Gulfstream G650: specifications, range, cabin

The aircraft that settled the question of the upper boundary of business aviation. Non-stop legs across the ocean at close to the speed of sound, and a cabin you can sleep in all night.

Specifications

Full data and photos are on the model page.

What this design delivers

Range of 7 000 nautical miles. Moscow–Los Angeles, New York–Dubai, London–Singapore without an intermediate stop. Routes where the previous generation landed to refuel are flown here on a single leg.

A ceiling of 51 000 ft. Above the main traffic and above the weather. The G650 occupies a level airline aircraft do not climb to, and it routes direct where the others are going around fronts.

Speed of M 0.925. The upper mark for a civil aircraft. On a transatlantic leg that is a gain of about an hour against a typical business jet.

A cabin 1.95 m high and 13.32 m long. Full standing height for a person of almost any build, four zones, a separate bedroom at the far end. The width comes from the oval fuselage section: it holds at the shoulder level of a seated passenger.

Cabin pressure. At 51 000 ft the system maintains conditions corresponding to an altitude of about 1 200 metres. After a ten-hour flight the difference against an ordinary aircraft is felt physically.

What to check on the particular aircraft

Life remaining on the engines. The BR725 is a substantial unit and the cost of an overhaul is measured in millions. Establish programme status as the first question: it converts a one-off blow into a monthly payment.

Hours and cycles separately. The airframe has two counters. An aircraft worked on short corporate legs accumulates many times more cycles for the same hours, and airframe life is consumed faster.

Calendar checks. They fall due by date irrespective of how much the aircraft has flown. An aircraft that has flown little and stood for several years costs more to put right than one that has been flying actively.

The communications fit. Satellite systems differ noticeably between aircraft of different years. Establish what is fitted now and what bringing it up to current level will cost.

Documentation. Continuity of the records, airframe time reconciling with the engines and components, airworthiness directives and service bulletins complied with, the provenance of replaced components.

Who it suits

The mission the aircraft was built for: intercontinental non-stop flights with a working group on board and the ability to sleep en route. Headquarters in one hemisphere, assets in another. Regular legs beyond ten thousand kilometres.

On domestic routes of up to three thousand kilometres the aircraft works, but the unused range has to be paid for every month: crew, a stand sized for it, heavy-class maintenance checks.

In the long-range class I have run deals on the Bombardier Global. Keeping an aircraft of this class costs, as far as I know, 10–20% of its value a year, and that money goes out whether or not you crossed an ocean. When a client has only a handful of such routes, I talk him out of buying.

What to weigh when choosing between the G650 and the G650ER

The ER received increased fuel capacity: 7 500 nautical miles against 7 000. Cabin, speed and ceiling are identical.

Five hundred miles decide it on specific city pairs. If your routes fit inside 7 000, the base version gives you the same thing for less. If you regularly need Hong Kong out of New York, the difference is fundamental.

Conclusion

The G650 remains the benchmark of the upper segment: range, speed and cabin in one aircraft, with no compromise on any of the three.

What decides it is the condition of the particular aircraft: life remaining on the engines, programme status, the communications fit and what the logbooks say.

Alexander Filimonov — business aviation: selection, purchase and entry into service of aircraft.