Gulfstream Aerospace, the popular manufacturer of "sky limousines", presented arguably the most anticipated new model in the world of business aviation: the long-range business jet Gulfstream G650.
The jet is going to be the new flagship of the company's model line, replacing its predecessor G550. It's announced as the biggest and the most technologically advanced airliner in the corporation's fleet. The new business jet will have the best performance characteristics, and there's every reason to believe it's going to be the fastest civilian airliner in the world. Gulfstream Aerospace's new brainchild was designed using the typical to the company evolutionary approach.
Technologically unique
Gulfstream Aerospace was the first to launch a business jet equipped with two navigation systems: computer vision and enhanced vision systems. This indisputable breakthrough raises flight safety standards to a radically new level, so quite naturally it served as the foundation for the new generation jet's control panel design.
G650 is equipped with the cutting edge PlaneView® II system featuring a whole host of improvements: four 14-inch specially adapted LCD monitors, three standard PlaneBook® notebook computers and automatic 3D weather radar with a pre-loaded terrain database for more efficient filtering out of interference. PlaneView® II aircraft instrumentation system includes SV-PFD flight data monitor designed by Gulfstream jointly with Honeywell, HUD II by Rockwell Collins and EVS II enhanced vision system. Working in tandem, EVS II and SV-PFD make sure that the pilots have a perfect picture of the ground and all possible obstacles, regardless of the weather. G650 will also be equipped with the electrical remote control system.
New Rolls-Royce BR725 engines also contributed to Gulfstream G650's improved performance.
Indeed it's the primary reason the aircraft now has an unheard-of intercontinental range and speed. It can fly non-stop for up to 12,964 km at M=0.85. The design top speed is 0,955 M. That allows G650 to fly from, say, Dubai to Chicago 88 minutes faster than any of the currently existing long-range business jets. Future owners will also save 31 minutes flying from Los Angeles to London and 50 minutes flying from New York to Tokyo.
With the prefix "most"
Passenger comforts also played a major, if not paramount role during G650 creation.
The new business jet will have a longer cabin than G550, 35 cm wider and with 7 cm higher ceiling than the current flagship. That makes the new jet 28% more spacious than G550. The additional centimetres increase living space and provide a lot of new opportunities in the cabin. It will be possible to have wider aisles, more comfortable folding seats, more leg room. That's just passenger cabin - not to mention more spacious galley, toilets, rest area for the crew. Luggage compartment also gets bigger, as well as the entrance door and the stylish oval-shaped portholes, the distinctive feature of all Gulfstream jets. G650's 16 new 70х51 cm windows are the largest among all business jets in the world. That provides more natural light in the cabin and visually enlarges the already huge interior space.
In a word, the new Gulfstream flagship aircraft G650 is unique; it's a cutting-edge work of art, an office in the sky combining incomparable characteristics with the prefix "most": the most large and quiet cabin, the longest range, the highest speed, control systems based on the most advanced technologies.
Flight-testing of Gulfstream G650 is scheduled to begin in 2009. FAA certification should be received in 2011, and in 2012 the aircraft will be available to customers.
Flight characteristics
Range (8 passengers), km 12,964
Cruising speed, km/h 904 (М=0,85)
Top cruising speed, km/h 955 (М=0,90)
Top attitude, m 15,545
Takeoff runway length, m 1,829
Landing runway length, m 914
Weight characteristics
Top takeoff weight, kg 45,179
Maximum payload, kg 2,948
Fuel tank capacity, kg 20,049
Layout characteristics
Crew 4
Maximum number of passengers 12–18
Sleeping berths 6
Luggage compartment capacity, m³ 5.52
Cabin Length, m 16.33
Width, m 2.59
Height, m 1.95
Volume, m³ 60.54
Technical characteristics
Aircraft size
Length, m 30.40
Height, m 7.83
Wing span, m 30.35
Engines 2
Model BR725
Maker Rolls-Royce
All figures are based on preliminary calculations and may be changed at a later stage.
Dmitry Gnatenko
Photoreport
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