For the second time in a week, Gulfstream rolled out a new model of business jet when the super midsize G250 taxied briskly into view of a crowd at Israel Aerospace Industries in Tel Aviv in early October. The G250, which is owned by Gulfstream, will be assembled by IAI and then flown to Gulfstream facilities in the United States for completion.
The G250 replaces the G200 in the Gulfstream lineup but is an all-new airplane with a new type certificate. The G250 shares the forward fuselage and big stand-up cabin cross section with the G200, but the new cabin is nearly two feet longer and contains two additional windows per side.
The G250 will fly on a large-area Gulfstream wing that is essentially a scaled down version of the wing on the new ultralarge, ultralong-range G650. The wing uses Gulfstream’s high lift, low drag technology to operate without movable leading edges, and with all flap mechanisms located internally to create a perfectly smooth wing surface.
The new wing is large enough to contain the fuel, so the center fuel tank that is in the aft fuselage is eliminated. That provides more space for baggage in the G250, and as in the large Gulfstream models, you can walk through the expanded lavatory into the baggage compartment in flight.
The new wing also gives the G250 the longest range (3,400 nm) and highest cruise speed (Mach .80) in the category and reduces maximum-weight takeoff runway to under 5,000 feet. It will climb directly 41,000 feet even with above standard air temperature and will cruise farther on the same fuel as the G200 it replaces. The cabin altitude will remain at or below 7,000 feet, and the G250 will have Gulfstream’s “cabin essential” design that assures through redundancy and robust systems that cabin lights, plumbing and communications will always be available.
The G250 brings many more firsts to the super midsize category including auto braking, auto throttles, fly-by-wire rudder and spoilers, an HUD and an advanced PlaneView avionics system. The HTF7250G engines are quieter and up to 13 percent more efficient than the engines on the G200.
The G250 has been in internal development for four years in a partnership between Gulfstream and IAI. The program was announced publicly last year with the rollout and first flight slated before the end of 2009 and with certification and delivery set for 2011. Gulfstream and IAI plan to use three airplanes to amass 1,300 hours of flight testing. The price is approximately $24 million.
