All posts by roger

The First Fully Painted British Airways Airbus A380

Travel, , , , ,

Continuing my occasional look at the building and painting of first British Airways Airbus A380 here are some pictures of the first fully painted aircraft fresh out of the paint shop.

First Fully Painted British Airways Airbus A380
Photo from BA Facebook page

I must admit that I’ve always found the A380 a little ugly and not as streamlined and beautiful as the Boeing 747. But this paint job – perhaps it’s the blue belly – certainly improves the super jumbo’s looks.

First Fully Painted British Airways Airbus A380
Photo from BA Facebook page

Airbus will deliver this A380 to BA in July. Then we can look forward to all the cabin crew training flights. I wonder whether we will see it on the Edinburgh Shuttle run?

Your turn: What do you think of these photos of the first fully painted British Airways Airbus 380? Have you got any others you can share? Please leave a comment or share a link by clicking below.

 

Video Trip Report – British Airways Club World Review London Gatwick to Barbados

Travel, , , , , , , , ,

It’s always a pleasure to start a holiday in a bit of style.

For this year’s long haul trip to St Vincent in the Grenadines we had to travel from Edinburgh to London Gatwick, then across Atlantic to Barbados and finally a short hop to St Vincent itself.

For nearly nine hours the excellent crew in the BA Club World cabin looked after us. To get an idea of the experience watch the video below – it only lasts for 5 minutes or so. I’ve included shots of the cabin, the food, the entertainment and of course the take off and landing.

Your turn: What did you think of this British Airways Club World Review London Gatwick to Barbados? Have you recently travelled with BA? Please share your experiences. Please leave a comment or post a link to your review below.

British Airways Club World Review London Gatwick to Barbados
Taking off from Gatwick

First impressions of Body Balance release 60

Fitness and Yoga, , , , , , , ,

I usually get my first impressions of a new release of Body Combat or Body Balancefrom the Quarterly Workshop that we instructors go to. The UK training team deliver the new moves in a motivational Masterclass.

On this occasion however I couldn’t make it along to the workshop so these thoughts are based entirely on the instructional DVD.

In my opinion Body Balance has been consistently good since release 39 which I thought was the last average one. Fortunately release 60 does not disappoint. It is another great combination of music and moves and a challenging workout.

Body Balance release 60

Here are my initial thoughts about Body Balance release 60.

  • I love Tai Chi warm ups with plenty of arm circle movements and this time we have arm circle overload. This is a lovely opening sequence with plenty of variety. Get deep into those bow and arrow dips and your legs will burn.
  • Bruno Mars’s Grenade is the catchy melodic song choice for Standing Strength. Watch out for a slightly different take on extended warrior two pose.
  • The Balance track is actually two pieces of music and lasts over 8 minutes. We explore tree pose and extend one leg out to the side and straight. In the second part of the balance sequence we try bird pose again. Not a favourite for some but always a challenge for many. But this time we have a new challenge. Les Mills call it “bird in a basket” pose but yoga people will know it as “arm pressure pose”. This is advanced. A challenged heaped upon a challenge.
  • The Hips track needs only one word. Frog.
  • Abs is another blur of crunches, side planks with added hard work and hovers with challenges. Ouch.
  • Finally we finish with a nine minute double forward bends track which will let you finish the class feeling lengthened and content. Once again we revisit the Tai Chi to top and tail the workout.

Body Balance release 60 is fabulous and I can’t wait to teach it. I’m a little bit worried about that “bird in a basket” though.

Your turn: Have you done Body Balance release 60? What do you think? Please leave a comment on the blog and share your thoughts. Good or bad – please bring it on.

First impressions of Body Combat release 55

Fitness and Yoga, , , , , , ,

I usually get my first impressions of a new release of Body Combat or Body Balance from the Quarterly Workshop that we instructors go to. The UK training team deliver the new moves in a motivational Masterclass.

On this occasion however I couldn’t make it along to the workshop so these thoughts are based entirely on the instructional DVD.

body combat release 55
BC55 DVD Title Screen

So here are my first impressions of Body Combat release 55:

  • The upper body warm up is a very catchy tune and I’ve hummed it pretty much all the time since I first heard it.
  • Track two is another dubstep piece of music. I have a love hate relationship with dubstep. Sometimes I think it is innovative and interesting and on other occasions I feel it just makes my ears bleed.
  • Capoeira is the focus for track two with deep gingas, lunges and the return of the evasive side kick complete with the scary jumping version, the guest presenter on the DVD leaps into the stratosphere. No roundhouse kicks in track two. Is this the first time ever?
  • There are no jump kicks in track four. In fact the choreography for this one is very different. If it had been faster I would have thought it was a Muay Thai track.
  • The music choice for track five is interesting to say to say the least. When the  programme director starts the song by saying that of all the music in release 55 this is the one we will love the best, I suspect that means it is the one people will ask me to mix out first.
  • Jumping knees are back in the Muay Thai track itself.
  • The power climber move in the conditioning track is going to hurt.

So there we have it. I am learning Body Combat release 55 as I write and it will be coming soon to a Fight Club near you.

Your turn: Have you done Body Combat release 55 yet? What do you think? Please leave a comment below. Share your thoughts good or bad.