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A few weeks ago, just ahead of the annual EBACE executive aviation show in Geneva, we had the chance to share some time on board a Lineage 1000E with Embraer’s chief cabin designer, Jay Beever.
The ferry flight that took us from Le Bourget to Geneva provided an ideal setting to explore the amazingly creative cabin concepts that Embraer has devised for its top of the range executive jet.
Because, were you in a position to splash over $50M in your own private jet…wouldn’t you like to get something truly unique? Something that you can impress your ultra-high-net-worth buddies with?
This is pretty much what Embraer proposes. Although the most outlandish designs have yet to materialize, the Brazilian manufacturer has figured out how to make them a reality the moment the first order comes knocking the door.
Take for example, the “Kyoto” cabin interior, a Japan-themed cabin concept complete with tatamis, a sushi table and a decor that evokes Japanese cultural traditions. This concept has also what is, perhaps, the most eye-catching feature of the Lineage cabin concept series: a large over-sized window that runs along the length of the side of the aircraft providing unique panoramic views as well as a source of natural light.
Mr.Beever explained (see the video below) how they had this idea at first, but needed to verify it was technically possible. The eureka moment was when they found out that Embraer had actually worked on a similar technical solution for Coast Guard ERJ145s, where the oversized side windows are used for search and rescue operations at sea.
The idea of “opening up” the cabin towards the outside aligns also with Beever’s vision of a more “natural” design that merges somehow with the environment outside.
And while the Kyoto cabin was clearly designed with Japanese customers in mind, Mr.Beever has also thought about other constituencies.
For oil tycoons from Texas, Oklahoma and the American West, the “Western” cabin concept looks like coming out of a good old Western movie, it comes with plenty of leather, cow hides and decor elements that evoke the American West, horse saddles, spurs and the like.
Celebrities and the show business crowd may feel more at ease with artsy concepts such as the “Manhattan”, “Skyatch” and “Hollywood”, all of them inspired in the belle-epoque of 1920s America and the Art Déco triangle of New York, Miami and Los Angeles.
This executive jet cabin concept series are in a category of its their own, just judge by yourselves.
Regardless of how many of these original designs are ultimately sold – some may say their value lies precisely in their uniqueness – it is exciting to see aircraft manufacturers going the extra mile to bring such degree of originality to aircraft cabin design.
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