At The Cutting Edge: Gulftstream Aerospace Corporation Continued from page 35 ABJ The G500 and G600 are innovative, clean-sheet air- craft. Do they leverage any of the innovations intro- duced on previous Gulfstream aircraft? MB As I mentioned earlier, Gulfstream has a 60-year heri- tage of business aircraft innovation. It’s our sole focus. So, yes, while the Gulfstream G500 and G600 are clean-sheet aircraft, they share the Gulfstream design DNA. You’ll see some of the innovative technology that originated on the G650 and flagship G650ER incorporated on the Gulfstream G500 and G600. This includes the Gulfstream-designed Cabin Management System, which allows passengers to use personal electronic devices to control high-definition audio and video components as well as lighting, temperature, window shades, and other cabin functions. Gulfstream’s advanced technology for these most recent aircraft can also be traced back to our parent company, General Dynamics. Their investment in the G500 and G600 laboratories were the most significant in our history. These labs were built from the ground up specifically to support these programs. For the first time, we could take production speci- fications and put them into the labs and test them before building the first aircraft. By the time the first G500 flew in May 2015, it was a relatively mature aircraft. The flying qualities had been tuned in the Conceptual Advanced Simulation Environment, better known as the CASE lab. The avionics had been refined in the Integration Test Facility, the mechanical systems had been evaluated on the Iron Bird and another of the aircraft’s industry-first features, the new Data Concentration Network, had been tested for several years on the Systems Integration Bench. These labs are a major part of our Research and Development Center campus, home to more than 1,500 engineers and designers. The campus was established in March 2006 with a single office building and over time has grown to include three office buildings, a dedicated lab facility, and a combination lab and office building used for the G500/G600 programs. Our commitment to innovation is part of our continu- ous improvement culture at Gulfstream. The best never rest, so we’re always exploring how we can enhance 36 the products, services, and innovations we offer to our customers. That spirit of innovation and quest to always improve have earned Gulfstream recognition throughout the industry. We’re the only original equipment manu- facturer to have earned three Robert J. Collier trophies from the National Aeronautic Association. We earned these trophies, which recognize the greatest achieve- ments in aeronautics and astronautics in America, through advancements in performance, efficiency, and safety. We won the award in 2014 for the design and development of the G650 business-jet family, which strengthened business aviation through significant tech- nological advancements in aircraft performance, cabin comfort and safety. The G550 design team earned the 2003 trophy for the technological and safety innovations on the G550, the world’s first ultra-long-range aircraft. And the GV team was honored with the trophy in 1997 for the successful application of advanced design and efficient manufacturing techniques on the Gulfstream V. More recently, Gulfstream received the 2019 Business Intelligence Group (BIG) Innovation Award for the advanced technology introduced on the Gulfstream G500. The Business Intelligence Group seeks out and rewards companies with vision, cre- ativity, and persistence, all hallmarks found in the world’s leading companies and individuals. The G500 earned the award for its influence on worldwide travel thanks to the safety enhancements we introduced with the Symmetry Flight Deck. In addition to the BIG Innovation Award, the G500 received Aviation Week’s 2017 Technology Laureate Award for the active control sidesticks and Flying’s 2019 Editors’ Choice award. The Gulfstream-designed seats on the G500 and its sister ship, the G600, earned a 2018 International Yacht & Aviation Award. These awards are wonderful and very much appreci- ated, but the true test of our technology is our cus- tomers’ response to it, because our customers are the singular focus of our efforts. Since the first Gulfstream I was delivered in 1958, we have established a tradi- tion of delivering on our promises – doing what we say we’ll do. Our goal in that is to exceed customer expec- tations. Those were the foundational elements of our business and are part and parcel of how we operate. Aviation Business Journal | Spring 2019
