Flying the G550 At the controls, at long last | by Matt Thurber

The Gulfstream G550 proved itself a strong performer and easy to handle with the right training.

After earning a new type rating, headquarters for the flight, I summary of the G550’s capa- high-speed cruise is Mach 0.85. most corporate pilots jump right learned that I would experience bilities and a thorough preflight Cabin altitude at the maximum into the cockpit of the airplane what the crew for buyers of a new briefing. Certified in 2003, the altitude of 51,000 feet and max on which they just trained and G550 would go through. Senior G550 has enjoyed a tremendous cabin pressure differential of go to work. When I finished the international captain Ed Facisze- run, with 530 in service and no 10.48 psi is a comfortable 6,000 www.ainonline.com Gulfstream G550 initial course wski and international captain plan to phase it out of produc- feet. This performance was (AIN, November, page 46) at Nick Rose said they would take tion as the new G500 and G600 attention-grabbing when the FlightSafety International’s me on a trip as if this were an enter service; the marketplace GV—which later became the Long Beach learning center in entry-into-service flight. This is will be the ultimate decider on G550—entered service in 1997, June, I was doubly excited, not a service that Gulfstream pro- that question. but even more so when con- only because it was an oppor- vides new customers and allows The Rolls-Royce BR710 sidering the clean Gulfstream tunity to add the G550 to my the crew to become thoroughly C4-11-powered G550 offers wing, which has no leading- pilot certificate but also because familiar with their new jet while long range (6,750 nm at Mach edge devices. Gulfstream invited me to fly a flying with highly experienced 0.80), direct climb to FL410 on Four seating areas can be fit- real G550 shortly thereafter. I pilots and, if desired, complet- a warm day, sub-6,000-foot bal- ted in the cabin, or three when would finally get to see what it ing the first few actual trips for anced field length at maximum buyers opt for a crew rest area. is like for other pilots to transi- the owner. Of course, there was takeoff weight and the ability to The rear baggage area is acces- tion from training in a simula- no owner in this case, just me, tanker fuel by flying, with the sible in flight, but there is a lim- tor, getting the type rating, then Faciszewski and Rose and a right winds, from New York to itation of five minutes with the flying the real airplane. gorgeous gently used low-time London and back without add- internal baggage door open Even better, when I arrived G550, N531GA. ing any fuel. Maximum oper- above 40,000 feet. Since the

at Gulfstream’s Savannah, Ga. The morning began with a ating speed is Mach 0.885, and compartment is accessible from © 2016 AIN Publications. All Rights Reserved. For Reprints go to Flying The G550 At long last, at the controls

