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July 2, 2010 -
Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. announced today that the third and final
Gulfstream G250 test aircraft has joined the flight-test program.
Gulfstream, a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics, designed and
built the super mid-size business jet in collaboration with Israel
Aerospace Industries (IAI) in Tel
The third aircraft
completed its first flight on June 28, taking off from Ben Gurion
airport at 10:30 a.m. local time. During the 2 hour, 56 minute flight,
the aircraft reached a maximum speed of 250 knots and a top altitude of
20,000 feet (6,096 m). |
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All three aircraft
that are part of the 1,300-hour flight-test campaign have now entered
the flight-test program, beginning with the first, S/N 2001, on Dec. 11,
2009. Each aircraft has been assigned a specific series of tests to
perform, with S/N 2001 focused on in-flight performance and handling,
S/N 2002 on avionics and S/N 2003 on systems functionality and
reliability.
?It?s exciting to
have all three test aircraft in the air,? said Pres Henne, senior vice
president, Programs, Engineering and Test, Gulfstream. ?What?s even more
exciting is the response we?re getting from the pilots. They?ve told us
that the aircraft?s handling qualities are excellent, rivaling those of
our large-cabin aircraft.
That?s something we like to hear, because it means we hit the mark with
our design. And we have our operators to thank for that, because they
played a major role in creating this jet. This aircraft represents what
they told us they wanted.?
David Dagan,
corporate vice president and general manager, Commercial Aircraft Group,
IAI, said, ?What we?re witnessing today in the G250 flight-test campaign
is the synergy of advanced engineering with skilled manufacturing and
assembly. The hours of flight testing we are able to produce are exactly
as we planned. The tests are executed exactly as we planned with the
full completion of each test card, a true sign of the maturity of the
design the teams brought forth.?
The test aircraft
have flown over 200 hours on more than 70 flights. S/N 2001 has reached
its maximum speed of Mach 0.85 and altitude of 45,000 feet (13,500 m).
The G250 made its longest test flight today with a duration of
seven hours and one minute. |