A new cabin mockup, on show for the first time here, allows outfitter
B/E Aerospace to show off the technology and attention to detail
that makes a business jet's interior feel like the millions of
dollars that it costs. For those landbound unsophisticates who
think that plastic foam is plastic foam or that a seat track is
either smooth or not, B/E has some lessons in store.
The mockup includes a bar and china cabinet that combines wood
veneer with nickel inlays and carbonfiber (you know you're in
a business jet when the materials in the bar cabinet are higher-tech
than the stuff the airplane's made out of). B/E has developed
its own resin impregnation processes to form complex curves and
tight joints in carbonfiber materials. B/E is also showing off
a faux marble countertop, aimed at business jet operators who
like to be seen as the kind of people who would use pieces of
rock to outfit an airplane.
B/E's Falcon 900 seat has a smoothness index that is 200% better
than other seat platforms, according to B/E, which doubtless employs
people who measure such things, and its designers used pressure
mapping to find the precise density and volume of foam required
to combine comfort with low weight.
Mercedes-Benz's new Maybach ultra-luxury car has space for two
bottles of champagne: mindful of potentially long and boring flights,
B/E's new wine chiller holds 13 bottles-a complete case plus a spare,
in case your supplier has slipped you a duff Sauternes. Unlike proletarian
ice buckets, B/E notes, it leaves the labels intact.
After a spot of the Veuve C, the passengers may appreciate B/E's
LED-based full-spectrum Digital Mood Lighting, which-as the company
states-is capable of "setting the mood for any in-flight activity."
Indeed.
