Video: A Tour Inside Dassault's Falcon 8X

3,900 feet cabin pressure at 41,000 feet is really something in my "pseudo"- uneducated mind. Highest I believe I was at is 42k on one commercial scheduled aircraft back in the 70's and I believe the weather conditions were right for it back in the day. It was a Continental DC-10 (remember them?) but it was long before the -10 started having "problems". Nice flight and I survived. Dad paid for first class and it was very comfortable. Cabin staff was very attentive and nice. I was a 15 year old and remained very courteous to the cabin staff who were mostly pretty females and the hormones were raging. Kept it under control and didn't embarrass or stress out anyone. Shoot, my parents were right next to me!
Altitude depends on distance, aircraft capability and the high altitude weather situation. I was taking flying lessons at the time in Yankees and 150's. Read everything I could about flying plain and turbocharged engines (a bit before turbocharging was common in cars but was in some upper level airplanes.) Learned about the "waste gate" back then at least in a book.
Sometimes I believe high altitude weather had a little bit higher air pressure situation at the time and the commercial jets could fly higher on long ranged missions. I was on one of them and going west from SFO to ORD
I read the specs on the aircraft (the -10) and I think with the cabin pressure differential we were like at 9,000 feet for maybe a little higher at 42k feet. Anyone with more "in the know" can correct me.
I do remember even at 9k pressure alt. for a long flight, I was sluggish when we got back. I was young and recovered after a good night's rest.
Nice experience. Couldn't go into commercial flying as I had a bum amblyopic right eye but I could put the Yankee or the 150 right on the numbers with "one eye" even with a fierce angled 40mph+ crosswind.
Kurt