In-flight "entertainment"

[newswatcher]

On a recent flight from NCL to LHR, the in-cabin screens were deployed, and we were "treated" to the map sequence showing the progress of our flight, together with the flight statistics.

My question is, on such a short flight, do I really need to know where Dar es Salaam is? Is there no control whereby the display can be kept relevant?:confused:

[Wannabe Flyboy]

If that was a 'Big Airways' flight then they all are on an automatic sequence and are set to show major cities within X miles so I don't think the cabin crew could alter it.

It's always nice to have them down though.

[Globaliser]

newswatcher: At least you could draw comfort that you were not in fact going to Dar Es Salaam, if it was not your destination. :)

[newswatcher]

There is that Globaliser!:D

I also spent some time wondering why the aircraft on the screen was flying sideways, and occasionally backwards!:=

[GwynM]

the means you're in the stack over Watford

[newswatcher]

GwynM, sadly not, this was mid-way on flight! :hmm: In fact, we went straight in to LHR eventually, about 6pm, now that was much appreciated. ;)

[Wannabe Flyboy]

Hows this for a record... I've NEVER had to hold on a Heathrow-bound flight at all. Ever.

[PAXboy]

I recall a flight from GVA to LHR with Swiss (the original!) and the plane icon on the screen showed use being 'dragged' backwards all the way. I suppose the crew wanted to get home quickly and it saved turning the a/c around upon arrival ... :=

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"I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don't let anybody tell you any different." Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

[Evening Star]

Hows this for a record... I've NEVER had to hold on a Heathrow-bound flight at all. Ever.

Which I presume therefore, Wannabe Flyboy, is another way of saying you have never flown into LHR! :p

the plane icon on the screen showed use being 'dragged' backwards all the way

Same thing happened recently BRU to DME. Further we got from BRU the further we were from our destination. Rather useless.

[amanoffewwords]

On Swissair many moons ago, during moderate to heavy turb on a ZRH-flight LHR the drop -down screen on a A319/320? showed a silent movie of Mr Bean -- that and the Champagne in C made it so that first I noticed the flight had been bumpy was when we landed and the Captain apologised for the rough ride - the whole was in histerics most of the time so it didn't matter. Anything to distract you from the fact that your flying a tubular can of fuel at 35k is fine by me....

amofw

[Wannabe Flyboy]

Which I presume therefore, Wannabe Flyboy, is another way of saying you have never flown into LHR!

Actually, no... I'm by no means a frequent flyer but I do fly regularly. I've just been lucky I suppose...

[Final 3 Greens]

I also spent some time wondering why the aircraft on the screen was flying sideways, and occasionally backwards! These pesky 400 knot winds have a lot to answer for.....

Or you were p@ssed!

Or the system was malfunctioning - I remember being on an AA A300 (how about that for alliteration?) at BOS, when the screen showed us as having arrived at LHR.

I didn't much like this, nor did the Capt, who refused to move until an engineer intervened and we were restored to being at BOS.

Shame though, it would have been a nice way of saving 6h20 in the air :}

[WHBM]

The in-flight product is Airshow, by Rockwell Collins http://www.rockwellcollins.com/products/cs/at/page839.html
As anyone in computing will tell you, the Americans are expert at designing hardware, innovation, and sales and marketing. When it comes to the actual computer application functionality they fall well behind Europeans.

So we have clever (indeed) Airshow, nicely rolled out across the airlines of the world, but where the actual commonsense information on the maps leaves something to be desired, as described above. It would take very little to fix but probably no-one at Rockwell can see the problem.

My own annoyance with it, apart from the stupid selection of cities, is on international flights showing a few lines of information in foreign language in metric units, then the same language in imperial units (which the foreign language speakers never use), then in English in metric, then in English in Imperial. A little cleverness could put it all much more succinctly.