The world of private flight is a fascinating one full of luxury and impressive aircraft. In this list, we take a look at 25 facts related to private planes that most people probably don’t know.
- The fastest civilian aircraft in the world is a private jet, the Cessna Citation X.
- The most expensive private jet in the world is worth a staggering $500 million. It is an Airbus A380 belonging to Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Al Saud.
- As many as 600 private jets fly in to attend the Super Bowl, making it the biggest event for private aircraft.
- In the US, private jets have access to roughly 5000 airports, while commercial airlines only around 500.
- A Gulfstream 550 has 226 cubic feet of luggage space.
- The US makes up nearly half the world’s private jet market.
- Harrison Ford has a collection of private aircraft – according to him, “more airplanes than it’s fair for anybody to have.” He was 52 years old when he started learning to fly planes.
- The world’s smallest piloted plane was the Bumble Bee II built by Robert Starr. It was an adorable 2.7 meters long and had a wingspan of 1.68m.
- The Bombardier Global 8000 can go 9091 miles on a single tank of fuel.
- The change in air pressure on a flight can numb up to a third of your taste buds.
- The price tag for chartering a Gulfstream V for a weekend from New York City to San Francisco: $100,000.
- Donald Trump’s Boeing 757-200 airliner-turned-private-jet features gold-plated fixtures, including a master bath with 24-karat gold accents.
- The first corporate airplane in America was “Smilin’ Thru”, a Travel Air Model 6000-B built by Harry L Ogg, then president of the Automatic Washer Company. As part of Ogg’s marketing efforts, the plane would sometimes carry up to four washing machines.
- The odds of dying in a car accident are 1 in 5,000; the odds of dying in a plane crash are roughly 1 in 1 million.
- Chuck Yeager piloted the flight that broke the sound barrier with two broken ribs (he’d fallen off a horse two nights prior).
- A large jet can burn around 32 litres of fuel per minute.
- John Travolta is an accomplished pilot and owns at least five aircraft, including a Boeing 707-138 that previously flew for Qantas.
- Three of the most expensive airports to land in are in Japan: Kansai International Airport in Osaka ($5,400), Narita International Airport in Tokyo ($5,600), and Haneda Airport in Tokyo ($6,850).
- Showbiz personalities who own private jets include Oprah Winfrey, Jay-Z, Tom Cruise, Jackie Chan, and Angelina Jolie.
- Beyoncé gave husband Jay-Z a 40 million-dollar Bombardier Challenger 850 jet as a Father’s Day present.
- 30% of private jet owners say they would purchase a new one in 5 years.
- The plane that crashed tragically in 2016 leading to the demise of 71 people, including most of Brazilian team Chapecoense, ran out of fuel a mere 8 miles from its destination.
- The first Learjet 23, first flown in the early 60s, is on view at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum.
- In 2012, NetJets aircraft logged a total distance of 110,585,785 nautical miles, equivalent to 266 round trips to the moon.
- Over 11,000 private jets were registered in the US, compared to around 8,000 in the rest of the world.