MEBAA Convention News

Gulfstream Flagship Sets Yet Another City-pair Speed Record

 - December 10, 2018, 8:09 AM
The 6,142 nm flight from Teterboro, New Jersey, to Dubai gave Gulfstream an opportunity to add another speed record to the G650ER’s logbook.

On the way to MEBAA 2018, Gulfstream’s flagship G650ER made some history. It set a speed record, flying nonstop from Teterboro, New Jersey, outside New York City, to Dubai in 11 hours, two minutes. That eclipses the previous city-pair record by one hour, 48 minutes.

The flight covered 6,142 nm (11,375 km) at an average speed of Mach 0.90. Average groundspeed was 558.3 knots.

“No other aircraft offers the high-speed range utility that the G650ER does out of high-demand airports like Teterboro," said Gulfstream president Mark Burns. "This proves once again that the G650ER remains in a class by itself.” There are more than 30 G650/650ERs in the Middle East, according to Gulfstream, and 325 in service worldwide.

The largest and fastest Gulfstream was announced in 2008 and certified in 2012. In 2014, the aircraft won the U.S. Collier Trophy, and that year, Gulfstream announced the extended range ER version. The 650ER has a high-speed cruise of Mach 0.90 and a maximum operating speed of Mach 0.925. Long-range cruise speed is Mach 0.85, at which it can fly up to 7,500 nm. In March 2014, a test G650ER flew from Hong Kong to Teterboro, a distance of 7,494 nm.

Pending confirmation and approval by the National Aeronautic Association, the Teterboro-to-Dubai city-pair speed record will be the G650/650ER’s 79th. The large-cabin twinjet is on show this week on the MEBAA static display.