Gulfstream Aerospace has announced the Gulfstream G700 flight-test program has made significant progress, surpassing 1,100 hours of flying and completing new company test regimens, all within the program’s first year.
After its maiden voyage on Feb. 14, 2020, the G700 successfully completed several critical phases-of-flight tests, including envelope expansion, flutter, aerodynamic stalls, flying qualities, flight control systems and air-data testing.
The test fleet then went on to conduct winglet and wing-ice shape stall testing, loads testing and initial cold-weather testing at the McKinley Climatic Laboratory at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. The test aircraft have performed avionics testing in Chicago, as well as Van Nuys, San Jose and Oakland, California.
More recently, the G700 began flight-into-known-icing (FIKI) testing and successfully completed high-altitude engine-performance testing at Telluride Regional Airport in Colorado, at an altitude of 9,078 feet/2,767 meters. The aircraft is also undergoing high-intensity radiated fields/indirect effects of lightning (HIRF/IEL) testing.
“Thanks to the outstanding Gulfstream team, the G700 flight-test program is going remarkably well,” said Mark Burns, president, Gulfstream. “The aircraft itself has been performing flawlessly, whether going to extreme speeds and heights or running through its paces in the high-altitude environment at Telluride. We have spent the past year rigorously testing this mature, high-performing aircraft for our customers, and I look forward to continuing to do that and more in the coming months as we steadily move toward certification and customer deliveries.”
Since the flight-test program launched in February 2020, four additional test aircraft have joined. During envelope expansion testing, the aircraft safely performed well beyond its maximum operations speed and cruise altitude, flying perfectly at Mach 0.99 and at 54,000 ft/16,459 m.
Gulfstream is also testing the G700’s enhanced Symmetry Flight Deck, including the award-winning Gulfstream Predictive Landing Performance System. The system is a great safety differentiator, giving pilots advanced warning of potential runway excursions to allow them to adjust approaches or go around. The G700 Symmetry Flight Deck also includes Gulfstream’s Enhanced Flight Vision System and Synthetic Vision on dual head-up displays.
In addition to the five test aircraft flying, the G700 flight-test program will include a fully completed production test aircraft to evaluate the interior elements throughout the aircraft’s up to five living areas, including all-new, award-winning seating and Gulfstream’s new ultrahigh-definition circadian lighting system. The G700 interior also features an ultragalley, the industry’s largest; a grand suite with optional shower; a six-place conference and dining table; 20 panoramic windows; and the Gulfstream Cabin Experience with 100% fresh, never recirculated air, low cabin altitude and whisper-quiet noise levels.
