V-Flyer

Having just returned from my trip to Newark I thought I would share my experience of the 343 old pe seat vs the 346 'wash' (I think this is correct) seat. I travel mostly in UC and I have seen previous comments on the lack of details surrounding the other cabins.

We flew out on Miss Behavin (Hmmmm, wasn't too sure about the tail strike on this one but all was OK!) which is fitted with WASH seats.
We had 19A and 19C. As had been reported 19A only has 1 window but in all honesty this did not really cause a problem. How much can you see in the dark at 35000 feet anyway?

Seats where wider than the standard but leg room was particularly poor (I am 6'3" and a bit). When then seat back in front was put fully back the bulging seat pocket (Not from my belonging I might add) was rubbing against my shins. I had to push myself was back into my seat in order than either my shins or my knees did not hit the seat in front. Even with the seat in front in the full upright position there was not much in the way of leg room. I couldn't, for example, lift my leg rest up to anywhere that would give me any comfort.

The tables, which are stored in the arm rest did not move forward enough. This essentially pressed into my stomach (which is slightly larger than it probably should be[8D] but I am not 'huge' by any stretch) and I had to recline the seat about half way to get comfortable. Now try eating at half recline. Needless to say a bib would have helped.

The larger TV screens where very welcome right up until the point where the person in front recline fully. I tilted the screen to the further extent but the bottom of the screen was still at an angle which meant it had inverted (ie all the colours were in negative). This made any film unwatchable. I saw many people with this problem so I know this wasn't just my screen.

On the return flight (VS18) we had Diana. A 343 with the old style PE seat. Apart from no VPort, A smaller screen and slightly reduced width of the seats the seats themselves offered far more legroom. Even at full recline the screen was clearly visible. At upright and recline the tray (again stored in the arm rest) could be easily moved forward to allow someone a lot larger than me to sit comfortably and eat a meal without having to recline.

The problem with the 343 is the Cabin (and lack of Vport). You have to walk through economy to get to the toilets.

Personally I didn't enjoy the newer seats at all. I hope VS give more thought to leg-room on the brand new seats and test the view on the screens when the seats are fully reclined.

I think this pretty much covers it all. Hope you find this beneficial.

Paul

Thanks for the comparision, just a small thing though, the seat is actually called 'Wash' - these are the red/blue seats on V:Port A/C with the grey plastic backs and fabric seat covers. I've changed your post for you.

These dont seem to have gone down well at all and seem to have not been liked by V-Flyers. Never sat in one for more than 10 mins so cannot comment, although my up-coming VS6 flight is on a LHR B744 so I will get one then and then can compare all 3 types of the PE seat.

The brand new PE seat is called 'Echo' - the purple leather one.

Regards

The larger TV screens where very welcome right up until the point where the person in front recline fully. I tilted the screen to the further extent but the bottom of the screen was still at an angle which meant it had inverted (ie all the colours were in negative). This made any film unwatchable. I saw many people with this problem so I know this wasn't just my screen.

Not sure what seats we had..... but on our recent trip in PE on a LHR747, we had the same problem. Thought it was just our screens until we noticed the couple opposite having the same problem, one gave up watching the screen and the other was crouching down to see the film.
Our problem was made worse by the guy sat in front attempting to convert the PE seat into a a UCS lay flat bed.

On our trip home on a 300 the screens seemed to tilt more removing this problem.

Tim , you probably had Wash if it was an LHR 744. TBH, I don't really mind the wash seats and would prefer v:port over more legroom.

VS.

I had the new Echo seats on VS25 t'other week, and thought it was great. Not sure about the leather seat covers - we were quite hot and dehydrated by the end of the flight, as the cabin temp was way too high and the leather made it worse. However they are very comfy, there seems to be more legroom, and the screens were certainly viewable when the person in front reclines.
On the way back we had the old Wash seats, and I had the same problem - screen not viewable when the person in front leans back. (Which they did as soon as we took off, naturally).
You really notice the couple of inches more in both directions with the new seats. I'm not sure I miss the legrest either... the new footrests are ok, albeit limited in settings - there are only two positions for them. (Can't remember how many settings there were in the other seats!)
I don't know if I'm alone in this aspect, but I find it a lot harder to sleep in any PE seat than even economy, because I just end up sliding around and down, and there is no way of getting my head comfy - I end up with a really painful neck which wakes me up after 20 mins. At least with economy seats, I can "wedge" myself in a little more, with an inflatable pillow, and I seem to manage more ZZzzz's that way. (Inflatable pillows don't seem to do the trick in PE for some reason). And as for UCS / BA's NCW - I can rarely sleep at all on those!

I thought there seemed to be more room on the LGW style PE seat compared to the LHR too. I didnt really notice a difference in width though. I agree with the screen thing though - was pretty hard to watch a film when the seat infront is reclined.

I don't know if I'm alone in this aspect, but I find it a lot harder to sleep in any PE seat than even economy, because I just end up sliding around and down, and there is no way of getting my head comfy - I end up with a really painful neck which wakes me up after 20 mins. At least with economy seats, I can "wedge" myself in a little more, with an inflatable pillow, and I seem to manage more ZZzzz's that way. (Inflatable pillows don't seem to do the trick in PE for some reason). And as for UCS / BA's NCW - I can rarely sleep at all on those!

You seem to have the opposite to me - I find it easy to sleep in UC, OK in PE and on the few occassions I've tried, extremely difficult in Y.

VS.