Check out the $45 million Falcon 5X private jet — it has a skylight!

French aircraft manufacturer Dassault's Falcon 5X private jet is fantastic.
Debuted in 2013, the plane has room for 16 passengers. It's equipped with new Snecma Silvercrest engines that Dassault says make it more fuel efficient than competitors like Bombardier's Global 5000 (by 35%) and Gulfstream's G450 (by 30%).
The price? $45 million.
That puts it well below the $65 million Gulfstream G650, still the biggest, fastest, and overall best private jet money can buy. But Dassault strikes a blow with a cabin that is actually wider and taller (albeit shorter) than that of the G650.
And, for cool points more than practicality, it even has a skylight!

The 5X is designed to handle especially deep descents, so it can land at more airports.

It can also land with 95% of its max takeoff weight. (That number for a Boeing 777-200 is about 82%.) That means that if the 5X needs to make an emergency landing just after takeoff, it does not have to dump or burn much fuel to do it safely.

With eight passengers on board (that's half capacity), the new jet can fly 5,200 nautical miles at Mach 0.8.

That's enough to go from New York to Moscow, London to Miami, or Sao Paulo to Chicago.

In the cockpit, big windshields let pilot see both wingtips, helpful for maneuvering on the ground. The 5X can be equipped with dual Head Up Displays, and a new radar from Honeywell provides more detailed information on thunderstorms, from farther away.

For the interior, Dassault says it worked to create "flowing, uninterrupted lines to enhance the feeling of space." Looks like they pulled it off.

The cabin is 39' long and measures 8'6" wide, allowing for especially wide aisles.

Even better is the ceiling, which is 6'6" high. That's the best in the industry, and a big plus for tall travelers, who don't want to pay a fortune to crouch in their own plane.

There's room for 16 passengers on board.

Owners can customize seating however they want.

In three distinct lounge areas.

The highlight of the cabin may be the skylight. You won't be able to see much, but it will bring in more natural light. And it's just plain cool.

Following the trend in new jets, the 5X will offer bigger windows (28 of them) than previous Falcons.

Dassault says the seats are full of hidden compartments, great for storing phones and other devices.

Dassault

The cabin management system, used for controlling audio and video, is called FalconCabinHD+.

Thursday, February 05, 2015