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Gulfstream G280

Gulfstreams super-midsize beauty impresses with leading comfort,


features and performance.
By ROBERT GOYER

OCTOBER 23, 2012

In September, Gulfstream saw its hard work and investment in new products pay off in the certification of not one
but two business jets: the remarkable, clean-sheet Gulfstream G650 and the nearly equally remarkable
Gulfstream G280 supermidsize model. I had the privilege of being the first non-company or government pilot to
fly the G280.
As many of you probably know, the G280 is a derivative model, at least technically, of the G200, an airplane that
started life as the IAI Galaxy. When Gulfstream purchased that program in 2001 (the smaller IAI Astra, on which
the Galaxy was partially based, also was part of the deal), it brought into the Gulfstream family two airplanes that
fit desirable lower-cost niches, into which Gulfstream wished to expand its lineup. In retrospect, Gulfstream likely
planned all along to make major changes to both models over time to bring them up to its exacting standards.
The Galaxy, a super-midsize model that never got much market traction, is a very good airplane to begin with,
with good speed and decent range. Although adoptions in aviation sometimes are successful, the Galaxy/G200
was very different from other Gulfstreams all of which, through 2001, had had a common genealogy.
Therefore, Gulfstreams decision to launch an updated super-midsize version of the G200 that was more in
keeping with the companys DNA came as little surprise.
That proposed model, launched at NBAA 2008 in Orlando, Florida, was the Gulfstream G250, though that
designation subsequently was changed because, as it turned out, the number 250 has unfavorable connotations
in the Mandarin language. When it launched the then-G250, goals for the airplane in terms of performance,
comfort and features were ambitious, but the company hit or exceeded (by a lot, in some cases) all of them
while creating a bizjet that appeals to customers who want it all: a transatlantic bizjet with excellent operating
economies and a great cabin.
Revolutionary
Although technically the G280 is not a clean-sheet airplane, for all intents and purposes it might as well be. It
retains the fuselage cross-section of the Galaxy, but not much else. The interior cabin itself is longer by 17
inches; there are two additional windows per side; and the tail, you might notice, is the traditional Gulfstream Ttail, replacing the somewhat-dated-looking cruciform tail on the Galaxy. (By the way, the stabilizer on the 280 is
fully trimmable, another big-jet feature.)
The result is an airplane that looks for the first time very much like a Gulfstream instead of the adopted model
the G200 is. I saw the 280 on the ramp sitting next to a G450, and it looked, somewhat surprisingly, smaller than
its large-cabin sibling. But it also looked very elegant, I daresay even more so than the regal G450 or another
even more upscale Gulfstream, a G550, sitting a couple of spots farther down. The G280 is a gorgeous airplane,
and one whose proportions are perfectly balanced, not at all elongated, as some larger-body bizjets can appear.
Early on, Gulfstream knew the airplane would need a new wing, so it designed one that borrowed heavily upon
the design of the wing of its current and former flagships, the world-class, ultra-long-range Gulfstream G550 and
the most capable production airplane in the world, the Gulfstream G650. As on those airplanes, the wing of the
280 features no leading-edge devices, though it does boast blended winglets. Its surprising that in the new
millennium the ideal of the very largest and most capable models would become not a complex wing with a
plethora of high lift devices but a clean and simple structure with a stunningly precise and efficient aerodynamic

