The flight-test campaigns for Gulfstream’s clean-sheet G500 and G600 are progressing well, with both models on course to meet their certification and entry-into-service targets.

The five aircraft in the G500 programme have flown more than 2,000h across 500 flights, Gulfstream says. Customer deliveries of the large-cabin, long-range aircraft are scheduled to begin shortly after airworthiness certification, which is slated for the fourth quarter.

Gulfstream G500

Gulfstream

The larger and longer-range G600 is pegged for service entry about 12 months later. Since making its maiden sortie in December 2016, the first, and so far only, flight-test aircraft has accumulated more than 100h. It will be joined in the next few weeks by two additional prototypes.

Announced in 2014, the G500 and G600 are designed with Gulfstream’s widest-ever cabin, Pratt & Whitney Canada PW800 engines, fly-by-wire controls and an industry-first application of active control sidesticks in a commercial aircraft.

Meanwhile, Gulfstream has secured certification for its flagship G650 and G650ER from the Civil Aviation Administration of China, allowing the US airframer to start delivering B-registered versions of the ultra-long-range business jets.

Gulfstream has a fleet of more than 100 aircraft in China, of which more than 10 are G650/ERs, it says. The country’s Gulfstream inventory consists mainly of its large-cabin and long-range G450 and G550, the company adds, with the midsize G280 accounting for only 10 units.

Gulfstream G650

Gulfstream

Source: Flight International

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