By Geoffrey Thomas...
The West Australian, Monday, 26 Mar 2018.
We didn’t feel a thing
On the first commercial Concorde flight as it passed through the sound barrier, a passenger sitting next to one of the chief designers said, “I didn’t feel a thing” .
The designer replied, “That was the hard part” .
And so it was on the first Qantas 787 nonstop flight from Perth to London — two years of hard work so that passengers didn’t feel a thing.
It was effortless because of the enormous effort expended by Qantas, Boeing, engine maker General Electric, Perth Airport and Border Force.
And that effort was on show at Perth Airport on Saturday evening, because it seemed every Qantas staff member was working, whether rostered or not. As QF9 taxied away from the terminal, airport staff and visitors at every vantage point waved us farewell.
The tyranny of distance was finally defeated — easily.
The food, wine and champagne flowed and across the plane it was a thumbs up on the culinary scorecard.
According to Lisa Norman, Qantas’ 787 chief pilot and in command of the flight, it was “leading the pack” of Europe-bound flights from Asia and what is more, we were flying higher at more than 12,000m, giving us clear air ahead in what is some of the world’s most congested airspace.
The landing, to rousing cheers, was superb.
We have made history.
And from journo Natalie Richards in Economy Class (another article in The West)...
Comforts ease squeeze
The headrest is too high, or not high enough, my neck feels like it’s been kicked by a donkey’s hind legs and I’ve lost all feeling in my right leg.
The much-hyped Dreamliner this may be, but let’s get one thing clear, this is a long-haul flight and, as with all long-haul flights, there are places you’d much rather be — bed for a start.
That said, these complaints are universal. But, if you’re sitting at the back of the bus, Qantas’ spanking new Dreamliner is about as good as it’s going to get.
They’ve thought of everything here — there’s a stand for your iPad, plug sockets and USBs. On a flight that takes off a few hours before bedtime, sleep was going to be critical to prevent cattle class from descending into a scene from the Muppets.
The cabin lights gently faded to a red glow after dinner and the temperature dropped, which was our cue to try to catch a bit of shut-eye .
The legroom, however, was a common niggle. The second the seats went back, we were squished in centimetres of space.
As we hit the tarmac at Heathrow, there was a loud round of applause at the back of the plane and not only because the inaugural flight had made it in one stab (let’s be honest, we were all a tad nervous).
It was over, far quicker than we expected.