shape. These new wings answer the difficult question, How do you get very long range, very high cruise speeds
and solid runway numbers on an airplane with a large cabin? Take a look at the Gulfstream wing. It has
answered that question. The result is an airplane, at least in the case of the G280, that gets tremendous range
3,600 nautical miles at a cruise speed of Mach .80 while providing exceptional passenger comfort as well.
Its hard to believe, too, that the predecessor G200 used pneumatic boots for ice protection. The 280, as you can
see, dispenses with those antique (by midsize bizjet standards) systems and uses heated-wing leading-edge
devices instead. The wing, too, is a thing of beauty, longer than the G200 by several feet, more swept at 31
degrees, and with a simple Fowler-style flap on the trailing edge. If you ever have the chance to gaze upon the
wings of the G650 and G280, youll see hints that their development was going on side by side.
Flight controls are a mixed approach on the 280, with fly-by-wire spoilers and rudder, conventional manually
powered ailerons with geared tabs for good control feel at any speed, and a hydro-mechanical elevator control
with electronic hardover protection. There are several additional flight control failure protections built in, including
independent roll control so the failure of the spoilers or ailerons are not a deal-breaker and the pilot and
copilot can disconnect their controls from each other in case of a control jam.
Performance Plus
The key to a winning airplane program these days is creating a product that has value, a quality that is arrived at
by looking at the models combination of performance, reliability, economy and comfort, among other factors,
and deriving some overall number. All of those factors are important, but the key one, its fair to say, is
performance, for without that ingredient no one will be interested in the airplane to begin with.
The original goal for the G250 was a range of 3,400 nautical miles, but soon after flight testing commenced, it
became clear that the airplane was going to do better than that and it did, soon stretching out to its official
figure of 3,600 nm NBAA IFR range with four passengers at its high-speed cruise of Mach .80. You can actually
squeeze almost 100 nm more out of the 280 if you pull the power back to Mach .78. Conversely, at the airplanes
high-speed figure of Mach .85 (Mmo), the G280 will travel 3,000 nm, given the same assumptions as above.
This is likely the speed that many crews will use when traveling in North America or within Western Europe. If
youve got the speed, use it.
The result of this kind of range with speed is an airplane that will reliably do both New York to London and
London to New York against 85 percent probability winds the only airplane in its class, according to
Gulfstream, that can make that claim. From New York, the 280 can fly nonstop to Lima, Peru, or Quito, Ecuador,
plus most of Western Europe and Scandinavia, as well as Anchorage, Alaska. From London, more attractive city
pairs open up, including the highly attractive destination of Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, as well as all of
North Africa, the entire Middle East and much of the northeast United States. As an example of just what the
airplane can do, Gulfstream flew the G280 with two crew and five passengers from Paris to New York in 7 hours
and 40 minutes. The trip included a direct climb to 43,000 feet, which took just 22 minutes.
Despite its high cruise speeds, the G280 is a good performer on the runway, too, even when it gets hot outside.
At maximum takeoff weight, its balanced field length is just 4,750 feet, meaning it can use many airports the
airlines cant dream of accessing. At maximum landing weight, the G280 requires just 3,050 feet to get down and
stopped, something I experienced firsthand in a dramatic fashion on my test flight.
With better climb and takeoff performance than its predecessor, the G280 boasts impressive hot and high
capabilities too. With four passengers on a 77-degree day, it can take off from a 5,000-foot-high runway using
just over 5,000 feet of runway and fly for 2,500 nm thereafter. In other words, from Colorado, you can take off on
a warm day with a good load of happy passengers and their luggage and fly anywhere in the United States with
ease, something not many bizjets can claim.
Efficiency and Power
Part of the magic behind the G280s remarkable performance are its new engines, Honeywell HTF7250G
turbofans, upgraded variants of the engines that power the Challenger 300 and will be in the Embraer Legacy
450 and 500 emerging midsize jets. The engines enable the kind of performance Gulfstream is banking on to
make the G280 a long-term sales success. The new turbofans, which feature full-authority digital engine control
(fadec) and an automatic power reserve that can be relied on in a pinch if more power were to be desperately
needed, put out 7,445 pounds of thrust apiece.
Thanks mostly to experience gained on the Bombardier Challenger 300, the Honeywell HT7000-series engines
have a million hours of fleet experience and have proved themselves as stars in their thrust range. The

HTF7000-series engines are powerful, efficient, quiet and sophisticated. They help the G280 come in a
remarkable 16dB below Stage 4 noise requirements, and the NOx emissions are 25 percent below the latest and
most stringent standards, according to Gulfstream.
The Honeywell engines were key to the G280 hitting its performance goals, because not only are they powerful,
for high speeds in cruise, but they are efficient as well. Thanks to those engines, as well as the wing design, the
G280 burns 7 percent to 12 percent less fuel than older-generation jets. That allows the G280 to use less jet-A
per mile, making it both a longer-legged and a faster airplane, two traits that often are mutually exclusive.
Fusion Adoption
The avionics suite in the G280 is the PlaneView280 flight deck, which is a development of the Rockwell Collins
Pro Line Fusion flight deck. As with avionics suites from other manufacturers in its other models, Gulfstream
has taken Fusion and made it its own, using a combination of symbology, display arrangement, cursor control
device and other hardware design to make the avionics solution feel familiar to pilots of other late-model
Gulfstream jets.
Pilots control the cursor and function selections though the use of side-mounted cursor control devices that
resemble side-mounted control sticks.
In the G280 the layout gives the crew three 15-inch displays. The center display can be windowed in a number
of ways, and because the screens are so large, even when the approach chart, for instance, is on half the
display, it still is large enough that you can read the chart easily without leaning forward or squinting.
The avionics allow several capabilities that older Pro Line packages, such as that in the G200, dont have. These
include approach charts, satellite weather and, notably, WAAS for LPV approaches, something thats
increasingly a must for business aircraft, which often fly to airports that might not have runways with ILS
approaches but often have LPV approaches with low minimums.
The package also includes autothrottles, which are nicely integrated into avionics displays and the automatic
flight control system. The autothrottles make the pilots jobs easier, safer and more predictable, and they also
offer a level of precision thats hard or impossible to achieve while controlling the power manually.
In addition to the autothrottles, there are a number of safety features that you dont find on airplanes in this class,
including autobraking and an emergency auto-descent mode, as well.
There are a couple of optional safety features that are rare on airplanes in this class, including an available
head-up display (HUD) for superior airplane control, and second-generation enhanced vision system (EVSII) for
reduced approach minimums, down to 100 feet AGL in some instances.
Cabin Class
When Gulfstream decided to build a better super-midsize model, it committed itself to creating a best-in-class
cabin, and it did just that. The cabin can be configured for eight, nine or 10 passengers, and there are multiple
layouts within some of those seating options, several of them with a new side-facing divan.
With a 6-foot, 1-inch ceiling height, 23-inch wide aisle and nearly 7 feet at the shoulders, the cabin is huge by
midsize standards. Speaking of the center walkway: In the day of flat-floor cabins, having an aisle at all seems
outmoded. In this case, however, its not really an aisle at all. Instead of the walkway being recessed to offer
better center headroom, Gulfstream has put raised platforms under the seating sections in order to seat
passengers at the widest part of the cabin. By using highly articulated seats (which are comfortable too),
passengers can slide their seats outboard toward the aisle to give themselves and their row mates even more
space. Its a remarkably spacious cabin.
The first thing you notice stepping into the G280 cabin is the quality of the light. Not only are there more windows
(an extra two per side), but the windows also look even larger than they are, thanks to a brilliantly designed new
window reveal that seems to add a few inches to the size of the glass while adding an unmistakable touch of
style.
Gulfstream also introduced a new passenger-first approach known as cabin essential design, a philosophy
intended to give the cabin facilities the same kind of redundancy as the main aircraft systems have.
One big new feature is the rear baggage area, which, with the removal of the fuselage fuel tank, is huge, with a
capacity of 120 cubic feet of bags. Its also now accessible in flight, something that passengers love.

