Story ID: 
Adam makes over VLJ interior
By: Mark Huber
Caption: Customer feedback has prompted Adam Aircraft to redesign the cabin of its A700 very light jet to incorporate a combination of luxury automobile features wi
Word Count: 392
Customer feedback has prompted Adam Aircraft to redesign the cabin of its A700 very light jet to incorporate a combination of luxury automobile features with those found on larger business jets. The company partnered with Infusion Design to create a cabin that is lighter, more open and more stylish than the original. Gene Harter, Adam’s engineering manager for interiors, said the most distinctive feature of the new cabin is a “swivel wing” sidewall table. While most cabin sidewall tables deploy from a slot in the sidewall, the A700’s swivel wing table is integrated into an exposed recess in the aircraft’s sidewall in a way that “doesn’t detract from the overall look and feel of the interior,” says Infusion president Sean Elsner. The design takes up considerably less space than tables that can be hidden inside the sidewall.The new A700 cabin was a collaborative six-week design program that involved Adam, Infusion and DeCrane, the principal cabin components supplier. Work began in April of this year with the first new interior installed in a mockup in time for the NBAA Convention in September. The compressed timeline mandated using off-the-shelf solutions and non-traditional applications of materials from other industries. The DeCrane seat, for example, morphed from an existing design. The seats have some recline, and have break-forward backs that fold flat, creating a more open cabin environment, more stowage space and work areas.The curved cabin wall design gives the cabin a “wrapped look,” to create an airy feeling. The entire cabin has a monolithic design with only 12 major pieces, facilitating ease of installation and maintenance. Harter said the team paid considerable attention to lighting. To address the fact that “in most small airplanes there is insufficient lighting,” the A700’s cabin is illuminated with a combination of standard reading lights, recessed wash lights and high-intensity LED lights. Unlike some other VLJs the A700 will have dual-zone climate controls with separate air-conditioning blowers for the cockpit and the cabin.Adam is developing an integrated iPod docking system with table-mounted LCD monitors and is looking into enabling individual XM Radio channel selection at each of the club-four seats. The new A700 interior initially will be available in two color schemes: a tan/beige with wood faux finishes printed on the back of plastic polycarbonate, and a  gray with carbon-fiber trim accents.