# "How was your flight?" - "A bit bumpy above the Azores, but fine otherwise." **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 2, 2017, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-your-flight-a-bit-bumpy-above-the-azores-but-fine-otherwise/803320 "2017-12-02T08:55:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2017, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-your-flight-a-bit-bumpy-above-the-azores-but-fine-otherwise/803320/21 "2017-12-02T22:39:04Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > Other thought. Back when I started flying places, in the '70s, your in-flight entertainment options were the in-flight movie (usually dire), a book, your seat-mates, or looking out the window. I expect people nowadays take less notice of the details of the actual flight path and experience, because there are so many opportunities for distraction. > > But I still remember some details of notable flight experiences I’ve had. Like the time we missed every minute of a 5-day 40+ heatwave as we blew in on the cool change (and felt every bump of it … wheeee!). It’s up there with “reasons I was bumped from Economy to Business” as a long haul flight topic of conversation. I will remember the last flight I took from Denver to Miami. Got stretch seating for that but the seats would not recline and had as much padding as a bus bench. Frontier, I’m looking at you. And goodbye. I also remember a puddle jumper flight in Costa Rica. Twin Otter. Bad weather so we where going to divert to a different airport. They knew this before takeoff, and one of the ground crew gave the pilot a portable GPS unit that they rubber banded to the wheel/yoke. Case he got lost I guess. Not sure what ‘emoticon’ to use here. It was a bit strange. Weather cleared up in flight and we ended up at our originally planned destination. Our ride was, or course at the other ‘airport’. Kind of a long day, but I can talk about it, so a perfect flight. 🙂 On another very short flight from Belize city to Ambergris Caye, the flight was a bit full. I was stuffed into the co-pilot seat. That was a Cessna Caravan. “Don’t touch anything”, was my pre-flight safety instruction. I obliged. 😃 Flew into Bloomington Ill about 45 years ago in a twin. I was right behind the pilot. Even at that age I knew what a stall buzzer was (my father was taking flight lessons at the time, he was not the pilot). I swear this was some sort of training flight. The plane stalled on approach in a very, very nasty rain storm. Landed a bit hard, but all ok. That was scary. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2017, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-your-flight-a-bit-bumpy-above-the-azores-but-fine-otherwise/803320/22 "2017-12-02T22:59:14Z")
> [@](#): > > . I expect people nowadays take less notice of the details of the actual flight path and experience, because there are so many opportunities for distraction. I gotta disagree with this. These days every seat has a video monitor that feeds a constant stream of visuals and info about the flight, it’s path, speed, altitude, time at destination, time to arrival, even the view from the nose for take off. And people watch them. A lot. (I personally find the take off view unsettling but can only avoid it by closing my eyes because it’s on almost every screen!) ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2017, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-your-flight-a-bit-bumpy-above-the-azores-but-fine-otherwise/803320/23 "2017-12-02T23:15:49Z")
If the OP is asking whether flights used to be more bumpy than they are now, the answer is yes. Airlines are far better equipped to identify storms over the oceans and route their flights around them than was possible in the 1960s. If the OP is asking whether someone on a transoceanic flight could actually identify where the flight got bumpy, an experienced traveler like Mr. Bond develops a knack for knowing where they are along the route at any given time. The Azores would be about 1/3 of the way from Europe to the U.S. along the southern Atlantic route. ---
**Author:** ![Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cabin_fever_1/32/2908_2.png) [@Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabin_Fever_1)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2017, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-your-flight-a-bit-bumpy-above-the-azores-but-fine-otherwise/803320/24 "2017-12-02T23:58:48Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > Really? That surprises me! I’ve never been in a plane that didn’t have a barf bag right there with the inflight magazines. Try a C-130. Not only do they have a serious lack of in-flight entertainment, good luck with finding the restroom. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2017, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-your-flight-a-bit-bumpy-above-the-azores-but-fine-otherwise/803320/25 "2017-12-03T02:55:46Z")
I can think of at least two flights that ended with stories like that. Although not so calm. On a prop flight from Milwaukee to Detroit: “OMG the turbulence over Lake Michigan!” I came off that flight so seasick, that an old friend spotted me in the hallway at Detroit Metro and asked if I needed an ambulance. From DCA to Tampa, for my Grandfather’s funeral (whose name was Daniel, as it happens): “We passed over Hurricane Danny in Georgia, I actually hit my head on the roof of the cabin!” The turbulence on that flight was truly epic. And I never did get to use the bathroom. Most uncomfortable. ---