The galley is much larger, too, as is the lavatory, both of which will be much appreciated on those seven-hour
legs that many owners will be buying the airplane to fly.
Wringing It Out
I traveled up to Dallas Love (KDAL) in the Cirrus to meet the folks from Gulfstream and to learn about and fly
the G280. As with the G200, the G280 will be built in Israel by Gulfstream partner IAI, then flown green to the
United States, where it will get paint and interior at one of Gulfstreams completion centers.
I had the chance to tour Gulfstreams Dallas facility and see the many ways that Gulfstream makes the interior of
the G280 very light, very strong and very stylish.
When it came time to fly the G280, I hopped into the left seat, with Gulfstream flight test pilots Bob Wilson in the
right seat and Brian Dickerson in the jumpseat. The startup checklist is extensive and takes some time to
complete, especially with a pilot new to the airplane along for the trip. But the Plane-View suite makes it go
faster, speeding up the process by doing such things as automatically displaying the page for the system being
checked.
Startup of the Honeywell engines was, as in all fadec turbofans Ive flown, a matter of hitting the start button
and then monitoring the start sequence. If there were to be a hot or hung start (an unlikely occurrence), the
system would handle the shutdown procedure automatically.
Taxiing is done with a tiller. Like many jets taxied with these side-mounted steering handles, the G280 feels a
little twitchy on the ground until you learn to make exceedingly small inputs. After a few minutes, I felt right at
home.
On the takeoff roll, I used the tiller to steer the airplane until 80 knots, which happens very quickly, at which point
I transitioned to the rudder pedals for directional control before, shortly afterward, moving both hands to the yoke
passing V1. Before I could blink, we were at rotation. I commanded gear up, and away we went, rocketing all the
way up to, well, 2,500 feet, as we were smack-dab in the middle of Dallas Class Bravo airspace. I hand-flew,
getting the feel for the 280. It, I was not surprised, flies like a Gulfstream solid, precise and satisfying.
Once we were farther west, the controller cleared us up to the flight levels, though we suffered through
numerous level-offs along the way. Once climbing, the G280 performed just as Gulfstream claimed it would.
Autothrottles engaged, and, climbing directly to FL430, the airplane seemed to have plenty of power in reserve.
The cockpit of the 280 is a very nice place to do business. The seats are remarkably comfortable; theres a multizone environmental control, so its always comfortable up front; the controls are large and easy to use; and even
the sunshades are best in class.
At FL430, we were indicating Mach .85, the 280s Mmo, and the numbers were all as Gulfstream said they would
be.
Id say fuel management was easy, but after you have the airplane fueled back at the airport, theres no actual
managing to be done. Its all completely automatic.
We descended back down to the mid-teens, asked for and got a block of airspace from 13,000 to 17,000 feet,
and did some airwork, including steep turns, stalls to the stick pusher in various configurations, and some
simulated single-engine work. It was all a delight, with no surprises, other than the realization that it would be
really hard to get into trouble in this airplane in many of the usual boneheaded ways. We even did a couple of
low-speed protection maneuvers, setting the airplane up to have an autopilot stall, only to see the autothrottles
come to the rescue before anything bad could happen.
After airwork we headed over to Abilene and did some landings. For those of you who havent landed a relatively
large jet like the G280, its a very different kind of experience than landing a light airplane, in part because the jet
is traveling over the ground very fast Vref in the G280 is typically in the neighborhood of 120 knots the
landing gear is fairly tall, and the sight picture looks very different from what youd expect. That all said, landing
the G280 was very straightforward from a midsize jet perspective I wont say it was easy, because its a
specialized skill, but there was nothing unexpected in the process. At Abilene we did a couple of normal landings
and then following a V1 cut (where the power for one engine is reduced to simulate an engine failure
immediately after youve committed to the takeoff).
With one engine pulled back, the airplane offers some automatic asymmetrical thrust compensation help, but it

really didnt feel bad without it. The 280 climbed very well out of Abilene despite the hot day, and I brought it
around for a single-engine pattern and approach to a full stop.
After that we did something that was the highlight of my flight, perhaps of many years of flights: a rejected takeoff
with autobraking. With the autobraking set at the maximum value, we lined up, and I advanced the throttles. At
around 80 knots my copilot announced abort, abort, and I pulled the throttle levers all the way back.
Immediately the autobrakes took control, braking the airplane very aggressively and in an incredibly straight line
much better, no doubt, than I would have done. The whole maneuver, including accelerating, pulling the
power back and letting the autobrakes do their thing took about 2,000 feet total. Wow.
We taxied back, got our clearance and made our way back to Love, where a healthy crosswind was blowing.
Once we arrived, for once in my life I saved my best landing of the day for last and for an airplane I hope to fly
again soon.
Finally a Gulfstream
Now that Gulfstream has earned certification for the G280, it has on its hands the leading midsize business jet
and a beautiful one at that. It is, however, much more than that: It is an airplane that combines great range; a
remarkable cabin; numerous innovative safety features, including autobraking and autothrottles; a cutting-edge
avionics suite; available HUD and EVS; and Gulfstreams famous aftermarket support. In short, Gulfstream has,
for all its hard work, spirit of innovation, commitment to safety and vision, created a super-midsize airplane that is
in every way a Gulfstream. Not a bad result.
View our Gulfstream G280 photo gallery.

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