Aircraft
First Impressions: Embraer Legacy 450
Embraer’s mid-light business jet is surprisingly quiet and very capable.
Sidesticks and an uncluttered cockpit layout make the Legacy 450 a pleasure to fly.
Sidesticks and an uncluttered cockpit layout make the Legacy 450 a pleasure to fly.

As I stepped aboard PR-LGV on Friday, the first Embraer Legacy 450 with a full interior, it was hard not to compare it to the iconic Hawker business jet series. Both have a cabin width and height of about six feet and seat two pilots and seven to nine passengers, though my host at São Paulo’s Campo de Marte Airport–Embraer Executive Jets president and CEO Marco Túlio Pellegrini–reminded me that the 450 is “much, much more modern.”