Gulfstream Aerospace’s first fully outfitted G500 test aircraft, which is making its European debut this week at EBACE, set a city-pair record from Savannah, Georgia, to Paris. It flew between the two cities in 7 hours and 40 minutes, covering the 3,788-nm distance at an average speed of Mach 0.90.
Additionally, to commemorate the 90th anniversary of Charles Lindbergh’s first nonstop solo trans-Atlantic flight on Sunday, the same G500 also achieved a flyover city-pair record between New York and Paris. With an average speed of at Mach 0.90, the fly-by-wire twinjet flew this 3,166-nm segment in 6 hours and 21 minutes.
Pending approval by the U.S. National Aeronautic Association, the records will be sent to the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale in Switzerland for recognition as world records.
“The G500 and its larger sibling, the Gulfstream G600, are perfectly suited for European customers thanks to their best-in-class speeds and cabin comforts,” said Gulfstream senior vice president of worldwide sales Scott Neal. “These are aircraft customers helped design, so we want them to see the results of their feedback and to showcase [the G500’s] technology, performance and cabin design. The fact that the G500 is mature enough to complete trans-Atlantic city-pair records while simultaneously testing the outfitted cabin says a great deal about this aircraft’s capabilities.”
According to Gulfstream, the 5,000-nm G500 is slated to enter service later this year, followed by the 6,200-nm G600 a year later.
