Story ID: 537Gulfstream
New Gulfstreams Surge Ahead of Schedule
By: Mark Huber
Caption: G500 is now expected to deliver in late 2017 and the larger G600 in late 2018.
Word Count: 466
Gulfstream’s new large-cabin, long-range jet programs are surging ahead of schedule. The OEM reported on Monday at NBAA 2016 that deliveries of the G500 are now expected to begin late next year, with first deliveries of the larger G600 following in late 2018. First flight of the G600 is still anticipated later this year; four flight-test G500s and one production G500 are currently flying and have accumulated 1,750 hours.

The first G600 has been delivered to Gulfstream’s flight-test center in Savannah, Ga. and four more are in various stages of production. A G500 with a production interior is on static display this week at the NBAA Convention. Both the G500 and the G600 are powered by Pratt & Whitney Canada PW800-series engines and have Symmetry flight deck with Honeywell Primus Epic avionics and cockpit sidesticks linked to full fly-by-wire flight controls. According to Gulfstream, the new engines are 30 percent more efficient than those on the G450 and help extend the time between key maintenance on the new aircraft by up to 25 percent.

Gulfstream CEO Mark Burns characterized the G500 as a “predictable flight-test program that has gone well. These airplanes will perform just as we said they would.”

The company also reported that it recently delivered the 200th G650 since that ultra-long-range aircraft entered service in 2012. Some 230 G650s and G650ERs have been produced.

Through the end of the third quarter, Gulfstream reported delivering 88 aircraft and unveiled plans to deliver the last G150 next year and the last G450 in 2018. The company said third-quarter order intakes were the strongest since 2011, although deliveries were down as part of a planned production transition. Third-quarter deliveries of completed business jets at Gulfstream plunged 37.2 percent. The company handed over 27 completed jets (21 large-cabin and six midsize) in the quarter, compared with 43 (31 large, 12 midsize) in the same period last year. For the first nine months, it shipped 67 large and 21 midsize jets versus 89 large and 27 midsize jets a year ago. Book-to-bill was 1.2:1 during the quarter, though backlog slipped by $300 million, to $11.5 billion, because of aircraft mix.

Gulfstream also announced plans this week to support legacy large-cabin aircraft with a wide array of upgrades, including CD-830 control display units; Fans 1/A+; Fans over Iridium; FMZ-2000 FMS 6.1; the Kollsman GAViS external camera for improved situational awareness at night and in low visibility; LED lighting; PlaneDeck cockpit displays; synthetic vision; and Tcas 7.1.

Beginning next year, Gulfstream will offer the Jet ConneX Ka-band system using the Inmarsat service for high speed Wi-Fi, real-time television, audio and video streaming worldwide on both new large-cabin aircraft and as a retrofit option. Jet ConneX, which provides lobal coverage except over the polar regions, is FAA and EASA certified. The hardware is supplied by Honeywell.