Third G250 flies

Gulfstream Aerospace has announced that the third and final G250 to be involved in the flight test program has made its first flight from Israel’s Ben Gurion airport.

The aircraft took off from Ben Gurion on June 28 at 10:30am local time and undertook a 2 hour and 56 minute flight which saw the aircraft reach a maximum speed of 250kt and an altitude of 20,000ft. The aircraft has now joined two others involved in the flight testing campaign, which have completed over 200 flying hours.

“It’s exciting to have all three test aircraft in the air,” said Pres Henne, senior vice president, programs, engineering and test at Gulfstream. “What’s even more exciting is the response we’re getting from the pilots. They’ve told us that the aircraft’s handling qualities are excellent, rivalling those of our large cabin aircraft. That’s something we like to hear, because it means we hit the mark with our design. And we have our operators to thank for that, because they played a major role in creating this jet. This aircraft represents what they told us they wanted.”

The first G250 rolled out of the IAI manufacturing facility in Tel Aviv under its own power in October 2009. The G250 is on schedule for type certification in 2011.