Gulfstream G550
The Gulfstream G550 has earned many admirers, whether by winning the prestigious Robert J. Collier Trophy or by being named by owners as the best-in-value business aircraft. What’s behind the success?
Innovation and excellence have taken flight in the Gulfstream G650.
Gulfstream engineers partnered with a customer advisory board to envision an aircraft that would set a new standard in business travel. Working from that input, engineers rejected the status quo with a clean-sheet design. They pushed for more performance in every aspect. With the G650’s long, unfettered wing, they redefined how air flows over an aircraft wing, creating a highly efficient airfoil that delivers speed and an incredibly smooth ride.
What Gulfstream delivers in the G650 is a jet that flies at more than 92 percent of the speed of sound for thousands of miles with fly-by-wire precision. That same design innovation created a quieter, roomier, more adaptable cabin teeming with advanced technology.
At a long-range cruise speed of Mach 0.85, the Gulfstream G650 flies 7,000 nautical miles/12,964 kilometers nonstop with eight passengers. Los Angeles to London is more than 30 minutes faster and New York to Tokyo almost an hour closer compared to other large-cabin aircraft.
The G650 makes once-distant cities all part of a day’s work, and with the lowest pressurized cabin altitude of any business aircraft, passengers arrive feeling refreshed and ready for whatever opportunities lay ahead.
…the G650 is the biggest, fastest, most luxurious, longest range and most technologically advanced jet — by far — that Gulfstream has ever built. And they did it all on schedule while developing the brand-new super midsize G280 at the same time. To say that Gulfstream is on a roll is an understatement.Robert Goyer in Flying Magazine, September 2013
An 8 foot 6 inch /2.59 meter-wide cabin, the largest in its class, helps create an exquisitely comfortable environment for 18 passengers.
Sixteen large Gulfstream panoramic windows, each 28 by 20.5 inches/71 by 52 centimeters, allow abundant sunlight into the cabin, even in the galley. Every window has been repositioned higher on the fuselage to maximize viewing comfort.
At a cruise altitude of 41,000 feet/12,497 meters, the cabin is pressurized to a comfortable 3,000 ft/914 m. That altitude is more than twice as low as commercial airlines and significantly better than any non-Gulfstream aircraft in its class. Lower cabin altitude means the heart and lungs don’t work as hard to oxygenate the blood, which reduces fatigue and ensures that upon arrival, passengers are more refreshed and alert.
High-speed connectivity is another. The Gulfstream G650 offers a variety of ways to stay connected, whether with the Gulfstream Broadband Multilink high-speed data system, two multichannel satellite communications systems or a wireless local network that provides onboard printing, additional Internet access and phone service.
Dual media servers, high-definition video source equipment and a cabin audio system also keep business on track, even at Mach 0.925.
Every detail of the G650 interior was designed to create an atmosphere that intuitively provides the utmost control and comfort. The Gulfstream Cabin Management System (GCMS) synchronizes with Apple iOS or select Google Android smartphones and tablets to provide touch-screen control for temperature, lighting, window shades and entertainment options. Apple iPod touches or Google Android devices are provided as cabin controls, but GCMS also can be saved to a free mobile application on a passenger’s iPhone, iPad or Android device, which allows a passenger to save and recall preferences for a subsequent flight.
The Gulfstream-designed CabinView lets passengers track flight progress, displays points of interest and provides passenger briefings.
Take a look at the highly swept G650 wing, and realize what isn't there―no vortex generators to disrupt the natural airflow over the wing, no leading-edge devices required by other aircraft to improve slow-speed handling qualities and no exposed flap hinges and flap tracks that cause drag. Those devices slow the aircraft, reduce range and generate noise in the cabin.
Pair this uniquely engineered wing with newly designed, higher thrust Rolls-Royce BR725 engines, and the G650 achieves unprecedented performance. The G650 reaches a Maximum Mach Operating (MMO) speed of 0.925 and handles superbly at low speeds. It’s just one more example of intelligent design from Gulfstream.
Consider all the data a pilot must process while streaking close to the sound barrier. Now think about the most user-friendly way to provide that complex information. In the Gulfstream G650, the PlaneView II cockpit provides layers of cutting-edge technology in streamlined displays, helping pilots think faster than they fly. Gulfstream-designed Cursor Control Devices (CCDs) put more data at a pilot’s fingertips. The side-mounted cursor controls allow pilots to select and scroll through data on the multifunction flight displays, giving them improved information ownership and increased situational awareness.
