Altitudes Arabia #29

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By Ivan Veretennikov Photos courtesy of the Boeing Company, Andrew Winch Designs

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The Final Word in Luxury

Pleasure and Business The Boeing Business Jet set new standards in private and corporate aviation when it appeared on the market. It’s spacious, comfortable, and doesn’t seem like an airplane at all. Is it a luxury or a tool? Well, it certainly gets the job done. In a very enjoyable way.

Most of us (hopefully) love what we do for a living, but it’s easy to draw the line between business and pleasure when you’re standing in the middle of Siberia inspecting a new extraction site. The freezing wind and sharp snowflakes simplify the process. For that matter, it can be the scorching heat of the desert, or nothing to do with weather at all. There are lots of things in the life of a businessperson that can make you say: “Oh, just give me a break, will you?”

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It’s just that the style and... well, luxury of the plane doesn’t give passengers much excuse for complaining.

It’s harder to get as irritated aboard a business aircraft – comparing to airlines, in any case. Even then, however, such aircraft come in different shapes and sizes, and it’s only natural if you’re unhappy after spilling something particularly colourful over yourself, riding turbulence in a tightly-packed light jet. When you enter the BBJ, however, it doesn’t matter how busy your schedule is or how important the reasons for your travel – you’re in pleasure territory.

I’m not saying that a BBJ is an outright luxury that ought to be condemned, as has unhappily been the case for business aviation as a whole in certain circles. It is a great tool and lets the owner go places very efficiently. It’s just that the style and... well, luxury of the plane don’t give passengers much excuse for complaining.

HOW IT STARTED The BBJ was born in 1996, although VIP conversions of various Boeing airplanes had existed way before that. President Eisenhower flew a specially-configured 707 as early as 1958.

Making a standard model for the corporate market, however, was a different task. The smallest Boeing aircraft at the time was the 737, and even that was much bigger than traditional business jets. It had the cavernous cabin, modern equipment, and great reliability of the airliner, but lacked, above all, in flight range. This is where most of the effort was concentrated. After some structural changes, which were necessary to add fuel tanks, the original BBJ was rolled out. First delivery was in September 1999, with just one touch lacking: the first production BBJs didn’t have winglets, which were approved one year later and used thereafter on all models – and even migrated to commercial 737 aircraft. Unlike some goodies, they were made available for retrofitting, to the joy of launch customers. It may be worth mentioning that besides the fancy look, winglets actually help increase the flight range by a mighty 5-7%, smoothing the airflow around wingtips and improving the lift-to-drag ratio of the wing. Nowadays, finding a new aircraft without them is a challenge.

President Eisenhower flew a specially configured 707 as early as 1958 although the BBJ brand didn’t come into existence until 1996

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VNE The first BBJ was based on the 737-700 model, and in time the BBJ2 and BBJ3 followed, built on the 737-800 and 737900 platforms respectively, each longer than the previous and with a higher maximum takeoff weight – and a larger baggage capacity – but with slightly shorter range. The original aircraft has remained the “gold standard” representing about 75% of all BBJ sales, thanks to a combination of the lowest price (around $70 million, so it’s still far from cheap) and longest range of them all – up to 11547 km.

BBJ TODAY So what is the world’s most popular business liner like? From the outside, just like a standard Boeing 737 with winglets, unless you give it a fancy paint job. Most owners at this level, however, prefer discretion. And the BBJ has a certain advantage here: hiding a G550, for example, is a lot trickier due to some very obvious giveaways.

In the cockpit, it’s a bit more advanced than the typical airliner. Apart from the glass cockpit with 5 LCD displays, it can feature a head-up guidance system and an enhanced vision system. On the other hand, the basics are exactly the same as on other 737 aircraft, which means that there are tens of thousands of pilots around the world who can fly it – and out of these, many can fly it very well.

Early BBJs didn’t come with winglets which were approved a year later, but were retrofitted for those who missed out. Range is increased by five to seven per cent.

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With a cross-section of 3.51 by 2.13 metres, and a cabin length of 24.18 metres, the BBJ can be configured into just about anything.

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There are currently several hi-end design teams with good experience on this particular aircraft, so you only have to communicate your wishes and sign the checks.

The real magic starts in the cabin, and the owner can truly let his fantasies run free. With a cross-section of 3.51 by 2.13 metres, and a cabin length of 24.18 metres, the BBJ can be configured into just about anything. As of today, there are several hi-end design teams with good experience on this particular aircraft, so you only have to communicate your wishes and sign the checks. The results will be stunning.

Usually the cabin is divided into zones, separated by bulkheads and doors to keep the sound out. A little reception area in front followed by a galley, a dining room or office, a living room, and master bedroom with its own bathroom and stand-up shower is the layout one can expect in a BBJ. The forms which such layouts take can be most surprising – from wild west to art deco, limited by the owner’s imagination only.

The things they share are cabin pressure (the equivalent of 1980 metres above sea level, or not too bad at all), better sound insulation, and plenty of relatively small, but unobstructed windows that let in natural light.

Another surprise is flight performance. Despite its spacious interior, on the outside the BBJ is not much bigger than longrange bizjets and can in some circumstances take off after an even shorter run, but ultimately carries over four times the payload. It climbs swiftly for an aircraft that offers such interior space and can circumnavigate the world in just two stops. Without refuelling, it can reach Los Angeles from Moscow, Dubai from New York, or Tokyo from London.

The only drawbacks that come with the comfort and performance are higher operating costs and some operating limitations. For example, a BBJ cannot land in New York Teterboro or London City airports. Besides, competitors would argue, the aircraft is based on a “60s design” and in some ways – for example, the use of fly-by-wire – has been surpassed by modern business aircraft.

On the other hand, the commonality with the Boeing 737 means access to a huge support network and spare parts supply, lots of experienced pilots and engineers, plus safe and reliable operations in any corner of the world.

The forms which such layouts take can be most surprising – from wild west to art deco, limited by the owner’s imagination only

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Usually the cabin is divided into zones, separated by bulkheads and doors.

A reception area followed by a galley, dining room or office, a living room and master bedroom

MAXIMISED OUTPUT Although it’s hard to question the success of the BBJ with over 140 delivered since 1999 – a stunning result for this market segment – things change even in aviation. Not nearly as fast as in the automotive industry, where owners are forced to buy a new model more often than car shows take place around the world. But they change. To stay on top of things, Boeing Business Jets announced the BBJ MAX, based on the 737 MAX version. The BBJ MAX 8 is expected to become the first new model, with the same cabin size as that of today’s BBJ2, but a significant increase in performance and comfort.

The aircraft will benefit from new CFM LEAP engines, as well as quaint Advanced Technology winglets, and limited use of fly-by-wire. Preliminary targets say it will get a 13 percent fuel-use improvement and a total range of 11700 km. Thus, starting from 2018 and first deliveries, happy customers will get an aircraft with more range than the BBJ, a longer cabin, and a bigger baggage hold.

Whatever BBJ you own or fly, however, I would argue that the line between business and pleasure is quite easy to draw.

It runs along the bulkhead that separates the conference room and the master bedroom. Unless you choose to leave ■ business at the front door.

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Jacques Pierrejean Studio Real French chic

By Ivan Veretennikov

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Our readers already know about Jacques Pierrejean and his design studio from previous articles. Since the last time we met, the French conjurer and his team have created some fantastic new settings in the biggest aircraft available, including the Boeing 747-8 and the Airbus A380.

For a customer, a top-of-the-range car and a business jet must both be able to respond to expectations of personalisation

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A long time has passed since Mr. Pierrejean started his work on aircraft interiors. Dassault Falcon jets had a special place in this early period, thirty years ago. Back then, as he says, interiors were built by engineers who just put the seats in the aircraft. In any case, taking into account all the merits of the Dassault Falcon, it’s not quite the jumbo that lets a designer really get creative. That is why interior design of superyachts has always been important for the Studio. As time went by and it became quite normal for a certain category of customers to acquire airliners for private and corporate use, the superyacht experience blended with the tricks one needs to know to overcome the many certification obstacles on aircraft, and Pierrejean Design Studio offered its vast creative energy to these individuals, companies, and governments.

“I think I’ve worked on everything that flies by now,” Mr. Pierrejean says. “From the smaller jets to the giants, as well as helicopters. Or from the Falcon 20 to the A380 – put it that way.”

In the past two or three years, the team has been busy with various exciting projects, including two private Airbus ACJs and one Boeing 787 Dreamliner for Qatar Airways. On the water front, three yachts sized 36 to 141 metres have been delivered in that time. All this despite quite a weak economy: “Speaking of demand, I feel a quiet pe-

Among the most challenging of recent projects is the Boeing 747-8 currently under construction with Lufthansa Technik in Hamburg.

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riod for the smaller aircraft such as the Falcon, Global Express, even the ACJ and BBJ, as well as boats under 80 meters. Most demand today for bespoke interior design seems to be coming from Russia and Turkey. It will be interesting to see what could happen in the next few years with the Asian market. It surely holds much promise.

As for actual design trends, customers seem to be looking more for unique, one-of-a-kind design solutions and products. In aircraft, the ergonomics and comfort are more and more important than in the past.”

There is obviously a big difference in building a custom yacht and working on a predefined and tightly regulated interior of an aircraft, however big. When an owner has both flying and seafaring property, it’s a good idea to have the same design team working on both, Mr. Pierrejean explains: “The yacht design approach is very different. Most of the time the boat is used for pleasure, vacations which is totally the opposite for aircraft – they are mostly dedicated to business and used as a tool. You have some freedom to try new things on a yacht and a lot of restrictions on an aircraft. To get creative on flying property, you really have to know a lot of aircraft regulations and to understand where you can go to suggest and promote new ideas. In this respect, a person working on yachts is much closer to a

house interior designer than someone working on aircraft is – unless you find somebody who is confident in the different spheres and can offer you a turnkey solution. We have been working on both yachts and aircraft for many years and are always happy to create concepts that share features across different properties.”

Aircraft would look very interesting on the outside if their exteriors could be tailor-made. This is absolutely impossible, however, and it’s doubtful that any permissions will be granted by authorities in the future. Understandably, designers are aching to influence the exterior look as much as to work on the interior, but in aviation this is not an option.

“For yachts, we suggest to customers that it’s a good idea to let the same designer work on the external styling and on the interior design concept. This allows us to be more innovative, gives us the freedom to play with the opening spaces, large windows to catch light from outside, and get fantastic visuals both outside and inside. Obviously, this is not something we can do on an aircraft, because the structure cannot be changed. Even the choice of materials is really limited by the range of certified products, and it’s not so strict for yachts,” Jacques Pierrejean says.

Among the most challenging of recent projects is the Boeing 747-8, currently

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The biggest project was the Airbus A380, arguably the ultimate flying property under construction with Lufthansa Technik in Hamburg. The Studio went boldly forward with the design concept and tried to include many innovations in this VIP jumbo, using new materials that have not yet been certified and a lot of new technologies – “Like live video conferencing capabilities and bigger TV screens. We also did some dedicated research on lighting systems to achieve different ambiences, which will be available to passengers during the flight.

This is the first production Boeing 7478, destined for a head of state customer.

It’s still confidential and will be completed with a lot of furniture artworks.”

The biggest project was the doubledecker Airbus A380, arguably the ultimate flying property, but still not delivered in a single VIP version.

“The main challenge was to make it more impressive than the customer’s already fantastic A340. On the other hand, our smallest ever undertaking was a helicopter, a Eurocopter Dauphin. We were faced with a very interesting task of installing a toilet on this machine... despite all our efforts, we never found the solution!”

Mr Pierrejean claims he has worked on everything including helicopters “from the Falcon 20 to the A380, put it that way.”

Jacques Pierrejean is particularly proud of the trust expressed by Airbus, who commissioned his studio to design the ACJ Prestige interior and then selected it to represent the company’s VIP aircraft on the business aviation market.

This boutique business is not very fastpaced, however. Both certification and manufacturing limitations, as well as the number of creative solutions that need to be found and put together, stretch the process to about 14-18 months for an aircraft the size of an ACJ319. This includes the actual construction of the interior at one of the completion centres.

The Studio is in no rush though. Working on more than six-eight aircraft per year would affect the quality, which in the case of Mr. Pierrejean is a sacrifice he would never make.

And the brilliant designer has his own favourites, too: “I love the Global Express, it would be my favourite tool to develop my business around the world. The ratio between speed, range, and living space aboard this airplane is perfect! As for yachts, I would be very happy to cruise on my latest project, the Silver Arrow – a ■ motor yacht of 60 meters.”

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