It was a big day in Savannah for Gulfstream when the company announced on Friday that it had earned provisional type certification for its ultra-long-range, ultra-large-cabin Gulfstream G650. The provisional TC will allow Gulfstream to begin completing interiors for customer airplanes while it finishes up the details of the full certification.
Provisional certification is not an unusual route to full certification, though the practice drew a lot of negative comment when the FAA granted Eclipse provisional type certification for the Eclipse 500 very light jet in what critics said looked like a political decision designed to let Eclipse meet guarantees for an airplane they charged was not close to being finished. A number of established airplane makers have earned provisional certification for their jets; Gulfstream has done it twice before, with the GV and the G550. It’s widely considered standard operating practiced.
