pass was zapped… and I was let aboard.

At long last… 😉

Next: Inside British Airways Airbus A380 (Lower Deck)