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2017, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-your-flight-a-bit-bumpy-above-the-azores-but-fine-otherwise/803320/26 "2017-12-03T03:11:33Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > If the OP is asking whether flights used to be more bumpy than they are now, the answer is yes. Airlines are far better equipped to identify storms over the oceans and route their flights around them than was possible in the 1960s. > > If the OP is asking whether someone on a transoceanic flight could actually identify where the flight got bumpy, an experienced traveler like Mr. Bond develops a knack for knowing where they are along the route at any given time. The Azores would be about 1/3 of the way from Europe to the U.S. along the southern Atlantic route. Perhaps that’s so, but today the pilots often announce where the plane is when turbulence hits (“we’re climbing to avoid thunderstorms around Abilene, but it will still be bumpy”). Of course there are fewer reference points over the oceans, but IME pilots will still say something like “200 miles north of Shitbird Island” or whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2017, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-your-flight-a-bit-bumpy-above-the-azores-but-fine-otherwise/803320/27 "2017-12-03T05:49:43Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > Other thought. Back when I started flying places, in the '70s, your in-flight entertainment options were the in-flight movie (usually dire), a book, your seat-mates, or looking out the window. I expect people nowadays take less notice of the details of the actual flight path and experience, because there are so many opportunities for distraction. There is some truth to this. Scheduled service out of my little local airport (“We’ve got two gates–one for departures and one for arrivals!”) is aboard a Beechcraft 1900D, heading for Calgary. No inflight entertainment, the noise of the propellor engines preclude conversation, no food or drinks, and hardly enough room to get up if you need to go to the lav, which I’m still unsure if the aircraft is equipped with. I just sit and look out the window, but I remember the flights–some bumpy, some smooth, and some weird takeoffs and landings. By contrast, my connecting flights on larger jet aircraft from Calgary, to such places as Toronto, Vancouver, and various American destinations, are pretty unmemorable. There is entertainment, food and drinks for those who want them, an inflight magazine, talking with a seatmate, and all kinds of other distractions. I might be able to tell you what I did during the flight, but I won’t be able to tell you much else. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2017, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-your-flight-a-bit-bumpy-above-the-azores-but-fine-otherwise/803320/28 "2017-12-03T09:01:01Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > Back when I started flying places, in the '70s, your in-flight entertainment options were the in-flight movie (usually dire), a book, your seat-mates, or looking out the window. Back when I started flying places, in the '760s, your in-flight entertainment options were the in-flight _coloring book_, a book, your seat-mates, or looking out the window. And when I woke up in the morning (after sleeping unbuckled on the floor), the windows were open and the pilot was flying just at the top of a sea of cloud, with waves and peaks and canyons of white. No movie since has ever matched that. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2017, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-your-flight-a-bit-bumpy-above-the-azores-but-fine-otherwise/803320/29 "2017-12-03T09:09:13Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > Back when I started flying places, in the '760s,t. In the 1960’s. In a whispering T jet, not a 760. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2017, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-your-flight-a-bit-bumpy-above-the-azores-but-fine-otherwise/803320/30 "2017-12-03T11:17:15Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > You should understand that if the protagonist was English . Prince Philip was once reported as replying to some greeting functionary’s enquiry about his flight " Have you ever flown?" “Yes, of course, sir” “Well, it was just like that”. ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2017, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-your-flight-a-bit-bumpy-above-the-azores-but-fine-otherwise/803320/31 "2017-12-03T17:51:34Z")
