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Three yacht designers talk about their crossover work on aircraft interiors.
by Mark T. Masciarotte
11/01/2004
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While
private
or corporate
aircraft do not fall under
ultra-rigid commercial aviation
standards,
interior
materials in planes
are under far greater
scrutiny than in
yachts. A sample of every
interior
element
must be
submitted for a burn test,
even if it
is just
a
different color of the same fabric, as
different dyes may
produce
different gases in a fire.
And, even if materials are
approved by the
FAA, the
RAA (England) or the CAA (Canada) and
many other
nations
require their
own testing. Some
elements that seem
extravagant on
yachts – a lapis lazuli
countertop for
example
– make perfect sense
aboard an
aircraft
because they will
not
burn. The New York lapidary
firm Stephen Lipkins is nearly 100 percent
booked supplying
semi-precious stone surfaces to private
jets.
 Patrick Knowles’ design for the owner’s office in
a four-engine aircraft
currently in refit has all the comforts of a
terrestrial room, except that
the chair and sofa are fitted with seat
belts. Wall panels will
diminish the fuselage effect. (Click image to
enlarge)
Size-wise,
Knowles likens the living
area in a
plane to a car or an
open-class
sportboat.
“In larger aircraft you have the ability
to do some
interesting things, but
that’s still extremely
limited. The aesthetic
part of the design is
minimal,” he
said.
 Still, he sees
many
similarities
between
yacht and aircraft
design. As
with a yacht,
an aircraft’s
interior must take into
account weight
distribution,
balance,
the
method of securing
furniture and the paths to
emergency
exits. Some
design techniques and tools, such as the
elimination of
square
corners on cabin furniture and
secure, positive-action
latches
for
drawers,
cupboards and doors, have filtered from
aircraft into the
design of the
modern yacht
(seesidebar:
“Trickle-Down Effect”). Other
issues, such as
“headstrike,”
the distance between the head of a seated
passenger and the
nearest wall, are not a concern for
the marine
industry. (Click image to
enlarge)
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