G5 Jet

How it looks when you fly a $50 million Gulfstream 500 (G5) from South Beach to Chicago on a personal jet.

Owing to a short-lived stats matching doctorate I would be flying a Gulfstream jet in a few hour for nothing! Having explored Miami's inner city, I set my boyfriend down and made my way to the Signature Flight Support Privatjet Station, situated in an inconspicuous palm-lined area at Fort Lauderdale this year.

One of them is able to directly draw to the entrance of the airports in your rented vehicle. a nice Jetsmarter soil operative who validated my route. A member of the staff of the private jet terminals took charge of my rent a car and I set off for the small wait area.

Overall, the whole journey from arriving to getting used to a comfortable armchair didn't take more than a few moments, which corresponds to a normal check-in in a business airport, even when you' re travelling in first grade. Amazingly, there were no lounging facilities except a few dispensers and enough apple juice to cover the whole trip.

In fairness, I would say that privately owned pilots do not need to waste much floor space and can easily buy their own trucks on the plane. Since our plane took place on the 4 July week-end, our plane was about half full, with a maximum of eight people. I could see our Shuttlejet from the lounges, an equipped Gulfstream 550 (G5) instead of the Gulfstream 4 which typically travels this itinerary.

When I entered the cubicle, my lips fell when I saw the wonderful cubicle for the first glimpse, with its lovely seams of leathers, wood plates and many golden trim. I was seated in the front part of the cab, which was a long sofa, together with three couples of soft fur chairs of bright cream skin opposite each other.

Next to my seating place waited my own object, a friendly note of the floor crew, although it was quickly stored and I could only bring it back after my plane was under pressure. On the back of the cab were two lines of similarly shaped leathersitting, opposite each other.

Slightly narrower, with three squeezed in per line, the seating was similar to your usual home first class one. Its long, elliptical window allows much more daylight than your conventional jet, so I had an unhindered view of the breathtaking Florida coast.

As we flew privately, we went up to 45,000 ft, which is 10% higher than a normal passenger plane. Consequently, there is significantly less aircraft to handle, and our travel to Chicago was only 2h30. As soon as we reached the cruise level, a snack was offered and a cabin crew member took our drinks orders.

In the course of the plane I had a few glass of champagne cast into beautiful cups. There was enough room in the cab to take my feet out, because this shuttles were half full. I had a pretty roomy chair with a lot of upholstery. Another plus point: the chairs can be turned by up to 90° with a golden grip so that you can speak to the person sitting next to you.

Talking of fake gilt, the cabins were richly furnished, making Emirates First Classic look pretty much walking. And there were locks of brass. Nothing can compare to the splendour of the privacy of the back bath. It was an unbelievably roomy bath that covered the full width of the aircraft and was larger than most commercially available first-rate baths except those found on the A380.

Illumination system has been fitted with tungsten filament lamps instead of your usual clear LED's, resulting in a much warmer background. In place of your traditional plastics washing machines and washbasins, this bath has been fitted with a normal size gold tap with warm and cool faucets. There was a regularly large handtowel on a gold holder and in line with the old financial topic, the restroom itself was concealed under a cover of cowhide.

On the back of the bath there are a number of pockets containing provisions for on-board meals and a "crew only" pocket for our baggage. That' s what a perfectly designed auditorium in the skies would look like and the interiors are just on a different plane than those in passenger planes.

During the two and a half hours I got to know my neighbours, who both accidentally loved miles, and I could even try the jet sofa. It was quite comfortable to lay down, although I would hesitate to share one with another on a full ride.

Sometimes it came to light turbulences and the harness shield was switched on, although no voices appeared on the answering machine, which asked us to sat down. I' m guessing that those who fly privately aren't used to taking orders in the skies. Usually the doors from the dashboard and the passengers area were locked, although at the end of the plane I could have a look at the dashboard.

This is for those who have to take care of security during privat flights, because our flights had both a pilots and a co-pilot, similar to your usual jet. After a while, the borders of Chicago began to slip on the skyline. All our baggage was awaiting us in the arrivals hall and I said goodbye to the most luxury ride I will probably have.

Then I took an over back to the Midway business station before taking a plane back home in the southwest.