Do We Know The Name Of The Company's Light Jet?
In something of a surprise move, Embraer announced it has
selected Garmin's G1000 avionics suite to fill the cockpit of its
upcoming Very Light Jet and Light Jet entries... but that may not
have been the only surprise of the day, even for Embraer.
First, though, the Garmin. Embraer Senior Vice President for
Executive Aviation Luis Carlos Affonso told attendees of a
pre-opening NBAA convention press conference the Brazilian
manufacturer chose the G1000 suite over its competitors because
Garmin "is a solid business partner with outstanding brand
recognition," and that the G1000 is "a product compliant with
Embraer's vision" for the aircraft.
"Embraer is committed to delivering truly revolutionary products
to our sophisticated customer base," added Affonso. "Garmin has the
most integrated system on the market for this class and will bring
intuitive technology to the cockpit."
Speaking of the cockpit, the flight deck of both the VLJ and LJ
will be remarkably similar, with three 12-inch multirole G1000
displays comprising the "Prodigy" avionics suite on both aircraft.
The IP will also feature a smaller backup screen, fed by its own
battery and located at top center on the IP -- right in the pilot's
line of sight -- in case the unlikely event the main power were to
fail.
Embraer also covered the pricing and likely intro dates for the
VLJ and LJ, with the smaller jet scheduled for a mid-2008
introduction and stickering at $2.75 million. The LJ will be
released one year later, at a price just over $6.5 million -- right
in line with their respective competition, according to the
company, most of which feature smaller cabins and lower luggage
capacity than the Embraer pair.
Embraer plans to unveil
the cabin mockups for both jets -- displaying interiors designed by
BMW DesignworksUSA -- at a Wednesday morning event at the company's
display Booth 5559. The company will also reveal the names of both
jets at the event, and not a moment before -- or, so they
intended.
See, one of the first rules of covering press conferences is: if
you have a really good question you think might be a scoop, DO NOT
ask it during the actual conference, but rather afterwards, in
private -- thus keeping the scoop to yourself, without sharing it
with your competition. This advice was not heeded by one
unidentified reporter who asked during the Q&A segment "what
can you tell us about the Legacy 600?"
"Um... nothing, until tomorrow," stammered an obviously
flustered Affonso.
Bold ANN prediction: the VLJ will be the Legacy 400, and the LJ
will be named the Legacy 600. We'll know for certain after 11 a.m.
EST Wednesday...