A Gulfstream G650ER — the ultra-long-range version of Gulfstream Aerospace Corp.’s flagship business jet — recently went around the world, flying more than 13,500 nautical miles with only one stop, the company announced Wednesday.
The aircraft, which is built in Savannah, set two city-to-city speed records in a flight that took 25 hours, 20 minutes.
“There isn’t another business jet capable of this mission,” said Scott Neal, Gulfstream senior vice president for worldwide sales and marketing.
“This flight proves just how powerful a machine the G650ER is,” he said. “We promised customers an aircraft that could take them farther, faster than any other; we delivered on that promise. The G650ER provides a combination of speed and range that is creating history and setting records.”
For the latest record, the G650ER took off from White Plains, N.Y., with three passengers and four crew members. It flew 6,939 nautical miles eastbound to Beijing at an average speed of Mach 0.87 for a flight time of 13 hours and 20 minutes.
The aircraft then continued another 6,572 nautical miles to Savannah, accomplishing the mission at an average speed of Mach 0.89 for a flight time of 12 hours. On both legs of the flight, the aircraft landed with more fuel left than accepted guidelines require.
Pending approval by the U.S. National Aeronautic Association, the city-to-city records will be sent to the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale in Switzerland for recognition as world records.
In addition to the two pending records, the G650ER set two speed records during flight testing in 2014. The aircraft flew from Los Angeles to Melbourne, Australia, in just under 15 hours. It also flew from Hong Kong to Teterboro, N.J., in just more than 14 hours.
Built to travel 7,500 nautical miles at Mach 0.85 and 6,400 nautical miles at Mach 0.90, the G650ER has a maximum speed of Mach 0.925, just under the speed of sound.
A modified version of the flagship G650, the ER version shares the same cabin, avionics and systems as the G650 but can travel 500 nautical miles farther and costs $1.5 million more than its $64.5 million sister aircraft.