The pieces.
Three pieces published in the Journal, in reverse chronological order. Listed alongside the advisor's notes that close the catalogue pages, which are not separately archived.
The G650ER, eleven years on.
The aircraft that redefined what an ultra-long-range cabin could be, reviewed at the eleven-year mark. On range, on cabin, on the question of whether anything has yet replaced it, and on the reasons the office still recommends it as the standing default for transatlantic in MMXXVI.
Why Bombardier's 7500 changed the long-haul calculus.
Range, cabin, fly-by-wire. The Global 7500 did not invent the category, but it set the standing recommendation for it.
Falcon 8X: Dassault's argument for the trijet.
The case for three engines, made in MMXXVI by the only manufacturer still making them.
Selected lines.
Five sentences from the writings of A. Pemberton, drawn from the Journal and from the advisor's notes that close the catalogue pages. Compiled by the editor.
The G650ER is the rare aircraft that has not been improved upon in a decade not because its successor has been delayed, but because its successor has been beside the point.
Range, on its own, is not a specification one can use. It is what the aircraft will fly in cruise, with the cabin one actually requests, on the day one actually departs. The brochure number is the first half of a question.
The case for three engines is no longer the case it was in MMV. It is now the case for very long water crossings made by correspondents who would rather not think about them, and that is a smaller market than it was.
Six feet of cabin is the threshold above which the correspondent stops noticing the cabin. Below it, the correspondent does little else.
A specification table is the most read and the least useful page of any aircraft brochure. The numbers that decide a routing are not in it.
Where the byline appears.
one place one will find the Alistair byline, beyond the dated pieces above.
Read elsewhere.
Other bylines on the Journal masthead. For the full list see the Contributors page.
By return of post.
A short note from the office whenever A. Pemberton publishes in the Journal. No more than three or four notes a year, by the editorial calendar; some years rather fewer.
A quote, by return.
Provide the route, the party, and the window. An advisor will reach you within twelve minutes with three vetted options across the appropriate class.
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