aviation - the past, present and future of flight

FAA, which acquired its first example in June

1959. Grumman was selected by NASA
      to construct lunar modules for America’s
      space programme and the company fitted a
      Gulfstream with a cargo door and used it to
      transport some of the assemblies.
      The US Navy and the US Marine Corps
      utilised a total of nine examples under the
      designation TC-4C Academe for training
      bombardiers and navigators destined for
      the Grumman A-6 Intruder aircraft. This
      variant first flew in 1967 and was fitted with
      an Intruder nose radome in place of the
      aircraft’s normal nose profile.
      A single Gulfstream was acquired by the
      US Coast Guard for operation as a VC-4A
      VIP transport.
      When production of turboprop-powered
      Gulfstreams ceased in February 1969,
      exactly 200 examples had been built.
      The last production aircraft was delivered
      as N750G to the New York-based IT &
      T Corporation in June of that year, but
      the airframe was still judged capable of
      development.

STRETCHED VARIANT

In 1978, the Gulfstream American (later to

become Gulfstream Aerospace) Corporation

acquired the rights to the Gulfstream I

design from Grumman and set about

producing a longer version for the commuter

airline industry.

The existing airframe was modified

to incorporate a 128in (325cm) fuselage

stretch, to carry up to 38 passengers plus

baggage.

The Rolls-Royce Dart powerplants were

retained, and the modified aircraft was

initially designated as the G-159 Gulfstream

1-C, later amended to the G-159C

Gulfstream. It was also briefly called the

Commuter for marketing purposes.

The first converted aircraft flew in this

form for the first time on October 25, 1979,

and certification followed a year later.

The G-159C offered potential operators

a maximum cruise speed of 345mph

(555km/h) at 30,000ft, and a range with

maximum payload of 500 miles (805km),

but it did not attract much interest. Just five

conversions were carried out, the modified

aircraft being delivered from November

1980 onwards to US commuter carriers

such as Air North and Chaparall Airlines,

whose examples flew in American Eagle

livery under a franchise agreement with

American Airlines.

In September 1982, General Electric

adapted one of its corporate Gulfstream

Is for a programme of 23 test flights of its

CT7 turboprop engine, being developed

then to power the CASA Nurtano and Saab

340 transport aircraft. One of the General

Electric powerplants, coupled with a Dowty

all-composite, four-bladed propeller, was

mounted on the left wing in place of the

usual Rolls-Royce Dart, and 39 flight hours

were logged in this configuration.

In the UK, Gulfstream Is were used as

corporate aircraft by both the Ford Motor

Company and Shell Aircraft, and pre-owned

examples found a new role with several

British airlines in the latter half of the 1980s.

Aberdeen-based Peregrine Air Services

acquired two from the USA, originally

for oil-related charter work and later on

domestic flights on behalf of British Airways.

The failure of the Scottish city’s Air Ecosse

in 1987 opened up an opportunity for the

airline to take over scheduled routes from

Aberdeen to Edinburgh, East Midlands and

Manchester, and to operate Gulfstream Is

on them as Aberdeen Airways. The airline

http://www.aviation-news.co.uk 81

A typical corporate Gulfstream I: C-FHBO served with Petro-Canada from the beginning of

1985. AirTeamImages.com/HAMFive

One of two Gulfstream Is operated by the Venezuelan carrier Aero PAR. Key Collection

Gulfstream I, G-BRWN, was one of two examples operated by Aberdeen Airways on UK

domestic routes. AirTeamImages.com/Keith Blincow (ATI)

Birmingham Executive Airways operated Gulfstream I, G-BNKO, on scheduled services out of

England’s ‘second city’ in the mid-1980s. AirTeamImages.com/Carl Ford

78-82_gulfstreamDC.mfDC.mfDCDC.indd 81 02/03/2018 18:10