Ok, this one has me stumped. What culture takes issue with the number 250 and why? Really, now numbers are offensive? Political correctness out of control?

Someone please explain this one because I'm really confused.

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Article here

Gulfstream has announced the renaming of its super midsized G250 jet as the Gulfstream G280 in a move “prompted by the company’s sensitivity to the varied cultures of its international customer base,” as demand grows for business aircraft.

“Since introducing the Gulfstream G250 in 2008 and presenting it to customers around the world, we determined that G280 is a more amenable number sequence in certain cultures,” said Larry Flynn, Gulfstream’s senior vice president of marketing and sales in a news release on the Gulfstream website. “We value our international customers highly, and this change reflects our commitment to understanding the diverse cultures of our global business environment.”

No other in-production Gulfstream aircraft will be renamed, he said.

Introduced in 2008, the G280 offers the largest cabin and longest range at the fastest speed in its class. It is capable of flying 3,400 nautical miles nonstop--from New York to London, or from London to Dubai--at Mach 0.8. The aircraft has a maximum operating speed of Mach 0.85, Gulfstream said. The G280 can depart from a 5,000 foot runway at maximum takeoff weight.

Flight testing is under way, with the three test aircraft now having exceeded 1,400 flight hours over 525 flights, Gulfstream said. Manufacture of the first non-test aircraft has been completed, with production acceptance testing in progress at Israel Aerospace Industries.

250 is a bad number for the Chinese

Yeah, for the Chinese it means "stupid as a pig." This originally came from a typical weight of a pig at slaughter.

huh, interesting. I had no idea.

Well, I guess that means Gulfstream thinks China is going to start buying a bunch of jets. They wouldn't mess with the change otherwise.

At the moment the market is pretty thin over there as the infrastructure and system just don't support private flight (or so I've read).

Any other taboo numbers in chinese culture or otherwise?

The number 4 and the word death is pronounced the same in Chinese, so it is an unlucky number. It is pretty common for buildings in east asia to not have a 4th floor. Or a 14th or 24th etc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numbers_in ... ky_numbers

86'd the 250 over an issue akin to 13. 10-4. 73.

I guess HBC won't be selling the new King Air 250 in China.

As long as they don't advertise the price as a stack of gold coins. That's Chinese slang for a big penis. They better stick with a price of a left nut or an arm and a leg.

"8" is considered the most lucky number in Chinese culture. August 8th 2008 was the biggest day for Chinese weddings ever according to my Chinese friends. There's a big backlog of applications to get civic addresses renumbered with 8's in the certain northwest cities. Just surprised it's not called the 288.