Cazatou
Pardon me, I forgot to answer your two specific points:
<<"Was not its airspeed (135Kts) the optimum cruise for the job?"
Well, that depends on various factors such as weather conditions, passenger comfort, aircraft weight etc.>>
And this is for you experienced aviators to answer, surely, and clear this one up – I repeat, was its airspeed to be expected (given the parameters that you listed) on that leg from NI to the Mull?
<<"There seemed to be a willingness to confuse the public by including the tailwind component"
7729hrs flying in the RAF over 31 years and I got it wrong all that time!!!>>
My point was that, if the 135kts airspeed was to have been expected (as above point) then the effective ground speed (including the strong tailwind component) was not indicative of undue haste on the part of the pilots. The a/c’s speed seems to have often been referred to as high together with suggestions that the pilots had been pushing it – I am saying that it has been quite wrong to suggest such and I have always been surprised that this aspect has not been rectified by experienced aviators like yourselves.