COVER STORY
26 | Flight International | 22-28 May 2018 flightglobal.com
this mechanisation a good digital substitute
for legacy, guarded switches.SIDESTICK HIGHLIGHTS
Prior to taxi, I familiarised myself with the
sidestick. Both Gulfstream and Embraer
sourced their active sidesticks from BAE, and
I had been fortunate to sample Embraer’s dur-
ing an earlier KC-390 flight (Flight Interna-
tional, 14-20 November 2017). Unlike Em-
braer’s sidestick installation, where the pitch
axis parallels the aircraft longitudinal axis,
Gulfstream’s rotates the pitch axis outboard
by about 3° to more closely reflect actual arm
movement.
While stick forces in the KC-390 were sym-unit was started, its generator automati-
cally came online. Claffy next pointed out
that the bottom row of overhead panel
switches support initial power-up/engine
start. This was done, he says, to create a sim-
ple left-to-right flow for the pilots. A simple
push of the APU bleed pushbutton was the
final step needed to prepare for engine start.
Once cleared for engine start I placed the
right engine’s quadrant-mounted fuel control
lever to the run position. That single switch
action also turned on the rotating beacons as
well as starting the respective fuel boost
pump. A push to the overhead panel-mount-
ed engine button allowed the FADEC to start
the engine, which reached idle in less than
30sec. Start of the left engine mirrored the
right with no pilot action required. With both
engines running, the APU bleed was turned
off to complete the start sequence. One design
goal was that a cold/power-off G500 could be
ready for taxi in less than 10min; the over-
head panel layout certainly helps.
While the G500 was still in the chocks,
Claffy showed me some of the unique features
of the Symmetry flightdeck. The touchscreen
control interface is a pressure-based one with
no audible feedback. Pushing a virtual switch
causes it to “bloom”, indicating it has been
selected. Lifting off the glass completes the
switch action. If your finger moves off the tar-
get switch before lifting from the glass, the
switch action is not executed.
One thing I did notice about the flightdeck
was that it was almost devoid of “guarded”
switches. Guarded virtual switch functions
on the touch-screens are indicated by a box
around their label. Traditional guarded
switch action is replicated on the overhead
panel touchscreen via a two-step process.
First, the switch is pressed and released.
Then, a second dialogue box appears asking
to confirm the switch action. Overall, I found
❯❯
metrical in both pitch and roll, Gulfstream
has opted to tailor them to mimic real-world
exertion requirements. During my initial full-
range control sweep I told Claffy that control
forces seemed excessive, but he recommend-
ed we reserve judgement until airborne.
With the G500 still in the chocks, Claffy
demonstrated the interconnection feature of
the sidesticks. He had me displace my stick,
with him putting a minor input in the oppo-
site and then same directions. I could feel
even the most minor of his inputs, making an
“audible dual input” warning redundant.
During our taxi to runway 28 for take-off, I
had a chance to evaluate Honeywell’s Smart-
View synthetic vision system. It combines
synthetic vision and moving maps to enhance
situational awareness. Moving maps can be
presented in a typical 2D or a newer 3D for-
mat. While on the ground and at speeds
below 60kt (111km/h), the 3D presentation
can be viewed from either an egocentric (out
of the windscreen) or exocentric (above and
behind the aircraft) perspective. At faster
speeds and while airborne, only the egocen-
tric view is available. During the taxi, I found
airport signage displayed by the synthetic vi-
sion system helped maintain positional
awareness on what was for me an unfamiliar
airfield.PATH-BASED GUIDANCE
Once on runway 28 and cleared for take-off, I
advanced the thrust levers and engaged the
auto-throttle. For our 20° flaps configuration,
computed V speeds (V1/VR/V2) were
115/120/136kt. As this was my first time inEvaluation flight was made from Savannah
using the first production aircraft, N505GDGulfstream G500 versus competitors
G500 Bombardier Global 5000 Dassault Falcon 6X*
Take-off distance 1,646m 1,689m 1,670m
Basic operating weight 21,251kg 23,070kg 18,543kg
Range (M0.85, 8 pax/3 crew) 5,205nm 5,205nm 5,505nm**
Cabin cross section (H x W x L) 1.88 x 2.31 x 12.65m 1.88 x 2.41 x 12.41m 1.98 x 2.58 x 12.3m
Passengers Up to 19 Up to 16*** Up to 19
Landing distance (SL, ISA, MLW) 945m 814m 942m
Initial cruise (ISA+10°C) 41,000ft 41,000ft 40,000ft
High-speed cruise M0.90 M0.88 M0.88
Maximum operating speed M0.925 M0.89 M0.90
Maximum operating altitude 51,000ft 51,000ft 51,000ft
Thrust-to-weight ratio 0.381 0.319 0.336-0.361
Wing loading (kg/m^2 ) 409.1 442.6 485.5
@ maximum take-off weight
Source: Manufacturers *projected **M0.80 ***19 with custom floorplanGulfstream cabins compared
G450/550 G500 G650
Height 1.83m 1.88m 1.91m
Length 12.29/13.39m 12.65m 14.27m
Width 2.13m 2.31m 2.49m
Source: GulfstreamGulfstream