Congrats to the fine folks in Savannah and the Flight Test folks that flew all over creation logging the time needed to get the Gulfstream G700 certified by the FAA.

Here is the article from parent company General Dynamics:
https://www.gd.com/Articles/2024/03/29/ ... tification

I had heard that there was a speed announcement coming and looked forward to any announcement that they tested the "Gulfstream spike/whisper" and took a G700 supersonic. However, the announcement is that the G700 is now the fastest Gulfstream, with a top speed of Mach 0.935. Not only is it fast, but they still remain the World's Premier Intercontinental Business Jet.

So if gulfstream and falcon can design and certify new biz jets at the pace that they do. Why can Boeing and Airbus not create more ‘new’?

Wouldn’t certification requirements be similar?

Outside of the fantastic performance numbers, these two things really stand out to me:

1) "Gulfstream announced that the G700 cabin altitude, already the lowest in business aviation, was further reduced to 2,840 ft while flying at 41,000 ft."

2) "100% fresh, never recirculated air."

#1 would be tough for airliners but I sure wish #2 would be incorporated in all airliners (I almost always contract some sort of respiratory disease whenever I fly commercial - but could be worse).

Dan

Mach one on SAF.


https://youtu.be/ftZHBn56TXg?si=1qIte_JIFAW02Qi8

Culture

Side stick is a deal breaker for me. I've cancelled my order.

Go with the new Falcon 10x. It still has a side stick, but the seats in row 0 fully recline so you won’t notice when you’re asleep. The bad news is the boss says you no longer need 3 pilots for 12 hour trips.

I’m no expert on what all goes into it, but with a biz jet they design it based on whatever they think their potential customers will want and operators either buy it or they don’t. Efficiency doesn’t really matter as long as the airplane can accomplish the same trips as their competitors. Profitability isn’t as big of a consideration, because the 135 operators are just going to build their profits on top of whatever it costs to operate. Part 91 operators don’t really care because if you have the money to buy a Global, or a G700, or a 10x, operation costs are the least of your problems. Also none of those planes were designed from other airframes.

With a sardine can they have to design it to meet the needs and specific requirements of whatever operators are interested so they can operate it at a profit. So it not only has to be efficient, but it has to be efficient in a number of different circumstances. I suspect this makes the task of designing it a much bigger nut to crack.

Airline buyers want the cheapest product they can get.

Persons and corporations buying Gulfstreams are a little less concerned with cost, or else they wouldn't be investing in $40+ million dollar aircraft.

Previous posters have identified some of the differences between part 121 and biz jets operations.

It’s important to recognize there are two different business models at play. Neither is superior to the other. Both are focused on the customer.

On the airline side, it’s about efficiency, reliability, and availability. Period. The planes are designed to fly at a fast enough speed, but not one that increases fuel burn significantly (Mach > .83). The airlines also need a product that dispatches 99.999% of the time. One cancellation screws up a day’s revenue steam.

On the biz jet side, it’s more about appearances. Corporations flying heavy metal (Gulfstreams, Falcons, and the infamous Citation X, etc), don’t care about operating costs if they can brag about flying Mach .90 and beating everyone else to FL410. Back when I was heavily involved with biz jet engine design, a typical jet flew 300-400 hours per year, where the airlines were utilizing their equipment 2500-3000 hours annually.

The utilization difference significantly drives the design choices for a particular market. Airline products aren’t “lowest cost” - they’re a trade of performance, weight, maintainability, reliability, etc, necessary to meet airline requirements. Biz jets have less stringent requirements, such as significantly less design life (anyone know of any active biz jets flying with 30,000+ airframe hours? Probably only a few. Airliners with 60,000+ hours? Everywhere)

I wrote a white paper on this subject about 25 years ago. If I can find it, I’ll post.

To this I would add there’s at least two different models within the business jet world which are the 135 and the part 91 operators with some that operate in both. The purely 135 aircraft are somewhere in between 91 and 121. Many operate 5 or more legs per day and swap out multiple crews so they can maintain very nearly constant operations. The 300-400 hour operations you mentioned are more indicative of purely 91 operations owned by individuals and corporations. Then you have business jets operating in desert and tropical environments which may not get as many hours as airliners, but certainly live a harder life doing short hops in unforgiving conditions.

No mistake about it, status and bragging rights have a lot to do with it, but there’s more to the story. Most of our missions are flying the boss or another high level executive of the company in the morning from his primary office location to a meeting 1,000 miles away at a secondary office location and then to his home #2 or #3 and he’s on the golf course in the afternoon. Enroute he’s still doing business. You can’t do that without a business jet. On the airlines they would waste at least an entire day of a trip purely on travel with an almost complete loss of productivity in that time. The Global, 9x, and G650 people are doing similar things on an international scale. The old adage time is money applies. These guys are able to get twice as much done in half the time. The 7-8 figure acquisition cost and 7 figure operating cost are just line items in their budget which they can easily recoup in productivity. Right now our boss is looking to replace our airplane because he can’t afford the 2 months of down time the 192 month inspection will cost him next year.

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Well, Far East Movement nailed it with “fly like a G-VI!” They didn't say fly like a Lear 60 or GEX or Citation X or even Beechcraft. For some, it is a status symbol to have a G-650 or even access to a Boeing 747!

If I were Boeing’s board I would pick up the phone and call Mr. Bill Boisture and Ms. Chris Davis and find out their magic number or a recommendation for their executive search team.

Mr. Boisture did a phenomenal job growing Gulfstream and Ms. Davis with Forstmann-Little really had the business side nailed down so that Gulfstream would continue to grow, maintain profitability, and be attractive for a buyer. Mr. Paulson’s work ethic since he was a young man, and the polite and hard working people of Savannah, Pooler, and surrounding areas provide an amazing foundation, culture, and work ethic that exudes awesomeness across all Gulfstream locations. Those women, men, and other amazing folks at Gulfstream are the best of the best.

The one thing that I noticed is that Business Jet manufacturers, particularly Gulfstream, are very concerned about quality and customer service. The end customer of that aircraft are C/P/VP level executives and their company employees. Rarely does someone flying an airliner worry about the manufacturer of the tube full of bolts they are on and that $5 cheaper AirTran flight might have looked better than the Delta flight into ATL. However, the Board, CEO, and the Chief Pilot usually get a say for the aircraft in the age and price range.

Gulfstream jets are purpose built as the premier long range business jet and not just a rewinged or reengineered airliner. They are the best aircraft that I have ever flown on. Properly maintained, it is rare to have a Gulfstream AOG. If they are AOG, Gulfstream uses FedEx, Delta Dash, trucks designed for AOG support, other Gulfstreams, or even Gulfstream owned or chartered aircraft to get parts to the AOG aircraft and get the customer flying on their, or another, Gulfstream.

The people of Gulfstream, their amazing work ethic, their drive, and their amazing hospitality make the difference. They are disgustingly polite in Savannah.