Gulfstream Aerospace’s flagship Gulfstream G700 flight test program has surpassed 1,000 flight hours and is completing numerous testing milestones, the company reports.
A year after its first flight on Feb. 14, 2020, the G700 ultra long-range jet has successfully completed several critical phases of flight testing, including envelope expansion, flutter, aerodynamic stalls, flying qualities, flight control systems and air data testing. The fleet has also conducted winglet and wing-ice shape stall testing, loads testing and initial cold weather testing at the McKinley Climatic Laboratory at Eglin AFB, Florida.
Test aircraft have performed avionics testing in Chicago and Van Nuys, San Jose and Oakland, California. The flight test program includes five flying test aircraft. It will also include a fully completed production test aircraft to evaluate the elements of the aircraft’s interior.
The G700 recently began flight-into-known icing testing and successfully completed high-altitude engine performance testing at Telluride Regional Airport in Colorado. It is also undergoing high-intensity radiated fields/indirect effects of lightning testing.
Entry into service is expected in 2022. Gulfstream unveiled the $75 million jet in October 2019.
The program is going “remarkably well,” said Mark Burns, Gulfstream president. “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.”
During envelope expansion testing, the aircraft performed beyond its maximum operating speed and cruise altitude, flying at Mach 0.99 and at 54,000 ft.
Gulfstream, based in Savannah, Georgia, is also testing the G700’s Symmetry Flight Deck. It includes the Gulfstream Predictive Landing Performance System, which gives pilots advanced warning of potential runway excursions to allow them to adjust an approach or go around. It also includes Gulfstream’s Enhanced Flight Vision System and Synthetic Vision on dual head-up displays.
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