Business & GA

Journey to Type Certification: Gulfstream G500/600

Gulfstream’s new G500/600 business jet family has amassed a combined 5,645 flight testing hours across 1,535 flights. Ahead of the two jets’ debut at the 2018 Singapore Airshow, Gulfstream said that the two jets are inching closer to type certification.

“Both programs remain on track and are methodically moving toward their respective type certifications,” said Mark Burns, president of Gulfstream, in a statement released by the Savannah, Georgia-based OEM.

As the G500 embarks on a world tour, visiting 12 countries between now and June, take a look back at Avionics coverage of the G500/600 family since it was first unveiled.

In October 2014, Gulfstream first announced the G500/600 family with its Symmetry flight deck at the 2014 annual National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) in Orlando, Florida. The cockpit features Active Control Side Sticks (ACS), supplied by BAE Systems, dual channel flight control computers from Thales, and the data concentration and network, advanced power management system and the advanced health management system from GE Aviation.

By May 2015, manufacturing of the first G600 was underway, while two of five G500 flight-test aircraft were already built and the remaining three were in production. The G500 completed its operational checks and started undergoing taxi validation prior to first flight.

The first G500 completed its first flight May 19, 2015, climbing to an initial altitude of 10,500 feet and reaching a maximum altitude of 15,000 feet on a two-hour flight.

Gulfstream announced the first flight Aug. 5, 2016, of a G500 production test aircraft featuring a full interior, serving as a testbed for the aircraft’s cabin.

NASA Gulfstream Avionics

NASA visit at Gulfstream. Photo courtesy of Gulfstream

A year later, in August 2017, as the G500/600 family continued to progress through flight testing, Avionics caught up with Gulfstream VP of Flight Operations Colin Miller to discuss what the team has learned about the aircraft’s data concentration network and active control side sticks.

In October 2017, Gulfstream announced performance enhancements for the G500 and G600. The G500 can fly 5,200 nautical miles/9,630 kilometers at Mach 0.85 or 4,400 nm/8,149 km at Mach 0.90, while the G600 can travel 6,500 nm/12,038 km at Mach 0.85 and 5,100 nm/9,445 km at Mach 0.90. The maximum operating speed for both aircraft is Mach 0.925.

Gulfstream expects to achieve type certification and entry into service for the G500 in early 2018, followed by the G600’s anticipated certification and service entry later in the year.

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