EBACE: Gulfstream to Cessna --- Na-nana-Na-Na

Gulfstream said they were going to do it -- and they did.

On Sunday afternoon, May 2, Gulfstream experimental test pilots John O'Meara and Tom Horne took off in the first flying prototype (s/n 6001) of the Gulfstream G650, climbed to 42,500ft...and broke Cessna CEO Jack Pelton's heart.

You see Pelton (left) used to have the honour of saying he had the world's fastest business jet in his stable -- the Citation X, pictured below left with the sharp new winglets now certified by the European aviation authorities after a similar approval by the FAA months ago. But as of Sunday afternoon, Pres Henne, VP of programs, engineering and test at Gulfstream, and the father of the G650 (right) from an engineering standpoint, took the upper hand.

Pelton, when asked about the coming of this day at previous shows, had taken a 'we'll cross that bridge when we come to it' approach, hinting that the Citation X wasn't yet through with its sprinting capability. The "bridge" , in the form of the G650's M0.925 versus the Citation X's MMO of M0.92, has come and gone.

However the story is far from over.

"We're confident the Citation will remain the fastest," a defiant Pelton told me after the Cessna press conference at the EBACE show today. He says there is some margin left in the Citation X's top speed, and further announcements will be forthcoming, probably at NBAA, or as Pelton may call it, Na-nana-Na-Na-BAA. '