from Savannah to Augusta, Ga., with some airwork on the way, with me flying right seat. At Augusta, we would switch seats and I would be the pilot flying in the left seat for the return leg. Faciszewski out- lined the weather, which was just about CAVU, summarized Notams and described the plan for the flight in detail. We dis- cussed possible traffic around Augusta’s Daniels Field, which shouldn’t affect our flight into Augusta Regional, and the need to watch for turkey vultures that like to circle near the approach to the airport. The sterile cockpit rule would be observed from brake release until 10,000 feet. As I learned at FlightSafety, when the autopilot is on, the pilot fly- ing “owns” the guidance panel AIN senior editor Matt Thurber, center, put his newfound knowledge to good use with a flight in a Gulfstream G550 with the except for the altitude preselect. company’s senior international captain Ed Faciszewski, left, and international captain Nick Rose. When the pilot flying is hand the cabin, the exterior baggage pilot. These controllers are Flight Brief flying, the panel is the respon- door doubles as a secondary a primary component of the “We’re here just to have fun today,” sibility of the pilot monitoring emergency exit. pilot interface and are used said Faciszewski at the start of and his alone. Gulfstream has developed to adjust a variety of settings the briefing, but he reminded me We discussed elements of its own cabin management and on the avionics. One setting, that we had two objectives for the flying the real G550 that were entertainment system, with for example, is selecting syn- flight. “Number one is to oper- different from the simulator, full high-definition video and thetic vision to display on the ate safely at all times. The second such as the ability to lean for- audio, standard Blu-ray play- primary flight display (PFD). is we want to provide real-world ward and see the wingtip, and ers, HD bulkhead monitors Synthetic vision is optional on operational training following the large amount of thrust at and Airshow 4000. Among the the G550 and, surprisingly, is the FlightSafety training.” For idle, meaning that releasing satcom options are Inmarsat not purchased by all buyers, entry-into-service customers that the brakes is usually all that is SwiftBroadband, ViaSat probably because regulators take advantage of flying the first needed to get the airplane mov- Ku-band and Iridium plus still give no operational credit trips with Gulfstream pilots, he ing on the ground. As it is in the www.ainonline.com Gogo Business Aviation air-to- for the technology. The EVS II added, “We’re the bridge between simulator, the tiller nosewheel ground connectivity. Next year, infrared-based enhanced vision the simulator and the aircraft.” steering is notably sensitive, and Gulfstream will begin equip- system and HUD II head-up Faciszewski flew F-15s in the we would use that most of the ping the G550 with Honeywell’s display are both standard, as is Air Force and was a T-37 instruc- time except on straightaways JetWave system, which delivers Fans, CPDLC and ADS-B out tor before joining FlightSafety, because the rudder pedals allow the high-speed Ka-band Jet- (the earlier version required flying for some corporate oper- for seven degrees of travel, and Connex service. now in Australia and some ators then hiring on with Amer- it’s smoother than using the til- The cockpit features Gulf- Asian countries). ican Airlines before returning to ler. Faciszewski explained how stream’s Honeywell Primus Among the other avion- business aviation. He has been he keeps the G550 on centerline Epic-based PlaneView flight ics options are Waas LPV, working for Gulfstream for the during landings, and this was deck, which is now flying in Honeywell’s RAAS (Runway past 10 years. Rose graduated helpful for me as I tend to keep 1,000 Gulfstream jets. Four Awareness and Advisory Sys- from Embry-Riddle’s Daytona landing slightly to the left. “I 14-inch display units fill the tem), Sirius XM Weather, the Beach, Fla. campus and flew always use the center of my instrument panel, topped by latest version of ADS-B out for a regional airline for seven body,” he explained. “Try to put the central guidance panel, and RNP SAAAR (special years before joining Gulfstream your nose on the centerline.” which is flanked by two dis- aircraft and aircrew authori- in 2006. Because of the size of the

play controllers, one for each zation required). The plan was to fly two legs, G550’s clean wing, “The 550 © 2016 AIN Publications. All Rights Reserved. For Reprints go to Flying The G550 At long last, at the controls

has tremendous ground effect,” Rose (in the jumpseat) and the before starting engines flow, I wondered why Honeywell he said. “At about 100 feet, I start me—plus 13,500 pounds of which has 30 items, and I was couldn’t have put a “back” but- to move [the yoke] back slowly. fuel. As calculated using Gulf- pleasantly surprised to see that ton on its FMS. It’s a subtle flare. Once we touch stream’s PlaneBalance app, I remembered almost every- Once ready to taxi, I called down, we have ground spoilers our takeoff weight would be thing, including the dozen or so for the clearance and was come up and that pitches the 61,845.4 pounds, well below the functional checks that are part grateful it was fairly simple: nose over. You catch the nose. 91,000-pound mtow. We would of that checklist. Faciszewski as filed to Augusta, maintain When you land, it wants to go use 10 degrees of flaps for take- has been doing this for a while, 3,000 feet, expect 11,000 ten nose down and you have to apply off, and the trim setting would obviously, and was far faster at minutes after departure. We back pressure to catch the nose be 9.0. Fuel burn for the flight the subsequent challenge-and- taxied out of the tight confines and fly the nose down. If you should be about 7,500 pounds, response that is designed to of the Gulfstream customer don’t do that, the nose comes illustrating the G550’s flexibil- catch any items missed during and design center ramp, and down pretty hard.” ity; it can easily handle short, the flow, and we had the cock- I was glad Faciszewski was at Faciszewski emphasized light-load trips as well as long pit warmed up and ready in less the controls because there isn’t that we would “exercise sound trips carrying a full load of fuel than half the time it took me a lot of room for error. www.ainonline.com judgment and airmanship. I’m (41,300 pounds) and an 1,800- and my partner in the simula- It was fun to use my copilot- looking for smooth control pound full-fuel payload. tor. This process included doing ing skills as we taxied onto Run- inputs on the ground and in the items in the airplane that can’t way 28, lined up and then I gave air and a stable approach and Ready To Fly be done in the simulator such as the standard callouts as we accel- landing.” He would demo the Rose did the exterior preflight checking all the circuit breaker erated—“airspeed alive, power first landing, at Augusta, then inspection (which is done with and electrical panels. set, 80 knots, V¹, rotate”—and I would land back at Savannah. a maintenance technician and I had asked during the brief- Faciszewski smoothly rotated; “I’m not going to introduce a dual sign-off) while Facisze- ing if I could practice input- then “gear up” and “flaps up” any abnormals or emergen- wski and I brought the G550’s ting the flight plan in the as we climbed out. We were cies,” he said. On most demo cockpit to life. I expected this FMS, and here was another cleared to a block altitude from flights I’m usually not han- to go much faster than it did experience that felt familiar, 11,000 to 13,000 feet. Facisze- dling the radios, but on the in the simulator, and indeed it as I had done it so many times wski gave me the controls and first leg of this trip I was the did. This was my first try at run- in the FlightSafety graphical I hand flew for a few minutes, pilot monitoring, and I would ning one of the more compli- flight-deck and full flight sim- comparing the feel to the simu- handle all the normal duties. cated cockpit flows in the real ulators. I did end up making lator, then flew two 180-degree There would be just three airplane; after the relatively a mistake that required I start steep turns, exactly as we did

