A Gulfstream G650ER, Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. said, made the trip from John Glenn Columbus International Airport in Ohio to Pudong International Airport in Shanghai in 14 hours and 35 minutes. Following that flight, the aircraft flew from Taipei Taoyuan International Airport to Scottsdale Airport in Arizona in 10 hours and 57 minutes. Should they be granted approval by the U.S. National Aeronautic Association, the records will be sent to the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale in Switzerland for recognition as world records.
Gulfstream G650ER. Photo: Rocco Bellantuono, via Gulfstream
The flight the jet took from Ohio to Shanghi was 6,750 nautical miles, meaning the average cruise speed of Mach 0.85. The trip from Taipei to Arizona was 6,143 nautical miles, indicating a cruising speed of Mach 0.90. At its top speed, the Gulfstream G650ER can reach Mach 0.925. It is powered by two Rolls-Royce BR725 A1-12s.
The G650ER features the Gulfstream PlaneView II flight deck and enhanced and synthetic vision capabilities. Information from the flight management system (FMS) and primary flight display are shown on multiple large format screens, and two side-mounted cursor control devices (CCD) allow pilots to select and scroll for customized viewing of airways, airports, radar weather and other data. A nose-mounted infrared camera enables the enhanced vision system, and images can be routed to a head-up display (HUD). Three-dimensional color images of terrain, obstacles and runways are blended with instrument readings on the pilot’s display unit for a synthetic vision-primary flight display.