iniBuilds today released a comprehensive development update regarding the development of their upcoming Airbus A380, covering some of the incredible new features that will be coming with their rendition of the super jumbo. If you haven’t already seen that, take a read of our article covering their development update here.
But did you catch the tease at the end?
HB-JFX?
We wouldn’t normally report on a tease like this, but in this case, iniBuilds are practically asking for it. We can’t help but notice that, right at the end of an update almost solely on the A380, we get an unrelated screenshot of a completely different aircraft.
Plug HB-JFX into Google and what do you get? A real-world Swiss-registered Bombardier Global 6000.
A New Aircraft in Flight Simulation
If it is indeed the case, as seems to have been heavily teased, that iniBuilds are working on the Global, it would be a first for the flight simulation market. No developer has made much progress in developing a Global before (that we’re aware of). Other devs that have attempted jets in this class before have been known to cite licensing issues, for instance.
Regardless, if the jet is up to iniBuilds’ usual standards in quality, then this is definitely one to keep an eye on. The jet’s low profile (naturally, being a business jet) might also mean a lighter performance footprint than some of the big heavy airliners they are already well known for, though that is purely speculative.
What is the Global Capable Of?
The Global Express range of aircraft (ICAO: GLEX) is a well-known family of long-range business jets. The 6000 model typically seats between 12 and 19 passengers for missions up to a maximum range of 6000 nautical miles. And it flies that distance at a lightning-quick Mach 0.89 cruise speed. Passengers also get a great view of the peasants flying commercial below them at their maximum cruising altitude of 51,000 ft.
With this range and speed capability, passengers happy to spend north of $50,000 to charter one of these jets can comfortably make a London-New York transatlantic crossing in 7 hours. Although you won’t be flying Heathrow-JFK. This aircraft is much more likely to be spotted at smaller, regional airports like Farnborough and Biggin Hill (in the UK), Teterboro (near New York), and many, many other executive airports, lots of which feature little-known but complex and visually stunning approaches.
If you happened to own SpaceX stock prior to this afternoon, you might also be able to afford one. The Global 6000 reportedly lists at around $40-60 million USD, although second-hand models go for around $20 million. We hope iniBuilds aren’t planning on charging that much for their version, though.
What Do We Actually Know About iniBuilds’ Development?
Nothing really at this stage. But we still feel this is worth reporting on because, as we say, iniBuilds seem to be making the project about as obvious as they can without explicitly announcing it!
Keep up with our rolling coverage of FSExpo over at our hub page here!
