by Private Air Raters

Embraer Legacy 600 Cabin Review “The Legacy is outstandingly rugged for a corporate airplane. What’s not to like?” asked Atlanta, Georgia-based, Rater Dan George. It’s a good question. The Embraer Legacy 600 offers a simple value proposition: A capacious cabin on par with a Gulfstream G500 for about the price of a Challenger 604, or roughly half the price. “It’s a great airplane for the money,” noted Pilatus PC-12 flyer Steve Edwards. “This airplane is built like a truck and rides like a Mercedes.” Our Rater Panel enjoyed the Embraer Legacy 600’s spacious cabin, giving it a cumulative score of 4.71 out of a possible 5.0.

The $24.7 million Legacy will haul 10 passengers and lots of luggage 3,500 statute miles at .78 Mach or roughly 500 mph. That’s about half the range of the Gulfstream and about 50 mph slower. “No doubt it is the best bang for the buck,” commented Nashville, Tennessee, Rater Robert Faulk. “But it is a little slow.”

In recent years Embraer has been marketing it as an alternative to super-midsize jets such as the Gulfstream G200, the Dassault Falcon Jet 2000EX, and the Bombardier Challenger 300, aircraft that fall into the $18-million to $22-million price range. Against the super-midsize crowd, the Legacy’s cabin is 60 percent larger, measuring 1,410 cubic feet. But in the minds of some of our Raters, comparisons inevitably went back to the top-end Gulfstream Vs and 550s. “This is a $25-million airplane that will do 97 percent of what a $45-million Gulfstream V will do,” pointed out Rater Bart Rice, who has logged more than 750,000 miles as pilot or passenger in private aircraft.

Size matters, and for the price you get a lot of airplane. The Legacy’s spacious passenger environment is 43 feet long, 6 feet high, and 6 feet 11 inches wide with seating for 13, although 10 is more reasonable. The typical executive cabin layout features a forward galley and closet; four large executive seats arranged in a facing grouping sharing two foldout tables; four slightly smaller seats with a conference table, and an opposite-facing credenza; and an aft stateroom area with two more large single seats, a foldout table, and an opposite-facing divan or couch. The divan is available with a berthing top that slides out to create a comfortable sleeping surface. The six large executive seats have 20-inch-wide seat cushions and 26-inch-wide backs. They recline to 75 degrees, track forward and aft, and swivel.

The Legacy’s baggage compartment is 240 cubic feet and can hold 1,000 pounds. The baggage compartment can be accessed in flight through the capacious 92-cubic-foot lavatory. The lavatory also contains a generous wardrobe closet, ideal for in-flight clothes changing. “The roomy cabin provides lots of comfortable space, accessible baggage, and a spacious lavatory,” noted Rater Harold Coghlan, who flies Hawkers and Citations.

Although slower than the Gulfstream, the Legacy will fly New York to London, Geneva to Gander, or Singapore to Tokyo nonstop. The airplane is based on Embraer’s wildly successful ERJ 135/145 series of commuter jets. If you have flown on domestic carriers such as American Eagle of USAirways Express over the last five years, odds are you have already logged some seat time in the basic airframe. The Legacy, which is sold in executive and corporate shuttle versions, is based on the Model 145 platform that in airline configuration seats 37. The shuttle version knocks about $6 million off the price and can be outfitted with 19 business class-style individual seats. U.S. companies including Conoco Phillips and Pfizer operate Legacy Shuttles. Embraer announced the Legacy in 1999, and by June 2006 26 U.S.-registered Legacies out of 74 were sold worldwide.

While the Legacy’s plush interior could be in no way confused for a commuter jet, some airliner gremlins remain. Many of our Raters found fault with the aircraft’s anemic air-conditioning system (on the ground). When Legacies began arriving in the United States in 2002 they also were plagued by interior fit and finish and cabin noise problems and a series of airworthiness directives that covered everything from the passenger seats’ floor tracking to inadequate drainage of leaking fuel. Most of these issues have been resolved.

The cabin noise problems were not entirely unexpected. The Legacy’s Rolls-Royce engines were tweaked to provide more power—for a total of up to 7,987 pounds of thrust each— than those used on the airliner versions of the aircraft, and the Legacy is typically flown higher and faster than its commuter cousins. On early models passengers reported noisy forward cabins, and in 2003 Embraer began a major campaign to improve the cabin and quiet it using isolators to absorb vibration from cabin wall and ceiling panels, cabin partitions, and furniture including galleys, cabinets, credenzas, and the lavatory. These efforts appear to have paid off. Rater Clay Sikes, who owns a PC-12, noted the Legacy’s “smooth and quiet ride” as did most of his fellow raters. “This is an extremely comfortable and quiet airplane,” said Rater Greg Rush, who flies airliners for a major international air cargo company.

Other incremental cabin improvements began to take hold as well. Recent new creature comforts include pleated window shades and the addition of the Airshow 4000 in-flight entertainment service viewable via the bulkhead and side-ledge flat-screen monitors. High-speed Internet is available through a wireless Local Area Network at a rate of 128 kbps using the satellite-based Inmarsat Swift 64 system. That will be upgradeable to a rate of 432 kbps—or about half the speed of a typical high-speed home or office connection—when the faster Broadband—Global Area Network (B-GAN) system comes on line in the near future. The current connection is adequate for text e-mails and basic Web surfing.

Still some of our Raters thought the Legacy’s interior flew at a lower altitude than comparable aircraft. Bart Rice noted that “the fit and finish are not as lavish as other aircraft in its class.” Guatemalan Rater Francois Berger, who flies helicopters and a King Air, faulted the Legacy’s galley lighting.

While most corporate jets are designed to operate 400 hours a year, the ERJ series was designed for 2,500 hours per year and at least one operator, fractional share provider Flight Options, flies their Legacies an average of 100 to 130 hours per month. Rater Billy Minkoff, who flies a Boeing 767 wide-body jet, notes that this airliner lineage will serve the Legacy well. “It is easy to service and maintain.”

The Legacy’s airliner lineage also typically means fewer maintenance inspections and more time between inspections—the first one on the Legacy is not due until 4,000 hours or 48 months—more parts that can be replaced when they actually wear out as opposed to servicing on a fixed timetable as well as somewhat better prices for parts. Even though the airplane is made in Brazil, about 70 percent of it is U.S.-origin parts including the engines and avionics. There are 10 authorized Legacy service centers in the United States and 10 more scattered across South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. —Mark Huber

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