I'd rather have the toilet, for all the drunks, coffee-drinkers, late runners, pregnant women, people with bladder issues, & people who've got to have their bottle of water the moment they board...they can pack lighter.
It looks more like a vanity, unless the seat the demonstrator was sitting on as the more significant functionality. The wall only seems to block forward view. A bit intimate for a 737-800 I'd think.
Imagine...more moving parts means more chance of failure. Being on a plane where the wall does not deploy means no lav for that (and possibly the next) flight.
And God help the people sitting near that thing when someone leaves a package with extra smell...and then drops the wall. No longer worried about the silent farter in the seat next to me. Just don't want to be sitting within several rows of that thing.
Well I'll swim against the tide. It looks like a clever solution for "a rare moment" bathroom for TBM/light jet class of aircraft. I'd like to know price and weight. In general, A/C are purchased by guys, married guys and getting the women to go along with the purchase is part of the picture. This lav will appeal to women versus many other options in this class of aircraft, including NO LAV - which is a deal killer.
Seems to me that a much simpler solution (to save fuel and space) would have simply been a curtain rod and a curtain!! Again, this is a "rare moment" lav as kcurran put it.
I can only imagine that there would be hydraulics used on this!!! It said that it was powered by 2 motors For all the folding and expanding done it would have to be hydraulics!!! If it was my plane and I had the money to put it in there I would buy it!!!
This is for the TBM 900 and 930. There is no 950. It's a six place aircraft, not an airliner, not a 737. Costs around $4 million not 8. The lavatory weighs 90 pounds and replaces the two rear seats. A quick, 30 minute configuration change. The plane can stay in the air for 7 plus hours at long range cruise so having a lav while flying 4 people is pretty convenient actually.
Available online and the Made for TV section of your local Walmart. $19.95 and if you purchase it today we will include our brand new battery powered "Camper Crapper" it fits easily in the backseat of your Toyota Prius.
http://www.tbm.aero/daher-launches-elite-privacy-tbm-cabin-configuration-with-lavatory-enclosure-for-enhanced-passenger-well-being/