Thanks for the input everyone. It doesn’t really answer my question, but I guess that’s because the particular thing I’m asking about is just a subjective impression of mine to which there is no factual answer. In any case the replies were all interesting! > [@kunilou](#): > > If the OP is asking whether flights used to be more bumpy than they are now, the answer is yes. Airlines are far better equipped to identify storms over the oceans and route their flights around them than was possible in the 1960s. > > If the OP is asking whether someone on a transoceanic flight could actually identify where the flight got bumpy, an experienced traveler like Mr. Bond develops a knack for knowing where they are along the route at any given time. The Azores would be about 1/3 of the way from Europe to the U.S. along the southern Atlantic route. I think what I’m asking about is the type of dialogue. Irrespective of whether flights are now less bumpy, or just as bumpy, as they used to be, my feeling (but again, it’s a purely subjective one) is (1) that people used to be more likely to inquire about how another person’s flight was than now, when flying is considered to be a mundane and boring form of getting from A to B rather than an adventurous endeavour, and (2) that people are more likely nowadays to think of flying as a kind of teleportation, where you magically disappear at the airport of departure and magically reappear hours later at the airport of arrival (with the hours in between being a period of time that you need to kill), instead of an actual voyage that makes you pass through all the points along the route. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2017, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-your-flight-a-bit-bumpy-above-the-azores-but-fine-otherwise/803320/32 "2017-12-03T19:06:24Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > Ppossibly relevant fact: > Back in the old days, _all_ airline seats had a barf bag within easy reach. \* > Nowadays, I don’t see them so much. > > \*And in the era of propeller planes, there was good reason. Sometimes they’re just not where you’d expect to find them, or possibly not where you could get to one if you needed it. Maybe there’s a supply in the cargo hold? 🙂 Even in non-propeller planes you might find one if you know where to look! Just yesterday (Dec. 2), while doing a pre-flight inspection of [this cute little aircraft](https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-toR4xCGq72Y/WhPUwdr8q4I/AAAAAAAAHao/ebcXalVYnLgJX9Lz8EFSIdTR1FGuOEH7gCLcBGAs/s1600/Nov11-15.jpg), I found several barf bags — conveniently stashed underneath the rear seat where neither occupant would ever be able to get to it when you need it. > [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > I think I sometimes do answer questions about flights this way. “A bit bumpy over the Rockies” “Beautiful view of Mt. Hood coming in” “Missed Mt. St. Helens, but saw Crater Lake on the way down.” I’ve been known to take pictures and share them too. In 1980, I had the distinct opportunity to answer the question by describing my view into Mt. St. Helens. Just a few weeks after that big eruption, I happened to fly from S. F. area to Seattle for a four-day symposium all about killer whales. On the way, we flew right alongside (not exactly over) the volcano. The pilot announced the fact, and dipped his right wing so we could look down into the crater. It was still smoking. The terrain was solid gray for miles around, and littered with piles of trees laying around in heaps like piles of Pick-Up Sticks. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2017, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-your-flight-a-bit-bumpy-above-the-azores-but-fine-otherwise/803320/33 "2017-12-03T19:41:16Z")
> [@Schnitte](#): > > . . . (1) that people used to be more likely to inquire about how another person’s flight was than now, when flying is considered to be a mundane and boring form of getting from A to B rather than an adventurous endeavour, . . . Well yeah, mundane and boring people probably think flying is just a mundane and boring form of getting from A to B rather than an adventurous endeavour. 😉 Of course, there’s still opportunity enough for more adventurous people to think otherwise! ([Cite.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=628790)) Recently, on Nov. 10, while I flew the above-pictured aircraft in circles for an hour while going nowhere in particular (flight trace [here](https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-2.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=6168376)) — adventurous enough! — my friend Ramy, unbeknown to me at the time, flew his glider down the adjacent mountain range, about 200 miles from Point A (Hollister) to Point B (Santa Ynez) (flight trace [here](https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-2.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=6168486))! This is a guy who routinely flies his glider on 600-mile cross-country trips! There’s adventure out there for those who are into that, beyond the mundane and boring! ---
**Author:** ![40below](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/51bf81/32.png) [@40below](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/40below)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2017, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-your-flight-a-bit-bumpy-above-the-azores-but-fine-otherwise/803320/34 "2017-12-03T19:45:41Z")
> [@Cabin\_Fever](#): > > Try a C-130. Not only do they have a serious lack of in-flight entertainment, good luck with finding the restroom. 🙂 Not to mention the ugliest stews in aviation. I love the Hercs, but if they’re the only plane that can get you where you’re going, you’re going to a bad place. ---
