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Gulfstream G200

Type
“Super mid-size” business-jet (Geschäftsreiseflugzeug)

Country (Land)
USA / Israel

Manufacturer (Hersteller)
Gulfstream Aerospace Corp.
500 Gulfstream Road
Savannah, Georgia 31407
USA

Phone: 001-912/965-5555
Fax: 001-912/965-3084

Gulfstream Aerospace is responsible for the marketing of the aircraft, while actual design and manufacture takes place at Israel Aircraft Industries in Tel Aviv. Fuselage and empennage are made by Sogerma in France.

General (Allgemeine Angaben)
Crew (Besatzung): 2 in cockpit
Passengers (Passagiere): 8 to 10 in typical luxury arrangement, 18 in shuttle interior
Baggage volume (Gepäckraum): 3,53 cu m

Power plant (Antrieb): 2 x Pratt & Whitney Canada PW306A turbofans with Nordam thrust reversers
Thrust (Startschub): 2 x 6040 lbs (26,84 kN) at ISA + 10 deg C

Dimensions (Abmessungen)
Length (Länge): 18,97 m
Height (Höhe): 6,53 m
Span (Spannweite): 17,70 m
Wing area (Flügelfläche): 34,28 sq m
Leading-edge sweep (Flügelpfeilung): 34,5 deg inboard, 25 deg outboard

Cabin length (Kabinenlänge): 7,44 m without flight deck
Cabin width (Kabinenbreite): 2,18 m
Cabin height (Kabinenhöhe): 1,91 m
Cabin volume (Kabinenvolumen): 24,56 cu m

Weights (Massen)
Basic operating weight (Einsatzmasse): 9049 kg with two crew
Payload (Nutzlast): 1837 kg
Payload with maxiumum fuel (Nutzlast mit max. Kraftstoff): 295 kg
Max. usable fuel (Max. Kraftstoff): 7882 lites (2080 US gallons)
Max. zero-fuel weight (max. Masse ohne Kraftstoff): 10886 kg
Max. ramp weight (max. Rollmasse): 16148 kg
Max. take-off weight (Max. Startmasse): 16080 kg
Max. landing weight (Max. Landemasse): 13608 kg

Performance (Flugleistungen)
Maximum operating speed (MMO): Mach 0.85
Normal cruise speed (Reisegeschwindigkeit): Mach 0.8 / 459 kts (850 km/h)
Long range cruise speed (Reisegeschwindigkeit auf langen Strecken): Mach 0.75 / 430 kts (797 km/h)
Stall speed (Überziehgeschwindigkeit): 102 KCAS (189 km/h)
Initial cruise altitude (Anfangsreiseflughöhe):39000 ft (11890 m)
Max. operating altitude (Reiseflughöhe): 45000 ft (13715 m)
Takeoff distance (Startstrecke): 1853 m at max. take-off weight, sea level, ISA
Landing distance at max. landing weight (Landestrecke): 1000 m (at max. landing weight)
Range (Reichweite):
- 3400 NM (6300 km) with NBAA IFR reserves, four passengers
- 2710 NM (5020 km) in a corporate shuttle configuration, with NBAA IFR reserves
Load factors (Max. Belastungen): + 2,65/-1,0 g

Costs (Kosten)
In mid-2000 the Galaxy cost around 18 million US-Dollars.
In October 1998, Galaxy Aerospace mentioned a price of “approximately 17 million US-Dollars”. At the roll-out ceremony a year before, the price tag had been 14,5 million US Dollars (1996 value).
Total programme cost is estimated at 150 million US-Dollars (1993 values).

Customers (Kunden)
Backlog for the aircraft exceeded 160 by February 2002.
Sales were around 100 after the Executive Jet order in May 2001. By October 1999, there were about 45 to 50 commitments. At the time of the first flight, talk was of 4 firm orders and 17 refundable deposits already in the book.
Known customers are:
* AvBase Aviation of Cleveland, Ohio
* Executive Jet ordered 50 with 50 options on 1 May 2001 for its NetJets operation, worth around 2 billion US-Dollars
* Hainan Airlines from China confirmed an order for three at Asian Aerospace 2002. Value was said to be 60 million US-dollars. Deliveries will be in the first quarter of 2003, for operation by subsidiary Deer Jet.
* ILI Aviation of Zurich, a charter operator, which ordered seven

Competitors (Konkurrenz)
Bombardier Challenger 300 (Continental)
Cessna Citation X
Dassault Falcon 2000
Raytheon Hawker Horizon

Remarks (Bemerkungen)
G200 is the new designation for the IAI 1126 Galaxy, after Gulfstream Aerospace took over marketing of the type in May 2001. The aircraft falls into the super mid-size class of business jets and offers transatlantic range with a roomy cabin.

