Gulfstream gave more details this morning on its latest programme, the top of the range G650, announced in March. It will take the mantle of world’s fastest civil aircraft when it enters service, squeezing out the Cessna Citation X by 0.05 Mach - just 3kt at 36,000ft.
First flight is scheduled for 2009, and FAA and EASA certification is expected in 2011, with first customer delivery in 2012.
The G650 will feature the “largest, most comfortable cabin in its class”, Gulfstream claims, 14in (355.6mm) wider than the G550. It will also have new, larger cabin windows and reduced cabin altitudes. It will offer 28% more cabin volume and 30% more floor area than the G550.
At FL510 it will have a cabin altitude of 4,850ft while at FL410 it will be 2,800ft, which will help reduce fatigue on long journeys.
And long journeys should be easily achieved. Gulfstream plans to offer a range of 7,000nm at a long cruise speed of Mach 0.85, the high-speed cruise of the G550. But if there is a need for speed, it will be able to achieve 5,000nm at Mach 0.9. There’s even room to squeeze in a few extra knots with its maximum cruise of Mach 0.925.
Powering the G650 will be a brace of new Rolls-Royce BR 725 engines with a 4.6% increase in thrust to 16,100lbf These have a 3.1% increase in engine thrust to weight ratio as well as a 3.5% reduction in specific fuel consumption in the cruise to 0.657lb/hr.
As well as being greener, the new engine will also gain an extra 3,000hrs TBO at 10,000h.
The G650 will feature a new advanced high speed wing with a new composite winglet, as well as a composite horizontal tail and a bonded fuselage. There is also a larger baggage compartment and larger entry door as well as the addition of two extra windows.
Gulfstream has long been synonymous with large oval windows, and the new windows are 16% larger – 28in rather than 26in at their widest. They will also be rotated up the fuselage by 3.4in for improved viewing angles.
In the flight deck there will be Gulfstream’s PlaneView II with EVS II and SV-PFD as well as fly-by-wire flight controls. On display here at EBACE is a G650 “two living area” cabin mock-up.
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Source: Flight Daily News
