Ultra-Long-Range G550 Business Jet Completes Flight in Under 10 Hours

The ultra-long-range Gulfstream G550 has set another city-pair speed record - this time between Newark, N.J., and Tel Aviv, Israel. The 6550 flew the 5,031nm route in 9 hours and 52 minutes, thereby establishing its 15th city-pair speed record since it first entered service nearly two years ago. Gulfstream is awaiting official recognition of this city-pair speed record by the National Aeronautic Association (NAA).

The G550 took off from Newark international Airport at 8:16 p.m. local time on Aug. 28. it flew 5,031 nautical miles at an average cruise speed of Mach 0.86, landing 9 hours, 52 minutes later at 1:08 p.m. local time on Aug. 29 at Ben Gurion Airport.

"This new speed record demonstrates the G550's exceptional range and performance, which have become the hallmark of this outstanding business jet," said Bryan Moss, president, Gulfstream.

"But there's even more to this plane than reliability and performance. While the pilots were flying for a new city-pair speed record, the passengers remained productive, conducting business as they would at their place of business."

In addition to face-to-face and telephone communication, in-flight G550 passengers also can send and receive e-mail, monitor the stock market, surf the Internet or perform any other Web-based task, at the same speed found in most corporate offices through Gulfstream's ultra-high-speed Broad Band Multi-Link (BBML) service. Gulfstream is (currently) the only manufacturer that exclusively builds business jets offering this service, which is reportedly 10 times faster than the most widely used in-flight, high-speed data service.

While the service is not available over the North Atlantic region until the first quarter of next year, the BBML system is fully operational over North America and will become fully operational over Europe and the Middle East before the end of this year.

Gulfstream Senior international Captain Hank Gibson served as pilot-in-command and international Captain Tony Briona served as second-in-command. Also onboard were Carl Schomberg, production test pilot, who served as first officer, Gulfstream Chief Flight Attendant Sally Greer and five passengers.

Today, there are 59 aircraft that comprise the in-service G550 fleet, which collectively have flown more than 25,000 flight hours and completed some 10,000 takeoffs and landings.

FMI: www.gulfstream.com