Gulfstream Announces New G650

Gulfstream Aerospace has announced the introduction of an all-new range-topping business jet: the Gulfstream G650. The G650 will offer the longest range, fastest speed, largest cabin and the most-advanced cockpit in the Gulfstream fleet. It will be capable of travelling 7,000 nautical miles at 0.85 Mach or 5,000 nautical miles at 0.90 Mach, and have a maximum operating speed of 0.925 Mach, making it the fastest civil aircraft flying.

“This is an exciting time in Gulfstream’s history,” said Joe Lombardo, the president of Gulfstream Aerospace. “For 50 years, our company has been on the forefront of business jet aviation. I can think of no better way to celebrate our golden anniversary than to introduce the Gulfstream G650.” Lombardo said that the G650’s design had incorporated significant input from customers who had participated in Gulfstream’s Advanced Technology Customer Advisory Team.

The G650 will be able to climb to a maximum altitude of 51,000 feet where it will maintain a cabin altitude of 4,850 feet (and only 2,800 feet at FL410). Its low cabin altitude will reduce fatigue, increase mental alertness and enhance productivity for the aircraft’s occupants. The G650’s cabin will feature 16 large cabin windows, measuring 28 inches by 20.5 inches—the largest in the industry.

The G650 features Gulfstream’s PlaneView® II cockpit incorporating four 14-inch adaptive liquid-crystal displays, three standard PlaneBook® computer tablets, a smaller pedestal, a standby multifunction controller that combines current display controller functionality with standby flight instruments, and a fully automatic three-dimensional scanning weather radar with an integral terrain database enabling ground-clutter elimination.

State-of-the-art vision systems will improve both pilot situational awareness and flight safety. The standard system includes the Gulfstream Enhanced Vision System (EVS II), the Synthetic Vision-Primary Flight Display (SV-PFD) system, and Head-Up Display (HUD II). Gulfstream is the first Part 25 Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) to provide its customers with both enhanced and synthetic vision systems.

Working in concert, the EVS II and SV-PFD provide pilots with a view of the terrain, obstacles and approaches ahead of the aircraft regardless of the weather conditions outside the cockpit.  The EVS uses a forward-looking infrared (FLIR) camera to capture real-world images and project them on the pilot’s all-digital HUD II, while the SV-PFD uses three-dimensional colour terrain images that are derived from data stored in the Honeywell Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS).

Because the G650 flight deck has the same basic layout as the G550, the pilot type rating for the G650 is expected to be the same as the GV and the other in-production large-cabin Gulfstream business jets, with minimal differences in training.

Performance for the G650 will come from the new Rolls-Royce BR725 engine, which produces 16,100 pounds of thrust at take-off. The BR725 engine features a 50-inch swept fan with 24 blades “for improved flow, increased efficiency, reduced noise and lower emissions.” According to Gulfstream, this will confer the G650 with fuel-burn levels comparable to those of smaller aircraft.

The BR725, in combination with the new, high-efficiency thrust-reverser system and an all-new aerodynamically optimised wing, will allow the G650 to meet the latest take-off certification requirements. It will also confer the aircraft with excellent hot-and-high performance and “outstanding intercontinental range.” For example, the G650 will be able to travel the 6,370 nautical miles from Dubai to Chicago 88 minutes faster than existing long-range jets. It will reduce the time taken for the 4,788-nautical-mile trip from Los Angeles to London by 31 minutes, and 50 minutes for the 5,932-mile trip from New York to Tokyo.

The G650 will have a full three-axis fly-by-wire system that exceeds certification requirements, incorporating flight-envelope protection, increased redundancy and reduced maintenance. The system features a quadruple-redundant flight-control computer system for commanding all flight-control surfaces, and has a separate and dedicated back-up flight-control computer.

The G650 will retain the G550’s heated fuel return system but will add a new Fuel Quantity Monitoring System (FQMS). This system uses a new distributed architecture with redundancy to maintain fuel-quantity indication in the event of any single sensor failure. Additionally, the electronically controlled refuelling feature automatically adjusts to provide accurate refuelling under varying fuel temperature conditions.

The aircraft will also feature Gulfstream’s PlaneConnect® program, a maintenance link that automatically transmits aircraft maintenance information to a customer’s operations department with an optional copy to Gulfstream Technical Operations. This data can then be analyzed to identify systems’ condition status. It also allows for exceptionally fast maintenance turnaround times.

The G650 fuselage employs all-new structural design and manufacturing processes, including bonded skin panels, machined frames and precision assembly. These new methods are intended not only to improve aircraft quality, fit and finish, but also to reduce assembly time and the need for an extensive parts supply. For example, the G650’s new window design is 16 percent larger but uses 78 percent fewer parts, thereby reducing assembly time by 57 percent. This streamlined manufacturing cycle also consumes less energy.

The G650, which will be produced at Gulfstream’s recently completed 308,000 square-foot manufacturing facility in Savannah, is scheduled to make its first flight in the second half of 2009, and the company expects to achieve FAA Type Certification and EASA validation in 2011 and make its first customer deliveries in 2012.