of us on board—Faciszewski, simple APU start flow I did all over again, and once again in the simulator. Faciszewski © 2016 AIN Publications. All Rights Reserved. For Reprints go to Flying The G550 At long last, at the controls took over the controls, and we of safety awareness. Facisze- between flying the simulator and FLCH (flight level change) or programmed the FMS with wski and Rose had clearly the real airplane is when using Vnav (vertical nav). He had the Rnav 26 approach into game-planned this seat trans- the tiller. Sure, the tiller is just as me select a low rate, -100 fpm, Augusta. As we neared the ini- fer, and they did it in a way that sensitive in the simulator, but in then -200 fpm at first to get the tial approach fix, Faciszewski ensured the G550 was always, the airplane I was trying to pre- descent started smoothly, then asked for flaps 10, then, lining without question, under posi- cisely manipulate 60,000 pounds once that is established, switch to up on the inbound course and tive control while the engines of airplane, and it took a really FLCH or Vnav. Another method near the final approach fix, flaps were running. I was impressed deft touch to avoid jerking the he had me try was to use the FPA 20 and gear down. by the sharp focus on safety. cabin around. “Easy in and out (flight path angle) knob to set up The landing was smooth, with the tiller,” he explained. a descent at a steady angle to get and Faciszewski made it look My Turn I managed to give the pre- the desired speed. This results in easy, including letting the nose Now it was my turn in the cap- takeoff briefing with some a super-smooth descent without down gently. tain’s seat of the G550. I’ll confidence and then to taxi to the occasional hunting motion We taxied to the ramp and admit I was a little nervous, but Runway 26 without causing too while in FLCH mode caused by followed a well choreographed Faciszewski is an excellent men- much discomfort. I lined up on atmospheric changes, Facisze- routine that had us swap seats, tor. He did urge me to work on the runway, pushed the power wski explained. which seemed like a lot of effort my smoothness, and while taxi- levers forward, clicked on the He also had me try this in the but was done with a high degree ing I felt that the only difference autothrottles, accelerated and climb, and it works well, but it took off. I tried to make sure I is important to monitor speed Gulfstream G550 brought the nose of the G550 carefully and adjust the FPA Specifications and Performance smoothly up on rotation, and to remain at the proper speed. to the required 15 degrees. I I did use the speedbrakes on Price had gotten into a bad habit the descent, and very carefully (typically completed and equipped) $61.5 million flying the simulator, where I too. Pulling the speedbrakes out Rolls-Royce BR710 C4-11, each Engines (2) wouldn’t bring the nose all the or retracting them too quickly 15,385 lbs way up because I was expecting could cause a sharp bump that Gulfstream PlaneView an engine to fail; if the nose is might hurt a passenger, Facisze- Avionics (Honeywell Primus Epic) too high, it’s easy to let the nose wski said. Passengers 2 pilots + up to 19 pax drift off course if you let the big During my leg, he pointed jet slow down too much. out that I was a little rough with Range We stopped briefly at FL230 the G550’s switches and that I (with NBAA reserves, 200-nm alternate) 6,750 nm at Mach 0.80 then continued the climb to could use a little more finesse FL390 for a minute then climbed when pushing a switch. I had High-speed cruise Mach 0.85 to FL470 and leveled off. The gotten used to punching the Long-range cruise speed Mach 0.80 entire climb took about 21 min- switches in the graphical flight- Fuel capacity 41,300 lbs utes, and we had enough energy deck simulator, which isn’t a Max payload w/full fuel 1,800 lbs left to have climbed straight to good habit, and I was grateful FL490, Faciszewski said. for the critique. Ceiling (certified) 51,000 ft Our flight plan took us south- As we got ready to start the Cabin altitude at ceiling 6,000 ft east toward Gainesville, and we Rnav 28 approach, I got caught www.ainonline.com Max takeoff weight 91,000 lbs just cruised along at Mach 0.84. up in the rapidly accelerat- Faciszewski said this is what fly- ing demands of managing the Balanced field length at mtow ing the G550 is mostly like, and I autopilot and following ATC (sea level, standard) 5,910 ft finally relaxed a bit and enjoyed instructions. I delayed select- Landing distance 2,770 ft the feeling of blazing through ing the Lnav (lateral navigation) Length 96.4 ft the skies in an amazing air- switch when we were cleared for Wingspan 93.5 ft plane, something there is little or the approach and almost flew no time to do during simulator through the inbound course Height 25.8 ft training or a typical flight demo. because I was futzing with the Volume : 1,669 cu ft Soon enough it was time to vertical mode. Faciszewski sug- Width : 7.3 ft plan the descent back to Savan- gested concentrating on the Cabin nah, where we would fly the Rnav most important element first. Height: 6.2 ft approach to Runway 28, some- Vref at our weight was just Length (seating area): 43.9 ft thing I had done before in the 113 kias, and looking through Baggage capacity 170 cu ft/2,500 lbs simulator. Faciszewski showed the HUD combiner, with the me a neat trick for smooth flying G550 stabilized with gear down FAA certification (basis, date) FAR Part 25, 08/14/03 in the Gulfstream: start a descent and full flaps, I clicked off the Number built (through date) 530 (6/23/16) using vertical speed instead of autopilot and made sure the trim © 2016 AIN Publications. All Rights Reserved. For Reprints go to Flying The G550 At long last, at the controls