Technology can improve performance, and in aviation, that includes safety. A nose-mounted infrared camera, part of the Gulfstream Enhanced Vision System (EVS) II, allows pilots to see what the human eye cannot by providing more detailed images of airports and surrounding terrain at night and in low-visibility conditions.
EVS images also can be routed to a Head-Up Display (HUD), which allows the pilot to review data from a transparent screen in his or her forward field of vision. Synthetic Vision blends three-dimensional color images of terrain, obstacles and runways with instrument readings on the pilot’s Primary Flight Display, a combination that creates a more easily visualized landing approach for pilots, courtesy of the most advanced business aviation cockpit in the air.
Gulfstream further pushes the technology envelope by equipping the G650 with a computer-controlled, highly redundant fly-by-wire flight system, which, working in concert with the pilot or on full automatic, provides measured, minute adjustments that create smoother flights and increase passenger comfort.
| Maximum Range * (Mach 0.85, 8 passengers, 4 crew and NBAA IFR reserves) | 7,000 nm |
| High-Speed | Mach 0.90 |
| Long-Range | Mach 0.85 |
| MMO (Maximum Operating Mach Number) | Mach 0.925 |
| Takeoff Distance (SL, ISA, MTOW) | 5,858 ft |
| Initial Cruise Altitude | 41,000 ft |
| Maximum Cruise Altitude | 51,000 ft |
| Maximum Takeoff | 99,600 lb |
| Maximum Landing | 83,500 lb |
| Maximum Zero Fuel | 60,500 lb |
| Basic Operating (including 4 crew **) | 54,000 lb |
| Maximum Payload ** | 6,500 lb |
| Payload with Maximum Fuel ** | 1,800 lb |
| Maximum Fuel | 44,200 lb |
| Length | 99 ft 9 in |
| Overall Span | 99 ft 7 in |
| Height | 25 ft 8 in |
| Total Interior Length | 53 ft 7 in |
| Cabin Length (excluding baggage) | 46 ft 10 in |
| Cabin Height | 6 ft 5 in |
| Cabin Width | 8 ft 6 in |
| Cabin Volume | 2,138 cu ft |
| Baggage Compartment (usable volume) | 195 cu ft |
| Avionics | Gulfstream PlaneView™ II |
| Engines | Two Rolls-Royce BR725 A1-12 |
| Rated Takeoff Thrust (each) | 16,900 lb |
| Passengers (Typical Outfitting) | Up to 19 |
| G650 Product Brochure | 13 MB |
| G650 Specifications | 2 MB |
| Maximum Range * (Mach 0.85, 8 passengers, 4 crew and NBAA IFR reserves) | 12,964 km |
| High-Speed | Mach 0.90 |
| Long-Range | Mach 0.85 |
| MMO (Maximum Operating Mach Number) | Mach 0.925 |
| Takeoff Distance (SL, ISA, MTOW) | 1,786 m |
| Initial Cruise Altitude | 12,497 m |
| Maximum Cruise Altitude | 15,545 m |
| Maximum Takeoff | 45,178 kg |
| Maximum Landing | 37,875 kg |
| Maximum Zero Fuel | 27,442 kg |
| Basic Operating (including 4 crew **) | 24,494 kg |
| Maximum Payload ** | 2,948 kg |
| Payload with Maximum Fuel ** | 816 kg |
| Maximum Fuel | 20,049 kg |
| Length | 30.41 m |
| Overall Span | 30.36 m |
| Height | 7.82 m |
| Total Interior Length | 16.33 m |
| Cabin Length (excluding baggage) | 14.27 m |
| Cabin Height | 1.95 m |
| Cabin Width | 2.59 m |
| Cabin Volume | 60.54 cu m |
| Baggage Compartment (usable volume) | 5.52 cu m |
| Avionics | Gulfstream PlaneView™ II |
| Engines | Two Rolls-Royce BR725 A1-12 |
| Rated Takeoff Thrust (each) | 75.20 kN |
| Passengers (Typical Outfitting) | Up to 19 |
| G650 Product Brochure | 13 MB |
| G650 Specifications | 2 MB |
The Gulfstream G550 has earned many admirers, whether by winning the prestigious Robert J. Collier Trophy or by being named by owners as the best-in-value business aircraft. What’s behind the success?
Gulfstream Field and Airborne Support Teams are designed to ensure a swift, well-coordinated response to aircraft on ground (AOG) situations.
At Gulfstream, the only true complement to innovative aeronautics is impeccable product support.
No other business aircraft can fly as far as the G650ER. The G650ER also has the fastest cruise rate on longer ranges.