Gulfstream Aerospace’s new ultra-long-range G700 continues to progress toward service-entry late next year, checking off a number of key tests as 83 percent of its flights from the company’s Savannah, Georgia, headquarters have used a blend of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), the company said.
While it isn’t releasing flight hours at this time, financial analyst Jefferies pointed to Amstat data that showed a dozen G700s have now been produced. Gulfstream has flown six G700s in flight tests, including P1, the first production model with a full interior that will be examined for more than 15,500 test points. Jefferies noted that the remaining six of the 7,500-nm, five-zone aircraft in production would appear customer bound.
Gulfstream, meanwhile, reiterated several tests it had accomplished surrounding envelope expansion, flutter, aerodynamic stalls, flying qualities, flight control systems, and air-data testing. The twinjet has reached Mach 0.99 and 54,000 feet: “During envelope expansion testing, the aircraft safely performed well beyond its maximum operating speed and cruise altitude,” Gulfstream said.
Further trials have included winglet and wing-ice shape stall testing and loads testing. Cold-weather testing was accomplished at the McKinley Climatic Laboratory at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida and the aircraft has successfully completed high-altitude engine-performance testing at Telluride Regional Airport in Colorado, at an altitude of 9,078 feet, Gulfstream further reported.
The aircraft has racked up several city-pair records as it has flown for demonstration purposes. This included flights in September from Savannah to Doha, Qatar; from Doha to Paris; and from Paris back to Savannah. Further, the G700 has since set records from Houston, Texas, to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and on the return from Riyadh to Savannah.
Gulfstream added these flights used a combination of SAF and carbon offsets to minimize environmental impact.
“Getting this amazing aircraft in front of customers has been one of the highlights of 2021,” said Gulfstream president Mark Burns. “We are also further demonstrating our commitment to SAF by using the fuel blend as much as possible on G700 test flights—five out of six test aircraft have used the fuel blend on every flight.”
In all, Gulfstream has purchased more than 1.6 million gallons of the SAF blend for company and customer use, it said and noted the company was the first business aviation OEM to sign the World Economic Forum’s Clean Skies for Tomorrow 2030 Ambition Statement.