"Super - 1,000 Feet Above"

Reduced Vertical Separation Minima (RVSM) airspace between 29,000 and 41,000 feet inclusive, means that participating aircraft can be separated vertically by 1,000 feet instead of the standard 2,000 feet.

Modern track-keeping using three inertial navigation systems tied-into twin GPS guarantees that; unless you offset a mile or two right of track; you will pass directly under planes flying the other way on two-way air routes.

The A380 is designated as "super" aircraft for wake turbulence, rather than "heavy" as appended to the callsigns of 777s and smaller types.

Noticing an oncoming A380, with a True Air Speed of 480 knots, your combined closing rate is 2 x 480 = 960 knots, or 1,777 kph. Not much time to snap an image, but time enough to look at the wind direction and imagine the dangerous wake turbulence descending from the wingtips of the passing machine.

You can hear the woosh as it passes.

Falling at 500 feet per minute, you have time to select the Heading to manual and ever-so-slightly turn your aircraft upwind of the descending turbulent spirals. If you are successful, after two minutes you can gently turn the aircraft back, arm the navigation system to take control when you regain track, and your passengers remain blissfully unaware.

Get it wrong, and the subsequent short, sharp turbulence may be enough to spill the coffee.

And you thought pilots sat and read the paper. Not anymore.