4 ms·

For anyone else who didn't know that "normal" flight from JFK to Heathrow is just over 8 hours. Googling for this helped put the sub 3 hour 1996 concorde fligh

by Fuzzwah 10y ago

For anyone else who didn't know that "normal" flight from JFK to Heathrow is just over 8 hours. Googling for this helped put the sub 3 hour 1996 concorde flight into perspective.

isostatic 10y ago
Sadly not. 8 hours going west, 6 hours going east. An ideal flight is about 12 hours, giving uninterrupted 8 hours of sleep as well as time for a movie, dinner and breakfast. Even better if there's no jetlag. London to Joburg for example. East cost flights to Europe are horrible.
- seszett 10y ago
  > An ideal flight is about 12 hours, giving uninterrupted 8 hours of sleep as well as time for a movie, dinner and breakfast. Even better if there's no jetlag. Well... after having done Paris/Réunion a couple of times, a 12-hour flight with little jetlag, I must say this was a pretty terrible experience. The problem with sleeping for me isn't the length of the flight, it's the general noisy environment and uncomfortable seats with little room for legs (even if I'm not that tall), the upright posture, etc. Also, you don't get time for a movie but for three or four of them. I've always liked the Paris/Montreal flights much better simply because they're short enough that you don't get bored as much.
  - kleiba 10y ago
    Couldn't agree more to the "uncomfortable seats with little room for legs" part. I always envy people who aren't as tall as me and seem to be able to actually get some sleep in. That said, after having done Europe<->Australia and North America<->Australia a couple of times, the prospect of a 12 hour flight doesn't really sound that bad any more ("Only 12 hours? Sweet!").
    - mcguire 10y ago
      6'5" (1955mm) here. I don't sleep on airplanes. I did get a lot of work done coming back from Amsterdam.
  - kzrdude 10y ago
    I've come to realize that to cope best with a long flight like that, you have to be well rested and have had enough food and so on. You tolerate stress much better if you are well prepared.
- mikro2nd 10y ago
  Joburg-New York, on the other hand is a real killer at 16+ hours with a stop for crew change in the Canaries. I've been on that flight several times when they run out of drinking water, toilets overflow,... it's horrible. Once flew it with a colleague who was a cigarette smoker - he suffered terribly!

by Fuzzwah 10y ago

For anyone else who didn't know that "normal" flight from JFK to Heathrow is just over 8 hours. Googling for this helped put the sub 3 hour 1996 concorde flight into perspective.

isostatic 10y ago

Sadly not. 8 hours going west, 6 hours going east. An ideal flight is about 12 hours, giving uninterrupted 8 hours of sleep as well as time for a movie, dinner and breakfast. Even better if there's no jetlag. London to Joburg for example. East cost flights to Europe are horrible.

seszett 10y ago
> An ideal flight is about 12 hours, giving uninterrupted 8 hours of sleep as well as time for a movie, dinner and breakfast. Even better if there's no jetlag. Well... after having done Paris/Réunion a couple of times, a 12-hour flight with little jetlag, I must say this was a pretty terrible experience. The problem with sleeping for me isn't the length of the flight, it's the general noisy environment and uncomfortable seats with little room for legs (even if I'm not that tall), the upright posture, etc. Also, you don't get time for a movie but for three or four of them. I've always liked the Paris/Montreal flights much better simply because they're short enough that you don't get bored as much.
- kleiba 10y ago
  Couldn't agree more to the "uncomfortable seats with little room for legs" part. I always envy people who aren't as tall as me and seem to be able to actually get some sleep in. That said, after having done Europe<->Australia and North America<->Australia a couple of times, the prospect of a 12 hour flight doesn't really sound that bad any more ("Only 12 hours? Sweet!").
  - mcguire 10y ago
    6'5" (1955mm) here. I don't sleep on airplanes. I did get a lot of work done coming back from Amsterdam.
- kzrdude 10y ago
  I've come to realize that to cope best with a long flight like that, you have to be well rested and have had enough food and so on. You tolerate stress much better if you are well prepared.
mikro2nd 10y ago
Joburg-New York, on the other hand is a real killer at 16+ hours with a stop for crew change in the Canaries. I've been on that flight several times when they run out of drinking water, toilets overflow,... it's horrible. Once flew it with a colleague who was a cigarette smoker - he suffered terribly!