Having watched the engine room of PS waverly in operation how in fuck did that work in something as dynamic as a plane?
Very simple:
Pilot to Flight Engineer, "80% power please"
FE, " Yes, sir"
Pilot, "85% please, Eng"
FE, "85%, sir"
Pilot, "95% Eng. Lickety-split, old chap"
FE, "I have more, sir, if you need it..."
Pilot, "Um, everything you've got. Yesterday, if.... Oh. We appear to be down."
FE, "Finished with engines, sir?"
This image shows the VC10 Flight Engineer's panel, with his thrust levers lower left: