There is another factor that is considered and that is the fact the thrust is related to temperature difference from the front of the engine to the exhaust (EGT). The engine has a finite temperature it can withstand so if the temperature is higher the difference across the engine is lower as is the maximum available thrust. On the fuel consumption it means that if the OAT is higher the EGT also has to be higher. To acheive this a greater amount of fuel is required to be burnt.

There is a little negative to flying higher and that is that, as already mentioned, the air is thinner and therefore the IAS reduces. With a lower IAS the angle of attack has to increase or the IAS must increase. If AOA increases so does the drag and therefore fuel used. To go faster, more fuel is also used. As you can see it is not as simple as going higher to save fuel especially when you factor in winds too.

RDC1000 got it basically. Have you tried standing up from a recumbent position lately. It takes a 2 stage movement and a fair amount of effort. Also, if lying down, you are more likely to be asleep and therefore will react slower to an evacuation command. There is also the deceleration side of it all too. It’s too easy to slide under a restraint if lying down. If you give the choice to people to have the seat upright or reclined then you scupper the people who seat back count to find the nearest exit. I do it while sitting waiting for the magic to happen. I count how many seats I will feel on my way to the nearest exit. If some were horizontal, I would have no clue.

As an aside, I flew into Fairford the other day and saw an old VC10 parked there which reminded me of travelling to Washington DC years ago in one as a kid and the seats in there all being rear facing. They had them like that for the crash scenario but it never took on.

I have heard from a friend of mine who works for them and he confirms the name change. Interesting choice of names and not sure they can use an existing name. I know bands definitely can’t if that counts!

Don’t expect any youthful crew to while away the time with. Good flights like the Londons are bid for and given to the senior crew. Look out for zimmer frames in the fwd galley! Nice aircraft to be pax in though so never mind the oldies. As stated above your PSP will be fine as long as the signs are off but it is always worth checking the inflight mag for confirmation.

PMN – The 757 sound is a result of the RB211-535E4 motors they use. They are a 3 spool engine whereas most turbofans these days are 2 spoolers. The 744 use the same units but the sound is somewhat different as there are 4 of them but you can still pick out that underlying tone.

WD – Doubt any negative G. The 75 is not certified for any negative G. Probably recovered from it with some sort of wing over/chandelle manoeuver otherwise it would be plenty of negative G.

It will be totally dependant on the winds on the day. Recently the headwinds were so strong they routed us down to Santiago Di Compostela in NW Spain before launching across the pond. We came very close to the Azores and even managed to see the peaks of a couple of the volcanoes. It is unusual to go this far south. The only country you will normally fly over on the way from here to Cuba is the Bahamas.