History (Geschichte)
The Galaxy design was initiated in the early 90s as a derivative of the Astra SP. At first, the new aircraft was known as the Astra IV, but by the time of the formal announcement of the programme launch at the NBAA convention in September 1993 at Atlanta, the name Galaxy had been adopted. According to the manufacturer, the Galaxy introduces a new market segment between traditional midsize business jets and large, intercontinental jets. “With approximately 2600 midsize business jets in operation today, at an average age of 17 years, the Galaxy is well positioned to meet the trade-up requirements of current midsize aircraft operators”, claims the manufacturer.
At the time of the launch, a first flight had been predicted for the end of 1995, but financial restrictions and problems with potential fuselage-maker Yakovlev (Russia) as well as restructuring and ownership changes of the US marketing arm led to numerous delays.
In July 1996, IAI got a new partner on board, with French company Sogerma signing up for the production of the fuselage and tail section of the business jet. In November of that year, the US-hotel tycoon Pritzker got involved with fresh financing for the project, hiring Brian Barents (ex-president of Learjet) to head the newly created Galaxy Aerospace company in Texas.
The Galaxy finally rolled-out at IAI on September 4, 1997. It made its two hour, two minute maiden flight on 25 December 1997 from the Ben-Gurion Interanational Airport. Project pilot Adi Benaya and Hagai Koren were at the controls. An altitude of 10000 ft (3000 m) and a speed of 185 kts was reached. The second sortie followed on December 31, when the pilots cycled the landing gear, flaps, slats and spoilers for the first time. Also, each engine was shut down and air started. By the end of February 1998, the aircraft had accumulated 23 hours in ten flights.
Three aircraft were involved in the test programme, namely the production numbers 003 (first flight 25 December 1997), 004 (first flight 21 May 1998) and 005 (first flown on 24. September 1998).
Airframe 001 was used for static tests, which were completed in September 1998, and 002 for fatigue tests.
A total of 810 hours were accumulated in 260 flights until December 1998, when the Galaxy achieved its certification with the Israeli Civil Aviation Authority and the US FAA. The certification covered flights into known icing as well as the autopilot and the APU.
Completion and deliveries were handled from a new site at Alliance Airport (Dallas, Texas). First handover to a customer was about six months later than expected, on 17 January 2000, to TTI Incorporated, a Fort Worth company that is a leader in the distribution of electronic components.
Six Galaxies were delivered by July of that year.
In May 2000, the company announced the introduction of changes to get a quieter cabin. This entailed changes to the environmental control system as well as installation of advanced sound absorbing materials.
On 1. May 2001, General Dynamics (parent of Gulfstream Aerospace) announced that it had reached an agreement to acquire Galaxy Aerospace, the Galaxy marketing company, for 330 million US-Dollars in cash. An additional 315 million US-Dollars will be paid later depending on specific revenue targets. With this transaction, General Dynamics/Gulfstream got an immediate presence in the super mid-size and mid-size markets, the fastest growing segment of the business aircraft market.
The backing of Gulfstream Aerospace immediate led to the signing of a contract for 50 plus 50 options by Executive Jet for its NetJets fractional ownership programme. Deliveries were said to begin in the second quarter of 2002.
The Galaxy was renamed the Gulfstream 200 in June 2001, with the official introduction being made at the Paris air show that month. IAI continued manufacture of the G200, and outfitting operations remained at Alliance airport at first. On 16 January 2002, Gulfstream Aerospace announced that it will end completions operations there and that most of the 355 employees and 80 contractors will be laid off.
The G200 was certified by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) on Sept. 10, 2002.
At the NBAA in September 2002, Gulfstream said that improvements made in the 15 months since the programme was acquired included exceptions at delivery have dropped by some 90 percent, with the most recent aircraft delivered experiencing only 10 exceptions. Equally importantly, completions cycle time has decreased by 68 percent - from 14 months to 4 1/2 months - while an aggressive weight reduction program had already exceeded 50 percent of a targeted 650 pounds. Also, redesigns and revisions of certain parts were targeted to bring up the reliability rate, which was at 90 per cent a year earlier.
In October 2003, Gulfstream Aerospace signed a Letter of Intent with Safe Flight Instrument Corporation to install Safe Flight's Enhanced AutoPower automatic throttle system (ATS) in the Gulfstream G200 business jet. A Supplemental Type Certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which was expected by the end of the second quarter of 2004. Gulfstream said it will begin the G200 auto-throttle flight test program, which will require 10 to 25 flight hours, early in 2004.
In mid-2004, the G200 experienced a dispatch reliability rate in excess of 99.25 percent.
On August 30, 2004, the 100th Gulfstream G200 was officially rolled out. The “green” aircraft was scheduled to be delivered to its owner, fractional aircraft ownership company NetJets, in the fourth quarter of 2004. Since 2001, Gulfstream had delivered 67 outfitted G200s. By the end of the second quarter of 2004, the in-service G200 fleet had flown a total of 70,522 flight hours and completed 43,496 take-offs and landings.

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Last updated 9 September 2004

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