36 | Flight International | 10-16 November 2015 flightglobal.com
❯❯ traditional switches, and a “tidied up”
overhead console, says Cuson. A touchscreen
menu system is being developed with the tar-
get of making 90% of the functions a pilot
needs available under five tabs, representing
different phases of a flight: start-up, taxi, take-
off, en-route and arrival. An Enhanced Vision
System heightens pilot awareness in low vis-
ibility and is standard on the G500 and G600.
An improved infrared sensor boosts resolu-
tion by 400%, and camera enhancements pro-
vide a wider field of view, says Gulfstream.
Despite the radical differences, however,
those familiar with the manufacturer’s prod-
ucts will feel at home, argues Cuson. “We
have taken many current Gulfstream pilots
into the simulator and within minutes they
feel comfortable with the new technology,” he
says. “Much of the design, look and feel is
similar to existing products. They are not star-
tled.” Gulfstream customers are used to
change, adds Neal: “We have always been in-
novators on the flight deck. We were the first
with a glass cockpit, the first with a head-up
display, the first with synthetic vision. Now
we are the first with active control sidesticks
in a business jet, and the first touchscreens in
a large cabin aircraft.”
CUSTOMER INSIGHT
Customer feedback – not just from pilots – has
been crucial to the design of the overall aircraft,
says Gulfstream. Select customers comprising
what the manufacturer calls its 35-strong Ad-
vanced Technology Customer Advisory Team
were briefed twice a year on progress, under
non-disclosure agreements. These pilots, flight
attendants and representatives of flight opera-
tions and maintenance departments suggested
numerous tweaks. “As a result, over 200 design
changes were made,” says Cuson. “They truly
have put input into what the final product
looks like. The fingerprints of our customers are
all over these aircraft.”
This was particularly true when it came to
the cabin. Gulfstream has invested in a G600
cabin mock up – the G600’s 13.8m-long cabin,
not including baggage area, is 9.1cm longer
than the G500 but identical in almost every
other way. “We invited people into it at NBAA
[in October] last year and we followed them
around with an iPad noting what they said,”
says Cuson. “We will have the mock-up again
at NBAA and you will be able to see what
changes we made as a result. They wanted as
“Customers have put input
into the final product. Their
fingerprints are all over them”
MIKE CUSON
Director entry into service G500 and G600, Gulfstream
much space as possible, they wanted the latch
design changes so opening cabinets was quiet-
er, deeper cup holders, a wider ledge, more
storage for iPads and different lighting.”
The G500, which can carry 19 passengers,
has 68.5cm-wide seats with articulating foot-
rest and the same porthole-style windows as
the G650 – 15% larger than those on the
G550/450. There are height adjustable, pedes-
tal-mounted conference tables, and Gulfstream
says the G500 is the only aircraft in its class
with the option of forward or aft galley. Al-
though cabins are fairly customisable, custom-ers have no choice over where their interior is
installed. All Gulfstream completions are car-
ried out in-house, either in Savannah or at its
newly expanded Long Beach facility. “The rea-
son is that you don’t want it to be a Gulfstream
with someone else’s interior,” says Neal.
Structurally, the G500 and G600 wing will
be based on the G650’s, although for the first
time Gulfsteam has brought the wing and tail
design and assembly in-house. There had
been concerns with the supply chain’s ability
to deliver wings on time on previous pro-
grammes – Spirit AeroSystems for one run-The G500 will have the same size windows as the G650Customers were heavily involved in the cabin design
Gulfstream