Recently in Gulfstream Category

Gulfstream remains focused internally as speculation churns on a potential competitor to the company's ultra long-range G650 business aircraft.

"We have about 200 [G650 aircraft] sold and that's our market. We are much more focused on us and bringing products to market...than anything else," says Larry Flynn, Gulfstream senior vice president marketing and sales.

Bombardier is widely believed to be quietly developing a replacement for its large cabin Global Express XRS and competitor for Gulfstream G650.

Gulfstream launched its flagship G650 in March 2008 and recently rolled the aircraft out in September.

"We think we have an airplane that has effectively developed a new market at the top end of the business aircraft market, it has been extraordinarily received and now we need to deliver," adds Flynn.

Programme sources tell FlightBlogger that the aircraft has been recently undergoing low-speed taxi tests at the company's Savannah, Georgia facility.

Flynn declined to comment on any specific tests, but said "If you're at the airport in Savannah, you may see it on the runway" adding that aircraft is on track on meet its first flight target by the close of the year.

The business aviation industry is not out of the woods just yet, but General Dynamics executive vice-president, Joe Lombardo, is cautiously optimistic about the prospects for the future.

"We're starting to see some favorable signs, I'm not going to tell you that we're back on the upswing necessarily, there are some early signs that we're starting to pull ourselves out of this," says Lombardo.

Lombardo adds that reduction in service activities, the loss of skilled jobs, global credit crunch, jet fuel prices, as well as the negative public perception of business aviation have taken their toll on the industry.

Yet, in the last two to three months, Lombardo says he has seen a demand growing internationally in emerging markets for the company's large cabin G550 aircraft.

Meanwhile, Gulfstream is pushing forward with its new twin airplane programs. The company's large-cabin G650 is progressing toward its maiden sortie and is currently running through safety of flight testing checkouts before moving into higher speed taxi tests at Gulfstream's Savannah, Georgia facility.

Pres Henne, Gulfstream senior vice-president of programs, engineering and test says that the G650 structural airframe is undergoing static testing, while the second test vehicle, designated T2, progresses through final assembly. Henne adds that T3 and P1, the first production G650, are already in the production system ahead of final assembly.

More than 6,300 miles away, Henne says that the super mid-size G250, which rolled out just days after the G650, is progressing at a similar pace to its large cabin sibling with safety of flight checkouts and static testing well underway in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Both aircraft are expected to fly by the close of 2009.

"When the 'I's are dotted and the 'T's are crossed," says Henne. "We'll be ready to fly,"

Now Gulfstream's version: See more photos from the G650 roll-out

Here's the full set of photos from yesterday's G650 rollout, including the flights to and from Savannah. Seven thousand people attended yesterday's ceremonies that saw the new large-cabin business jet taxi in under its own power. I suspect a power roll-in could be a first for an aerospace industry.

The first thing you notice when walking around the aircraft is the wing, which is incredibly clean and already has a slight upward curve to it. Also worth noting, the sharp angle at the edge of the cockpit windows gives N650GA an almost Cardinal-esq appearance. In case you're wondering, the windows are 16% larger than the G550's, which strangely makes the aircraft look smaller from far away. From an aesthetic point of view alone, this is one good-looking aircraft. For the sake of full disclosure, I don't think I've ever met an aircraft I didn't think was good-looking. Enjoy!

On location at Gulfstream's G650 manufacturing site. N650GA (6001) taxied in under her own power. The aircraft will fly by the end of the year.

Off to Savannah momentarily aboard a G550 for the rollout ceremonies to see N650GA (Fmr. N601GD) in the flesh. Will be tweeting all day from the event. Special thanks to The Enterprise Report for the first photo.

Thanks to a cached version of the G650 wikipedia page, it appears Gulfstream has been making some impressive strides with its new business jet. One item that has since been removed from the current entry reads:

The G650 was first spotted taxing under its own power at the Gulfstream Savannah Georgia production facility on Sept 26, 2009. A photo of the aircraft was published.

That photo has proved elusive. However, thankfully, others have not:

You can't see it really in this shot, but Lord of the Rings is playing on what looks to be a 60 inch TV. Now, where do I sign up?

GENEVA - Gulfstream announced significant progress on its twin concurrent development programs today, detailing the assembly of the large-cabin G650 and super mid-size G250 business aircraft.

Gulfstream's flagship G650, which is touted to be the world's fastest business jet, is making significant progress structurally with the first fuselage assembled in Savannah, Georgia. The company expects the first set of completed wings to be delivered from Spirit Aerosystems in Tulsa, Oklahoma "in a week or so," says Pres Henne, VP of product development.

In addition, the Rolls-Royce BR725 engines have been podded and Gulfstream has already undertaken "first flight" in the aircraft's simulator and integrated test facility (ITF), which came online earlier this year. In addition to the ITF, Gulfstream has set up an "iron bird" to test the systems integration of the G650 ahead of installation on the first aircraft.

For the smaller G250, which will undergo final assembly in Tel Aviv, Israel, progress has also been swift. Israel Aircraft Industries announced in March that the first G250 fuselage had been mated and Gulfstream announced today that the first wings, also built by Spirit, were shipped to Tel Aviv this past weekend.

The aircraft has undergone its first power on and the G250's flight deck has been "fired up" for the first time, says Henne.

First flight for both the G650 and G250 is expected in the second half of 2009.

Even as progress advances for these new products, Gulfstream, along with the business aviation industry at-large, has faced an onslaught of negative publicity and difficult economic conditions.

The company suffered a particularly bad February with many customer defaults, though there were signs of hope in recent months on the sales side as Gulfstream saw movement in the large-cabin market. CEO Joe Lombardo stressed that one month does not necessarily indicate a trend, though he felt it could signal a bottom to the current negative market conditions.

As a result, Gulfstream has already instituted production cuts, a hiring freeze, layoffs of 1200 employees and furlough of a further 1500. Even under these conditions, the company remains committed to product development, and is "not backing off at all," says Lombardo.

Lombardo was visibly frustrated by the tone of discussion of business aviation calling the recent comments about business aviation by public officials "unfair, unnecessary and irresponsible."

Last week, my colleague Lori Ranson and I were invited by Honeywell for an in-flight demonstration of the Primus Epic avionics platform with Synthetic Vision and RNP .1 capabilities that have been installed on the company's Gulfstream G550 (N933H).

The 90 minute flight, which was similar to a G450 flight from a year ago, took us down to Roanoke after we departed Dulles. We flew two approaches to runways 24 and 33 in Roanoke then back to Dulles for a nightime approach on runway 19C.

For a bit of additional background on the Honeywell/Gulfstream system, take a look back the four part series I published a year ago. The Enhanced Vision System II was on full display for this flight and was particularly useful as we spotted a wildfire off the end of the runway in Roanoke.

• Part I - Ground School
  
• Part II - To The Sky
• Part III - Go-Arounds and Wildfires
• Part IV - The Return Home