I had a student pilot a few years ago, who asked me to give him a return route to plan for practice before the navigation written exam. I asked him where he most wanted to go once he got his licence and he said the west coast of Wales. I gave him a very direct route (pretty much straight into wind) with only one slight turn in it, because I knew the wind at his altitude would slow him dramatically outbound but make his return very fast. I predicted over 3 hours out but about an hour back. Once he'd done his calculations he came out of the study area with an astonished look on his face. "I really didn't believe you but that's amazing, when can we go?" Next I showed him where to look on the Met Office web site for signs of severe turbulence. Me; "We're staying on the ground today Bloggs".

You wouldn't have seen me on that 747.............