Issue 328: Slow but Steady

Bringing the A350 into Service

It’s no coincidence that Dassault’s Falcon 5X is a beautiful looking aeroplane. For an aircraft yet to enter flight test, it’s too early to say if the old maxim that ‘if it looks right if flies right’ holds true for the 5X, but there is definitely some truth in that accepted wisdom.

But more than that, most business jets are deliberately good looking aeroplanes. Business aviation is one segment of the aircraft spectrum where looks are particularly important, given the purchasing decision to buy a $50 million jet is often made by a high net worth individual or by the pilot running a company’s corporate jet flight department. But both types of buyers, whether consciously or subconsciously, will be to some degree influenced by the look of an aeroplane (for the same reason corporate jets tend to have flightdecks that through a combination of advanced technology and design are perhaps the most appealing pilot workplaces in aviation this side of an F-22).