Certified and introduced in 2015, Bombardier’s Challenger 650 is the latest in the renowned 600 line, and Bombardier says it is the company’s best-selling large business jet platform of all time with 1,000 deliveries and counting. The 650 improves upon it’s predecessor, the Challenger 605, with an upgraded cabin and improved engines. Global range, industry-leading reliability, low operating costs, and a widest-in-class cabin combine to make make this heavy-cabin business jet a favorite among corporate flight departments.
Challenger 650 Features
Interior
The Challenger 650’s cabin is celebrated as the widest in its class, measuring 7.9 feet wide, 6 feet high, and 25.5 feet long with a total volume of 1,146 cubic feet. Guests have more than enough room to move about the cabin and stretch their legs, and they can store and access their luggage safely in flight with the jet’s 115 cubic feet of internal baggage space. A fully-enclosed lavatory features a large backlit mirror, vanity, sink, and faucet.
A typical cabin arrangement includes four club-facing executive seats that swivel 180 degrees and recline, with a three-seat divan and two more individual seats behind. Passengers enjoy fold-out work tables, angled touch screens, and large windows. Blu-ray, HDMI, and Wi-Fi capabilities, including a Ka-band internet connectivity system, ensure those aboard can stay productive or entertained, even on long-leg flights. A special wing design ensures an extremely comfortable ride—as a Bombardier sales engineer explained to Robb Report on a press flight in 2017, the jet’s shortened wing allows the jet to glide through the air smoothly and easily.
Performance
Bombardier touts the Challenger 650’s “industry-leading” 99.9 percent, low parts cost, long maintenance intervals, and great fuel efficiency as factors that make it a favorite corporate flight department standby.
Avionics
According to Altitudes Magazine, pilots are happy with the “wide and very comfortable” cockpit, and the aircraft is equipped with the latest navigational equipment. The jet features the Rockwell-Collins Pro Line 21 advanced avionics suite, with information spread conveniently across four large displays. Also included are a Dual Flight Management System with LPV and RNP approach capabilities, a Synthetic Vision System, MultiScan weather radar, dual Inertial Reference System, and dual SBAS/WAAS GPS.
