Tue, May 12, 2009
747-8 VIP Overhead Space Utilization Kit Offered, BBJ
Performance Improvements Planned for 2011
There's been a lot of activity among those responsible for
Boeing's business aviation programs. To lead off the bigger
developments, Boeing's BBJ Convertible is now being made available
to prospective customers.
The airplane reconfigures from all-passenger to all-cargo
configuration in less than eight hours. Boeing'c concept for the
aircraft allows governments, corporations and private individuals
to quickly change from transporting VIPs, staff or troops to
delivering disaster-relief supplies or configuring for medical
evacuation. There is room for transporting tools, parts and
machinery; race cars or race horses; or equipment for touring bands
and musicians.
Boeing recently finalized an agreement with Greenpoint
Technologies to provide 747-8 VIP owners and their chosen
completion centers with a kit that adds 75 square-meters of space
to the airplane's crown. The Overhead Space Utilization or OSU kit
is installed post production above the main cabin ceilings between
doors three and five. The kit includes stairs from the main deck to
the space above. Greenpoint offers three artistically engineered
OSU designs.
BBJ owners receiving their airplanes after mid-2011 will reduce
fuel consumption by 2 percent through a combination of airframe and
engine improvements that Boeing announced in late April. Airplane
structural improvements will reduce drag on the airplane, reducing
fuel use by about 1 percent. Boeing's engine partner, CFM is
contributing a further 1 percent fuel savings through hardware
changes to its CFM56-7B Evolution engine.
Steven Hill, president of Boeing Business Jets since August
2004, will retire in July after 35 years with Boeing. Taking Hill's
place is Stephen R. Taylor, currently the BBJ chief pilot. Taylor
has held positions as a production flight test pilot for Boeing
Commercial Airplanes, served as a captain for Boeing executive
flight operations and was a self-employed BBJ pilot for two years.
Taylor joined The Boeing Company in 1991 as a flight operations
engineer.
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