Chicago (IL) - Boeing said that it has begun work on the first Boeing Business Jet 3 (BBJ3), a new private airliner that tries to get the attention of all of those who find their Gulfstream V too small and too average. Launched in 2006, the fuselage of the first BBJ3 has been completed and is currently being prepared for a 2000-mile trip to the company’s Renton, Wash., final assembly facility.
The BBJ3 is the latest edition of Boeing’s 737-based business jets that include the original BBJ, the BBJ2 and the 737-700. Boeing also offers modified versions of its other airliners and sells them as 747 VIP, 777 VIP and 787 VIP.
The BBJ3 is 138 feet and 2 inches long and offers his owner and seven guests 1120 square feet of floor space. If you are considering to shell out about $64.5 million for the bare plane and another $20 million to finish the cabin, but feel guilty about its environmental impact, a range of technology that promise a reduction of fuel consumption may make you feel better.
According to Boeing, the plane uses the engines of the next-gen 737 plane which are more fuel efficient and emit less NOx. There are also new winglets that are designed to reduce emissions - by about 5.8% or 540 gallons on a 5800 nautical mile trip: Those 540 gallons provide the plane with an extra 270 mile range. The integration of the Future Air Navigation System (FANS) allow pilots to take more direct routes and the plane can be ordered with carbon instead of steel brakes, which save about 700 pounds of weight.
Boeing said that eight BBJ3s have been ordered so far, in addition to 177 more orders for BBJs and wide-body VIP versions of the 747, 767, 777 and 787. About 30 of those jets are in service today. Among Boeing’s customers are media mogul Rupert Murdoch, who owns one of those BBJs, Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, who own two Boeing 767 jets as well as Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen who has tow 757 models.
The more down-to-earth Gulfstream V jet reportedly can cost somewhere between $45 million and $90 million, which Apple apparently paid for Steve Jobs’ version.
