Thanks guys, all good info.
Obviously there is going to be an amount of initial height loss, but is it so much more pronounced in an A300? If so then why? Trawling through my memory I can recall sending 747-100s, Ilyushin 86s and 62s, and even a 727 around in the past year or so, and I thought they all got going up pretty quickly. I have to say that I can't recall ever sending an A300 around.
Gonzo