My partner and I purchased a Citation V about three months ago and have been loving life in the sky. It makes business and pleasure so much...easier. The only gripe I had about the plane was the interior. It hadn't been replaced for about eight years or so (the exterior on the other hand was mint). Our plane happens to have extremely low hours for the year with only 3,800 hours under it's belt. Additionally, my plane is configured for high density, so it seats 11 + our pilot (this includes the belted potty in the back). It was everything we desired in a plane--except the interior.

So in order to make this plane "ours" and have everything we wanted in a plane, we have embarked on a very ambitious remodel of the interior. It was previously finished in grey leather with blue and tan carpet accents. We are refinishing the interior in a variety of tans/browns with beautiful honey-trimmed wood accents throughout in order to make the cabin feel warm and inviting. We are also installing flight display systems for every seat in the plane which show a ground speed map, a camera for viewing the pilots in the cockpit, and the ability to switch between several different shows/movies.

We were originally quoted 60-90 days from several different plane remodel firms and wound up going with a local gentleman that does work for Million Air. He was given the time-table of THREE WEEKS to complete the project, and it appears he will hit it (obviously with a crew of people)!

I will update as we get closer to finishing. It should be completed by the 18th...

The plane:


A very unflattering cell phone picture of the previous interior (we are keeping the sofa seat, but refinishing in top grain leather):


Out with the old!



The plane stripped down:



Some of the new trim pieces:



Running the cables for the in-flight displays!


And the new LCD's from Flight Display Systems:

 

This will be a great thread to follow! Please keep us updated!

(One day I'd like to be able to start a post with that same first sentence lol. Nice!)

 

wow!

It`s one thing to be a car nut and mod a car..
but modifying a plane to your preferences is uber cool

keep us updated!
this is really going to be interesting

 

this is going to be interesting, good luck and keep updating this thread!

 

Pretty awesome guys....Looking forward to the updates.

 

This is going to be a great thread. Thanks for sharing the upgrade with us. I am looking forward to seeing more pictures of the project, and pics of it when it's finished.

Please let me know how satisfied you are with the work done. The people that did our Beech Jet didn't do such a great job.

Sounds like you are definitely enjoying your plane.

 

Very cool! Look forward to continued pics and the final product

 

That is amazing... Are you keeping the 11+ seating? I've been on a lot of planes of that size and while they are incredible, abundant room is not one of their strong points. Are you going to spread the seats out a little to increase legroom? I do love the couch.

Like Gobbles said, this is a thread to watch - can't wait to see the finished product.

 

The seats move out towards the middle of the isle and they obviously recline, as well as forward and back based on the person sitting in front of you. The only real "space" issue I have is the height of the cabin, which on most small/medium sized business jets is fairly restrictive. The V is no exception. I would love a Citation X with a little more room (and a host of other things...lol), however, I love our current seating configuration.

The seat cushion on the couch is removable so that it converts into sort of a mini-bed for longer trips. We love the 11+1 seating arrangement as we can pack a ton of people on it for shorter trips to the West Coast. As a matter of fact, I'm flying my employees and their spouses up to Jackson Hole for our company Christmas party, which wouldn't be possible were it not for the high seating capacity our plane has.

 

That's great stuff... Congrats again. What a way to travel!

You know, Gobbles and I were discussing how great life must be when you can say, "My partner and I purchased a Citation V about three months ago and have been loving life in the sky.", but then you are probably thinking the same about the guy who owns the Bombardier 50-passenger bird! It's all relative, but I'm in awe nonetheless.

I'd hate to know what fuel and maintenance costs for that bad boy run!