Took one recently (QR not AC) and couldn't notice anything special. Temperature was normal, but I thought the idea behind the 787 was that the carbon fibre construction means that it can be pressurised to a higher level, and consequently, you feel more refreshed during the flight. Didn't really notice any difference.

I think its the AC 787's that have a reputation for being an icebox.

On an OT note, I didn't want to make a whole new thread for this, but what is the allowance for liquids coming thru security again?? I want to bring a small vial of screen cleaner for our smartphones and eyeglasses in my carryon bag.

Pressurization/heating/cooling, on all aircraft, is controlled from the flight deck and is adjustable.

100 ml's is normally the max allowed in the cabin for liquids/gels in a see thru' container, for most airport security.

These days I usually take an empty 600ml glug bottle through security and then fill it with water prior to flight. Heathrow has some chilled water machines for this purpose. Some flight crews are very good at making sure passengers are hydrated, others are hopeless.

that's a great idea. Otherwise you are paying over the odds for a bottle of water after clearing security

Make sure you watch this before you get on one of those.

I guess this could also be done with the 50ml variety liquor pack from the local (govt) store (LCBO in Ontario), or several bottles of 50ml minatures, empty them after into the empty water bottle.... whoa, what a flight that was

Wow- we will be in double trouble if Air Transat decides to fly these, drunk pilots and crappy planes

Well, the fact that this plane has huge lithium ion batteries (lots of 787s were grounded because of battery fire) and the best solution that Boeing came up with was to seal them in air tight boxes to prevent them from catching fire inflight, is a good enough reason for me to avoid flying on it.

So basically according to Boeing no oxygen getting to the batteries = no fire

Thank you Boeing. With that type of innovative thinking you certainly do not need to worry about your design flaws.

I built a small RC plane a year or two ago and became really alarmed at the instructions for charging the Lithium Ion battery that came with the charger I bought to power it.

Quote (roughly) 'Never charge it indoors or within 4m of a building'

Anyone who did o'level chemistry will realise that lithium is not your average block of metal. I vaguely remember a block of potassium exploding on the surface of a bowl of water (wouldn't be allowed these days) during one memorable lesson.

It doesn't surprise me that they catch fire and it doesn't surprise me that the fires are difficult to extinguish.

So:

Q. Why put lithium ion batteries in aircraft?
A. Because they're light and have a high charge/weight ratio.

Are they safe? Probably but I wouldn't fly in one, it's an avoidable risk.

Fortunately for airlines, chemistry lessons no longer permit the explosive teaching of yesteryear so ignorance is bliss and if Boeing makes it, then it must be safe, mustn't it?

Don't most rechargeable devices now use lithium ion?

There are some restrictions on taking larger power banks (battery rechargers) in checked baggage, but I can't imagine many people pay attention to that.

The battery in your cellphone is lithium-ion yet most men keep them in their pockets...next to the family jewels...and not think about it.
The Solar Impulse 2 went around the world using 4 lithium-ion batteries..... but did have a big problem on the flight to Hawaii as the batteries overheated, due to the designers not providing enough ventilation. They seemed to fix that as it has completed its round the world mission landing in Abu Dhabi.

Thanks Edo for documentary by Aljazeera...most enlightening.

In my career I flew the B707 for 4 years and 10 years on B747 200/300. I've often said both those A/C were inherently safe because they were not technically sophisticated.... so I'm disappointed to watch that documentary about the B787.
I did B747 training at Boeing in Seattle and recall one wag in the class asking the instructor "where do we put the coal?"
Most of us in the class had previously been on the L1011 (Tristar) which was a technical monster, so it was good to get back to an A/C that 'worked'.... like a wheelbarrow.

Sad to hear about the B787...puts paid to the old saying "if it aint Boeing...I aint going!"

The Airbus A380 also had teething problems with its RR engines but they seemed to have fixed that...hopefully they can fix all B787 problems before we have a serious incident causing death.

I was deliberating changing the flight so I left earlier in the morning but flew on a Lufthansa 747 instead of the AC 787, maybe I should do that now.

I thought Li-ion was the new gold standard for safety and easy to charge etc. ??

Good to know though, I will be armed with my 100mL of glasses cleaning/smartphone cleaning solution

Hahaha...make sure you don't connect your smartphone, with the lithium battery, to the USB charger in your seat whilst cleaning with that small flask of 'cleaning fluid' yeh!.... it may explode...

A B747 carries approx. 400 pax. Just imagine if everyone has bought a duty-free litre of vodka and placed in the overhead container...how toxic and dangerous is that...and it is considered acceptable by pax and regulatory authorities alike.
We have a long way to go to convince of 'real dangers' instead of social media and journalese.
Building an aircraft is well defined and if the Aljazeera documentary about Boeing's business model vv safety is proved, then Hillary or Donald needs to intervene.

My 'real' question is why did the airline industry NOT continue research after Concorde. We fly slower that when I was on the RAF VC10 in late 1960's. We flew that bird at max mach 0.92 the dropped to 0.88M for short cruise and 0.82M for longer duration. Most commercial A/C now fly at 0.78M...

Like the Pope's?

I remember that. Not a block, just a small piece usually, and then lit.

But the teacher did do a bigger blob and that was fairly spectacular.

Ah, school days in the chemistry lab and boiling hydrochloric acid on the tripod over a Bunsen burner...cough, cough...