Stilton,
I was once offered a non-stop seat on a 747SP that was ferrying oil workers. Direct MPA-Stanstead IIRC. Of course, if you are travelling northbound the number of Divs improve the closer to destination you get....
Turned it down as the windscreen had a crack which was, in effect, one flight only. Decided the risk of being somewhere in S America with a bag full of flying suits and having to pay the rest of the way home wasn't worth the risk!