A Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. business jet recently set two city-pair records while flying around the world in one stop.
The G650ER took off from White Plains, N.Y., with three passengers and four crew members on board. It flew 12,851 kilometers eastbound to Beijing at an average speed of Mach 0.87 for a total flight time of 13 hours and 20 minutes. The aircraft then flew eastbound 12,171 kilometers to Savannah, accomplishing the mission at an average speed of Mach 0.89 for a total flight time of 12 hours.
The aircraft landed both times with fuel in excess of National Business Aviation Association instrument flight rule reserves.
“There isn’t another business jet capable of this mission,” Scott Neal, senior vice president, worldwide sales and marketing, Gulfstream, said in a statement. “This flight proves just how powerful a machine the G650ER is. 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.”
Pending approval by the U.S. National Aeronautic Association, the city-pair 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 14 hours and 58 minutes. The G650ER then flew from Hong Kong to Teterboro, N.J., in 14 hours and 7 minutes.
The G650ER can travel 13,890 kilometers at Mach 0.85 and 11,853 kilometers at Mach 0.90. It has a maximum speed of Mach 0.925.
Gulfstream has a service center and aircraft assembly facility at Outagamie County Regional Airport in Greenville. The company employs more than 15,000 people at 12 locations.