Round The World and other travels

Flight Log 3 : LH4059

Florence (FLR) - Frankfurt (FRA)

This flight was operated by Lufthansa's Cityline subsidiary, using one of their little Avro RJ85 four-engined jets. It was a busy flight in both Business and Economy, and problems were experienced storing all the hand luggage that people had chosen to bring on board. Somebody's rollaboard ended up on the floorspace of unoccupied seat 4A. Several people in the crowded Economy cabin asked if they could move forward, but as the seats they had in mind were forward of the curtain, the requests were of course refused. There were four rows in the Business cabin. Unlike mainline Lufthansa, the seats were exactly the same as those in Economy, except that the middle seats were not sold.

The engines were started at 1012, the safety demonstration was given, and we left our stand at 1014. We taxied down the little runway, performed a U-turn at the end and began the take-off run in what I usually describe as 'aircraft carrier style', i.e. engines screaming, brakes on, then a sudden lurch forward. The reason became clear as we climbed out, the constraints of this tiny airport being all too obvious from the air.

As we gained height, the flaps were retracted with the classic Avro sound effects. The in-flight meals were distributed and I found out that the 'Discover' series was still alive and well. Today we were being invited to Discover Black Salt - Portuguese Black Salt, to be precise. One of the little plates contained Halibut marinated in Black Salt, some potato salad and what I think was some smoked trout. The other plate contained a couple of slices of duck breast, served with some salsa, and a vegetable skewer. Also on the tray was a mousse served with mango coulis and topped with a fresh raspberry. I drank apple juice and coffee, saving myself for the delights to come later in the day.

Our routing was via Zurich and Stuttgart and the cruising altitude was a relatively low 28,000ft. The seat belt signs came back on well before the start of the descent - so much so that I managed to doze off as we left our cruising altitude. Deployment of the flaps and the associated sound effects marked our passage through a layer of cloud. We touched down at 1149, arriving at our remote stand some four minutes later. As we approached the stand, I could see the waiting limousine, and somehow I knew just exactly why it was there!  

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