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2017, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-your-flight-a-bit-bumpy-above-the-azores-but-fine-otherwise/803320/35 "2017-12-03T21:07:03Z")
> [@](#): > > There’s adventure out there for those who are into that, beyond the mundane and boring! that’s true: commercial flying doesn’t always seem like flying so I try to get a window seat and keep it in mind. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-your-flight-a-bit-bumpy-above-the-azores-but-fine-otherwise/803320/36 "2017-12-04T04:11:30Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > You should understand that if the protagonist was English (ie. JB), “A bit bumpy above the Azores, but fine otherwise.” may well be a comment on, what for the other passengers, was a hair raising flight marked by turbulence and altitude drops followed by a landing in severe cross-winds. > > In a similar vein - 40 degrees below, would be “a bit chilly” and Katrina would be “a trifle breezy”. According to Sebastian Junger’s _The Perfect Storm_, U.S. Coast Guard para-rescue divers, famously unflappable, refer to dives into even the most terrifyingly mountainous seas as “sporty.” I always loved that detail. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-your-flight-a-bit-bumpy-above-the-azores-but-fine-otherwise/803320/37 "2017-12-04T06:16:25Z")
> [@40below](#): > > Not to mention the ugliest stews in aviation. I love the Hercs, but if they’re the only plane that can get you where you’re going, you’re going to a bad place. My first transatlantic flight was on one, Ontario to Cyprus. I was a civilian, so I could afford to laugh. By the end, the crappers were pretty gamey. ---
**Author:** ![Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cabin_fever_1/32/2908_2.png) [@Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabin_Fever_1)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-your-flight-a-bit-bumpy-above-the-azores-but-fine-otherwise/803320/38 "2017-12-04T14:38:35Z")
> [@Schnitte](#): > > Thanks for the input everyone. It doesn’t really answer my question, but I guess that’s because the particular thing I’m asking about is just a subjective impression of mine to which there is no factual answer. In any case the replies were all interesting! > … > I think what I’m asking about is the type of dialogue. Irrespective of whether flights are now less bumpy, or just as bumpy, as they used to be, my feeling (but again, it’s a purely subjective one) is (1) that people used to be more likely to inquire about how another person’s flight was than now, when flying is considered to be a mundane and boring form of getting from A to B rather than an adventurous endeavour, and (2) that people are more likely nowadays to think of flying as a kind of teleportation, where you magically disappear at the airport of departure and magically reappear hours later at the airport of arrival (with the hours in between being a period of time that you need to kill), instead of an actual voyage that makes you pass through all the points along the route. My purely subjective opinion is that it is common human behavior to inquire a fellow traveler about their journey whether via land, sea or air. Sort of, kind of, like the common question which really does not need a truthful answer. “Hello. How are you?” “How was your trip along the Silk Road? Were the natives restless?” “Glad to see you arrive safely. How was your voyage through the Indian Ocean?” “Did you see any train-wrecks along the way?” “I heard a bus went off the cliff in \<_insert location here_\>” “How was your flight?” “You posted a serious question on the SDMB? In General Questions? And it got hijacked?” Beyond that, I got nothing. ---
**Author:** ![howye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9adbd/32.png) [@howye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/howye)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-your-flight-a-bit-bumpy-above-the-azores-but-fine-otherwise/803320/39 "2017-12-04T14:50:24Z")
“How was your flight?” - “A bit bumpy above the Azores, but fine otherwise.” Coincidentally, this exact line was in Our Man in Havana. I just finished the book, and I am guessing it is in the movie version and that is where it was heard. In the book it is a throwaway line that indicates that travel is no bother to a dashing secret agent. Of course the dashing secret agent is mildly incompetent, so take it for what you will. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-your-flight-a-bit-bumpy-above-the-azores-but-fine-otherwise/803320/40 "2017-12-04T15:11:41Z")
“How was your date?” “A bit bumpy above the Azores, but fine otherwise.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-your-flight-a-bit-bumpy-above-the-azores-but-fine-otherwise/803320.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-your-flight-a-bit-bumpy-above-the-azores-but-fine-otherwise/803320.md?page=3)