May 12, 2009 Boeing has used EBACE to announce its Boeing Business Jet (BBJ) Convertible is now available to prospective customers with very special needs. The USD50 million plus airplane reconfigures from all-passenger to all-cargo configuration in less than eight hours, making it ideal for Governments, corporations and independently-wealthy citizens who forsee usefulness in being able to quickly repurpose the craft from mobile boardroom to transporting up to 50 VIPs, staff or troops to delivering disaster-relief supplies or configuring for medical evacuation. Thanks to a new Overhead Space Utilization kit, which adds 75 square metres of space, it could also be easily used for transporting race cars, race horses or the entourage of touring musical groups.
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.
The Boeing Business Jet (BBJ) Convertible's enabling feature is a large cargo door on the left-hand side of the forward fuselage, which enables the rapid loading of 86.9 cubic metres of cargo to the aircraft's main deck. Alternatively, the BBJ C can carry 50 passengers.
