Aircraft Overview: Gulfstream G650 / G650ER

The G650 and G650ER are clean-sheet business jets produced by Savannah, Georgia-based Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. 

Representing two commercial designations of Gulfstream’s GVI type, the G650 was announced by the airframe manufacturer on March 13, 2008, and made its first flight on Nov. 25, 2009. 

Subsequently, the GVI type was certified by the FAA on Sept. 7, 2012, ahead of the G650’s entry into service in December 2012. An enhanced version of the GVI, the G650ER, debuted on May 19, 2014, at the European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (EBACE). 

On Oct. 8, 2014, Gulfstream stated that the G650ER had received FAA certification, with the first deliveries of the improved airframe announced before the end of 2014. 

Although the G650ER remains in production, it is anticipated that it will ultimately be replaced in the Gulfstream product line by the in-development, GVIII-based G800. 

Beyond its two required crewmembers, the G650 and G650ER are certified to a maximum passenger capacity of 19. However, when the cabin is configured for sleeping accommodations, the passenger capacity is reduced to a maximum of 10. 

Regardless of the maximum passenger capacity, G650 and G650ER passengers are accommodated in a cabin that has a length of 46 ft. 10 in.—"excluding baggage”—and a volume of 2,138 ft.³ Other cabin dimensions common to the G650 and G650ER include a finished cabin height of 6 ft. 3 in. and a finished cabin width of 8 ft. 2 in., while the baggage compartment volume is 195 ft.³  

Pilots operate both the G650 and G650ER by utilizing Gulfstream's PlaneView II flight deck, avionics that are based on Honeywell’s Primus Epic integrated avionics system and which include “four large-format displays.”  

Powering both GVI commercial designations are a pair of Rolls-Royce (Rolls-Royce Deutschland Ltd & Co KG) BR700-725A1-12 turbofan engines that have a rated takeoff thrust of 16,900 lb. 

Other specifications common to the G650 and G650ER include the basic operating weight (54,000 lb.)—which assumes “four crew” and “theoretical standard outfitting configurations”—maximum landing weight (83,500 lb.), maximum payload (6,500 lb.) and maximum payload when carrying full fuel (1,800 lb.). 

Although those specifications are the same, the maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) of the GVI-based airframes differ, with the G650 limited to a 99,600-lb. MTOW and the G650ER increasing that limitation to 103,600 lb. 

Similarly, the G650ER’s maximum fuel capacity of 48,200 lb. is greater than the G650’s 44,200-lb. capacity because the former features wing tanks that can carry 4,000 lb. of additional fuel.

The operating limitations of the GVI type include a maximum operating Mach number (M_MO) of 0.925 Mach and a maximum operating altitude of 51,000 ft. 

Additional performance figures that are shared by the G650 and G650ER include long-range and high-speed cruise speeds of 0.85 Mach and 0.90 Mach, respectively, as well as an initial cruise altitude of 41,000 ft. 

When carrying eight passengers and four crew—as well as assuming National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) instrument flight rules (IFR) reserves and flight at the long-range cruise speed—the G650 is capable of a maximum range of 7,000 nm, a range that the G650ER extends to 7,500 nm based on the same criteria. 

At the high-speed cruise speed, the respective ranges of the G650 and G650ER are reduced to 6,000 nm and 6,400 nm. 

While the G650ER is capable of a greater maximum range than the G650, the latter requires less takeoff distance than the former version of the airplane. Based on the MTOW, sea-level altitude and International Standard Atmosphere (ISA) conditions, the takeoff distance of the G650 is 5,858 ft. 

Comparatively, the G650ER’s takeoff distance is 6,299 ft. when the same criteria are assumed. Beyond those takeoff distances, both airframes have been certified for “steep approach landing operations” by the FAA and European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).