FASTER, FURTHER, HIGHER

If ever there were a business jet that screams desirability, it’s Gulfstream’s gorgeous G550. JON WALL climbs aboard

IT MAY NOT have an on-board cinema, a bathroom with gilded taps, a circular double bed or, indeed, any other of the imagined trappings of an airborne oil-sheikh’s palace, but if there’s one private jet that announces you’ve arrived in serious style, it’s the Gulfstream G550.

As sleek, elegant and purposeful as a fighter jet, the G550 is the Ferrari 458 of personal air transport, an aircraft that’s as stunningly beautiful as it’s versatile and capable. And to judge by the preponderance of Gulfstreams on the aprons of Asia’s business aviation terminals, it’s clearly the plane that everyone wants to own – everyone, that is, with a cool US$60 million to splash out on a new set of wings.

Its super-svelte lines aside, the G550 makes an incontrovertible case for itself as the most versatile 12-to-18-passenger business jet currently available, by flying faster, further and higher than any other aircraft in its class. When cutting through the upper bands of the troposphere at Mach 0.8, and with 12 passengers and crew aboard, it has a range of around 12,500km (6,750 nautical miles). That enables nonstop, long-haul flights between Hong Kong and many major European centres, as well as linking the Middle East with Washington, DC without touching down for fuel.

Just as important, the G550 operates at considerably greater altitudes than its competitors – its maximum ceiling of more than 50,000ft takes it above most weather and (now that Concorde is confined to the museums) some 10,000ft higher than all commercial airline traffic. On busy short-haul itineraries, when time in the air and on the ground is at a premium, it can cruise at speeds of up to Mach 0.87 (with an outright maximum of Mach 0.885), as well as operate from the shorter runways often found in secondary airports. Indeed, drawing on its class-leading capabilities, the G550 has set a roster of international city-to-city speed records, including Toluca (just outside Mexico City) to London in slightly less than eight-and-a-half hours and at a remarkable 1,066km/h.

Although a development of General Dynamics’ Gulfstream V of the mid-1990s, among the first of the ultra-long-range business jets, the G550 immediately caught the imagination of the private aviation world at its launch in the early noughties. It did so by offering several significant improvements over its predecessor, particularly increased range resulting from tweaked aerodynamics, and revised avionics that included Gulfstream’s Plane View cockpit. The latter comprises four 14-inch, LCD electronic flight-instrument system (EFIS) screens, a head-up display, cursor control and an infrared enhanced vision system (EVS) that permits take-off, landing and taxiing in greatly reduced visibility. This being one of the most advanced flight decks currently available, the G550 is a seriously state-of-the-art piece of kit, as technologically advanced as any contemporary commercial jet, if not even more so.

The aircraft’s power comes from a pair of fuselage-mounted Rolls-Royce BR710-series turbofans, the German-built engines that also provide the motive force for Bombardier’s Global Express, as well as the latest variant of the Royal Air Force’s Nimrod maritime reconnaissance aircraft, whose mission to remain airborne at low altitudes for hours on end requires exceptional efficiency and fuel economy. In a similar vein and as a testament to the Gulfstream’s range and endurance, the Republic of Singapore Air Force chose a heavily modified G550 as the platform for its new fleet of airborne early-warning aircraft, which are also required to be on-station in the air for lengthy periods.

Not that most private end-users taking delivery of their G550s will opt for the low-visibility greys or sky blues preferred by the military. For with its raked silhouette and upturned, drag-reducing winglets, slender fuselage and high tail, this is an aircraft that demands attention, and flamboyant owners will be eager to personalise, if not necessarily bling, their wings, with up to five body stripes that Gulfstream offers over the airframe’s single-base exterior colour. But it’s in the cabin that the sky really is the limit when it comes to creating the ideal environment for jetting across the time zones.

Illuminated by natural light that streams in from the seven oversized oval windows on each side of the fuselage, and with 12 possible floor plans enabling up to four tailored passenger zones, flying aboard the G550 is a world away from travel by regular commercial jet, even in first class. Typical cabin configurations range from a forward-galley plan with accommodation for up to 18 passengers and berthing for seven, to an aft-galley layout with a crew rest area, seating for up to 12 passengers and berthing for five – and there are various arrangements to choose from in between. Whichever configuration you select, rest assured you’ll be ensconced in swathes of deeply aromatic leather, thick carpets and great hunks of wood that have been polished to a mirror-like sheen, just as in the Bentley or Rolls-Royce limousine that no doubt delivered you to the Gulfstream’s steps.

Satellite communications plus fax machines, printers, wireless LAN and optional multilink broadband with ultra-fast connection speeds make the G550 an enormously productive environment for those who simply can’t take their minds off work. Sybarites, however, will be more focused on the galley, which can be located either at the front or the rear, with high-temperature ovens and microwaves, water sterilisation units and dual coffee-makers that enable the steward to whip up hot meals, snacks and drinks whenever their whim dictates. There’s a customs-sealed wine and liquor container, and fitted storage units housing the necessary china, crystal and cutlery (thoughtfully supplied with the aircraft), so you can raid the cellar at will as you traverse back and forth across the Earth.

Inflight entertainment is provided by a pair of dual DVD players and multi-disc CD units that feed vision to two main LCD monitors as well as individual in-seat displays, while sound is delivered either to the cabin audio speakers or headsets; there’s also an air show information channel that plots the progress of your flight. And to help keep jetlag at bay, 100 percent fresh air is fed into the cabin, while air pressure is set to a constant simulated 6,000ft.

That’s low enough for comfortable long-haul flights, but after streaking through the skies, cosseted in luxury aboard this eye-wateringly lovely aeroplane, you’ll doubtless continue cruising at much higher altitudes for hours after you’ve arrived back on terra firma.