Pilot-philosopher who drives 747s across the ocean tells us some inside stuff about the job. Did you know there is a little bunk on the flight deck and they take turns napping in there?

"What's the absolute best place to watch planes land? The In-N-Out Burger near LAX. In terms of both dining and plane-spotting, it's pretty much as good as it gets."

That's a good tip for the next time I'm in LA. 

Will consider this next time I pack for a flight:

In the book you mention the insane cost of fuel for every additional pound of weight on the plane. Besides getting rid of the physical maps, are there other things the airline does to cut weight?

Until five or six years ago, the bathroom here in the 747's cockpit was a standard fit, the same as those in the passenger cabin, which made sense. But someone finally said, "Why is there a baby changing station in this bathroom?" And so they were able to get rid of that fold-down table. When you take even a few pounds off a plane that's flying every day, the fuel savings adds up pretty quickly. Or in the bunk where we take our breaks on long flights, after we get up we remove the bedding, put it in the hamper, and make the bed as a courtesy for the next pilot. At some point someone looking to save weight said, "we can live without hampers, we need our twelve pounds of weight back."

Today I learned that every pound counts.