News Release

GULFSTREAM’S INITIAL FLIGHT TESTS VALIDATE STRUCTURAL SOUNDNESS OF SONIC BOOM MITIGATOR
‘Quiet Spike™’ Extends and Retracts Successfully While Flying at Subsonic Speeds

SAVANNAH, Ga., Oct. 16, 2006 – Gulfstream Aerospace recently completed an important step in validating its telescopic Quiet Spike sonic boom mitigator. Officially introduced at the Farnborough Air Show in July, Gulfstream’s Quiet Spike is a multi-segmented, articulating boom that, when fully extended from the nose of a supersonic low-boom shaped aircraft, is expected to reduce the effects of sonic booms.

On the afternoon of September 25, while flying an F-15B aircraft at subsonic speeds, NASA experimental test pilots successfully extended the Quiet Spike from its initial length of 14 feet to 24 feet and then retracted it to its normal position. In subsequent test flights, the Quiet Spike cleared a flight envelope that included an altitude range of 15,000 and 35,000 feet and a maximum speed of Mach .80.

Since mid-July, Gulfstream, in collaboration with the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, has been flight-testing the structural integrity of its Quiet Spike over the skies of the Mojave Desert in California.

"We are very encouraged by these initial results," said Pres Henne, senior vice president, programs, engineering and test, Gulfstream.  "Because the Quiet Spike functioned as designed at subsonic speeds, we’re now able to flight test it at incrementally higher speeds. We expect to go supersonic with the Quiet Spike in the near future." 

Gulfstream designed, patented and developed the Quiet Spike as a means of reducing the sonic boom caused by an aircraft flying faster than the speed of sound.  Made of advanced composite materials, the Quiet Spike test article, installation and instrumentation weighs some 470 pounds and extends from 14 feet in subsonic flight to 24 feet in supersonic flight.

Once the Quiet Spike has proven to be structurally sound, it can be incorporated with confidence onto an advanced low-boom design to further mitigate adverse acoustic impacts of supersonic flight.  With positive results from all of the test flights, Gulfstream intends to prove that the impact of the sonic boom on people and on the environment can be significantly reduced. The Quiet Spike is an important means of changing the traditional N-wave sonic boom into smooth and more rounded pressure waves, shaped roughly like a sine wave. This change in the wave shape results in a softer sound that is quieter than the Concorde sonic boom by a factor of 10,000.

NOTE TO EDITORS

Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), designs, develops, manufactures, markets, services and supports the world’s most technologically advanced business-jet aircraft. Gulfstream has produced more than 1,500 aircraft for customers around the world since 1958. To meet the diverse transportation needs of the future, Gulfstream offers a comprehensive fleet of aircraft, comprising the wide-cabin, high-speed Gulfstream G150™; the large-cabin, mid-range Gulfstream G200™; the large-cabin, mid-range Gulfstream G350™; the large-cabin, long-range G450™; the large-cabin, ultra-long-range Gulfstream G500™ and the large-cabin, ultra-long-range Gulfstream G550™.  Gulfstream also offers aircraft ownership services via Gulfstream Financial Services Division and Gulfstream Pre-Owned Aircraft Sales®. The company employs more than 7,900 people at seven major locations. We invite you to visit our Web site for more information and photos of Gulfstream aircraft at www.gulfstream.com.

General Dynamics, headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, employs approximately 81,900 people worldwide and had 2005 revenue of $21.2 billion.  The company is a market leader in mission-critical information systems and technologies; land and expeditionary combat systems, armaments and munitions; shipbuilding and marine systems; and business aviation. More information can be found online at www.generaldynamics.com.