was set while the autothrottles was the end of a journey that lettering on a knob or switch the tiller while taxiing. I was try- worked their magic and kept us had begun in February when before selecting it. ing to be super careful not to right on speed. I learned that I was going to I did make some mistakes move the tiller too abruptly, and The landing felt pretty good, G550 school. while I was flying the G550, and apparently my wrist tapped the and I didn’t flare too much or During the post-flight brief- I think that more experience audio panel and switched off the too early. It really was a lot ing we discussed the flight would cure those quickly. Dur- audio for my headset. The G550 like the simulator, but also so and what I could do better ing the takeoff from Augusta, I cockpit is quiet enough that I much more, with the sights and next time. “Overall, what you made a rookie error, not mov- could hear everything Facisze- sounds and feel of the G550 need is reps [repetitions],” said ing my right hand to the yoke wski was saying, but it took me obeying my commands and fly- Faciszewski, including more when Faciszewski called “V¹” a few minutes to figure out the ing just as I had expected. time manipulating the guid- but he fixed that fast by mov- problem. This never happened We switched seats again, and ance panel, programming the ing my hand for me. in the simulator. I wasn’t using Rose taxied us back into the FMS, using cockpit flows Another problem occurred as good CRM practices, though, design center ramp, and that and making sure to read the a result of the way I was holding as I didn’t mention it to Facisze- wski right away, and this is one of those two-pilot crew skills that I need to work on. I also need to work on my thrust reverser deployment skills, not that we really needed them to slow down after the landing at Savannah. The G550 is a fantastic per- former with excellent handling and not at all hard to fly after proper training. My intro- duction to the G550 through training with the talented FlightSafety instructors and flying with two ultra-profes- MARK WAGNER sional Gulfstream pilots was an During his flight in the G550 Thurber had the chance to put into practice all that he had learned at FlightSafety, starting with awesome way to learn about a inputting the flight plan into the FMS. new airplane. o www.ainonline.com © 2016 AIN Publications. All Rights Reserved. For Reprints go to