In its presentation to the press this week, Embraer announced major updates for the Praetor 500- and 600-series executive jets. The refinements to the new 500E and 600E models have been 10 years in development with a cabin management system (CMS) that focuses heavily on an ultra-modern passenger experience customizable for work, play, and sleep. As you’d expect in a latest bizjet cabin, there is extensive wireless connectivity, plus voice command capability.
It’s all about staying comfortable for the long haul. The new models get redesigned body-conforming seating/bedding, a new automated galley that can hold and serve more food and drink, customizable RGB mood lighting, smart window shades, configurable temperature and airflow controls, and a new Bluetooth cabin sound system. Much of the cabin customization is through a CMS controller at each passenger station and through a smartphone app.
The main feature in the cabin is what Embraer calls Smart Window, which is an optional 42-inch 4K OLED touch display planted on the cabin sidewall for video conferencing, high-res video streaming and gaming, and a real-time view outside the aircraft filmed by three external video cameras. With a sharp focus on long-range comfort that includes snoozing, the seating in the 500E and 600E (reengineered and manufactured by Embraer) includes electric-assist adjustments, forward tracking headrests, and a dedicated lounge position. The new seating makes for more cabin space, and both jets have six-foot-tall, flat stone flooring.
On the flight deck, the fly-by-wire 500E and 600E get active turbulence reduction and Embraer’s Enhanced Vision System that’s called E2VS. HUD EVS has been on Embraers for a while with a head-up display, Enhanced Vision System and Rockwell Collins’ Head-up Guidance System (HGS). And with all eyes on takeoff and landing performance and avoiding surface incursions, the 500E/600E have Embraer’s Runway Overrun Awareness and Alerting System, or ROAAS.
Both jets are powered by Honeywell HTF7500E engines and have Collins Pro Line Fusion avionics. Embraer calls the Praetor 500E (it has a seven- to nine-passenger cabin) the fastest and farthest-flying midsize jet in the world, and with four passengers and NBAA IFR reserves, it has a transcontinental range of 3,340 nautical miles. The Praetor 600E (it has an eight- to 12-passenger cabin) goes farther—with four passengers and NBAA IFR reserves it has an intercontinental range of 4,018 nautical miles. Both jets have 5,800-foot cabins and can fly at Mach 0.83.
Embraer said deliveries are expected to begin in Q1 2029.
The Phenom 300 and 300E’s are wonderful airplanes. And I’m sure that the Praetors and Legacies are nice machines too when everything is working right. But I have been hit with GPS jammers on multiple occasions and I don’t trust fly-by-wire. It’s one thing to scramble GPS navigation signals and have the autopilot kick off and red flag failures all over 3 displays, but I want direct linkage from the control column in my hand to ailerons, elevators and rudders. Not interested in helplessly dying in an airplane that has the flight control signals scrambled.
There is no need to make everything so computerized that you have to have a paid subscription just to start your car, heat the seats, listen to music, unlock the doors and use the cup holders. The people that sell all this technology to us know that even if someone is technologically capable, they probably don’t know both computers and mechanical devices to the degree necessary to fix it themselves. And even if they did, they don’t have access to the unlock codes. New equipment and machinery of every ilk is becoming a scam. Not only are your refrigerator, TV and all other appliances watching, tracking and listening to you like Siri and Alexa, so is your car. And they are all designed to fail the day after your warranty expires.