It was a nice surprise. Beside the G200, the G400 and the G500, Gulfstream brouth a G550 fresh from the production line to Geneva. The special thing about it. It was as new as it could be. An exclusive photographic report by Michael Meier.

The ultra-long-range Gulfstream G550, which originally was announced as the Gulfstream G-V SP, is the most technically advanced aircraft of the Gulfstream fleet and can fly up to 51,000 feet at speeds up to Mach.885. Powered by two Rolls-Royce BR710 engines, the G550 can fly eight passengers and four crew members 6,750 nautical miles – the longest range available in a business jet. The G550 offers a choice of cabin layouts and wellplanned option packages. Dependent upon the configuration, the G550 can accommodate 14 to 18 passengers. To date, only 12 G550s were rolling out of the factory in Savannah, Georgia.

The jet has a lot of improvements in comparision with the G500. Most of the changes were made in areas which cannot be seen from a passenger's perspective. The engineers have spent much time in improving some hidden details.

The aircraft is now much easier to maintain. The access to certain key-parts is now much better. For example some technical devices which were stored behind the cockpit have now been redesigned and relocated into the belly. Therefore, the main door is now sitting just behind the flightdeck.That gives passengers much more space. As an other advantage, the water tanks have been reworked. That resulted in a massive increase of room in the luggage department.

The G550 does also feature the new "PlaneView" cockpit with the most advanced avionics suite in the industry. Each pilot has two huge monitors where he can access all the relevant information. From navigational data to fuel consumation or engine details. Gulfstream has taken huge efforts to develop this system which is based on Honeywell-technology. Experts say that this flightdeck is years ahead of the competition. And it looks great, almost like flight simulator. Just real.

As mentioned, the plane came straight from the production line, with just 18 flying hours recorded so far. Before the ferry flight to Geneva, the plane was in the air for only about 10 hours. After the exhibition, the G550 headed back to the Gulfstream headquarter in Savannah, where the interior will be installed prior to the delivery to the customer.

The plane was a very interesting sight. All the details were visible, as there were no panels mounted in the cabin yet. Furthermore, the plane was not painted at all, what gives us a great view to all the small parts. So join us now on an exclusive photographic tour on the G550.

Michael Meier