Bombardier has soft-launched its latest business jet, the "super-large" Global 5000. The intercontinental jet is designed to fill the niche in the company's product line between the Challenger 604 and the ultra-long-range Global Express. Powered by the same 14,750-pound-thrust Rolls-Royce Deutschland BR710 engines as the Global Express, the 5000 will have a range, with NBAA IFR reserves, of 4,800 nm at Mach .85 while carrying a crew of three and eight passengers. With the same payload but at the higher cruise speed of Mach .88, the airplane can cover 3,700 nm.
John Holding, VP of engineering and product development, said that the Global 5000 was essentially built to compete with the Gulfstream IV-SP and Falcon 900EX. With its 4,800 nm range, the Global 5000 will be capable of trips from continental Europe to the central United States. Other key capabilities were a cruise speed of at least Mach .85; a balanced field length of 5,000 feet or less; a top cruise altitude of FL 510; an initial cruising altitude of FL 410 (the Global 5000 will be able to climb straight to FL 430); and a price at launch of $32.95 million for a completed airplane.
While it will use the same engines as the Global Express, the Global 5000's fuselage will be five feet shorter than that of its progenitor. But since the length will be trimmed from the crew rest area and the Global Express's oversized galley, the actual cabin of the Global 5000 will be only about 10 inches shorter than that of the Global Express (leaving room for three 106-inch seating zones).
Bombardier's officials confidently expect to snare a significant portion of the 750 airplanes it foresees being demanded in the Global 5000's class over a 10-year period. If production does indeed go ahead for the Global 5000, first flight of the aircraft would take place during the first quarter of 2003; certification would follow a year later, in early 2004; and the first aircraft would enter customer service by the end of that year.
