Bombardier Global 5000 (GL5T)

The Bombardier Global 5000 is the Global Express cut down to a size and price that a wider market could justify. The original Global Express of 1996 had defined the ultra-long-range business jet, flying 6,000 nautical miles with a cabin large enough to walk about in, but by 2001 Bombardier saw demand for something that kept the cabin cross-section and most of the speed while giving up some range to undercut the Gulfstream GIV-SP and Dassault Falcon 900EX. The answer was a Global Express with 0.8 m removed from the cabin, less fuel and a lower price, announced in October 2001 as the Global 5000.

It first flew on 7 March 2003, was certified in Canada the following year and entered service in April 2005. Early aircraft were quoted at 4,800 nautical miles with eight passengers, enough for London to Los Angeles or New York to Dubai, at a typical cruise of Mach 0.85. Bombardier raised the weights and range to 5,200 nautical miles in later production and, from 2012, fitted the Vision flight deck based on Rockwell Collins Pro Line Fusion, which brought synthetic vision and head-up display options to the type.

The Global 5000 sold steadily to corporate flight departments, charter operators and governments. VistaJet built one of the largest fleets and used it to anchor its subscription model, the German Air Force bought four for VIP transport, and operators in the Middle East and Asia valued its cabin and hot-and-high performance. Production of the 5000 itself wound down around 2020 as Bombardier introduced the Global 5500, a re-engined version with Rolls-Royce Pearl 15 turbofans, a 5,900-nautical-mile range and a new interior, which carries on under the same ICAO designator.

Today GL5T covers both the Global 5000 and the Global 5500, and the pair sit between the smaller Challenger line and the flagship Global 7500 in Bombardier's range. Several hundred are in service.

The Global 5000 keeps the BD-700 airframe of the Global Express: a 94 ft (28.65 m) supercritical wing with 35 degrees of sweep, a T-tail and two rear-mounted Rolls-Royce BR710A2-20 turbofans of 14,750 lb thrust. The cabin is 0.81 m shorter than the Global Express/6000's, giving a floor length of about 12.3 m, and fuel capacity is lower, which is where the range difference comes from. Width and height are the same, at 2.49 m and 1.91 m, so the cabin accommodates three living zones with a full galley and a crew rest.

Cruise is Mach 0.85 with a maximum of Mach 0.89, and the aircraft can operate from runways under 5,500 ft at full weight, with notably good performance at hot and high airports. The Vision flight deck, standard from 2012, introduced four large displays, synthetic vision and a head-up display option. The Global 5500 replaced the BR710s with Pearl 15 engines of 15,125 lb thrust, added the 7500's Nuage seats and a reprofiled wing trailing edge, lifting range to 5,900 nautical miles and top speed to Mach 0.90.

Global 5000s and 5500s fly for corporate flight departments worldwide, for charter and fractional operators including VistaJet, which has flown dozens, and for governments: the German Air Force's four Global 5000s carry ministers and senior officials, and the type serves in similar roles for several other states. Special-mission versions carry surveillance and signals equipment for a few air forces. Typical civil missions are transatlantic and intercontinental trips of six to eleven hours with four to eight passengers, from London or Geneva to the US East Coast, the Gulf or Asia.

Inside, a Global 5000 is one of the roomiest business jets short of a converted airliner: a cabin 2.49 m wide and 1.91 m high, so you can stand and walk, divided into a club-seating lounge, a conference or dining area and a rear lounge that converts to a bed, with a full galley and a lavatory forward and aft on most layouts. Seats are wide leather armchairs that recline flat, the windows are large and the cabin altitude is low, around 4,500 ft at cruise, which makes a nine-hour flight far less tiring than an airliner. Noise is low because the engines are far behind the cabin. The Global 5500 adds the 7500's Nuage seats and faster cabin internet. For the best seat, take a forward club chair facing aft on the right side, which gets the view and stays out of the galley traffic.

All Globals share a long, slim fuselage, a T-tail, two large rear-mounted engines and a highly swept wing with winglets, and the family is hard to tell apart. The Global 5000 and 5500 are the shortest at 29.5 m, with one fewer cabin window than the Global 6000, which is the practical way to distinguish them: count the windows on the left side between the door and the wing. The Global 7500 is much longer, at 33.8 m, with a new wing and larger Passport engines, and its windows are visibly bigger. Against a Gulfstream G650, the Global has a T-tail with a smaller, less swept fin and a cabin door further forward.