A descendant of IAI’s famed Astra family of mid-sized private jets, the Gulfstream G150 was Gulfstream’s first improvement on the Astra family that has since led to its more famous G200 and G280 jets, both of which have dwarfed the G150 in terms of sales!
The single most successful variant of the Astra/G100/G150 family, the G150 sold 120 times. By comparison, the other four variants of the Astra/G100 family sold a combined 145 times – only 25 less than the G150…
Pre-Gulfstream G150
In the late 1950’s, Oklahoma-based aircraft manufacturer Aero Commander developed the jet-powered Model 1121 Jet Commander from their incredibly successful prop-powered Aero Commander 500 series.
First flown on January 27 1963, the Jet Commander was introduced in 1965, making it one of the first modern business jets. Being one of the first business jets, the Jet Commander sold quite well, selling over 300 units in a matter of years.
However, when Aero Commander was acquired by North American Rockwell, a problem emerged.
You see, North American Rockwell already produced the immensely successful Sabreliner private jet, which it didn’t really want to get rid of. However, Aero Commander produced the Jet Commander, also a jet-powered private jet.
Under anti-trust laws, North American Rockwell couldn’t produce both aircraft, so was forced to sell the Jet Commander to Israeli Aircraft Industries (IAI) in 1968. IAI improved the Jet Commander and began calling it the Westwind.
Though it had been popular during the 1960’s and 1970’s, the introduction of newer private jets in the early 1980’s, that were cheaper to operate, began to sway customers away from the Jet Commander/Westwind family.
Unwilling to give up, IAI developed the Westwind into the Astra and unveiled it in 1987, where the jet was built by IAI’s US subsidiary, Galaxy Aerospace.
Proving successful, IAI developed several new variants of the Astra to better compete with other mid-sized jets of the time, quickly turning Galaxy Aerospace into a fairly large aircraft manufacturer (with it being the legal owner of the Astra’s type certificate).
In May 2001, Gulfstream acquired Galaxy Aerospace for $330 million, and with it, acquired the type certificate for the Astra. Though a successful aircraft, sales for the nearly 20-year-old Astra were beginning to slump.
Development
Now the new owners of the Astra family, Gulfstream set about improving the Astra considerably to make it popular with operators once again…
Operational History
Corporate Jet
Private Jet
Fractional Ownership
Charter
Features
Price
Before Gulfstream ceased production of the G150 in 2017, a brand new G150 straight from the factory would’ve set you back around $16 million – a relatively low figure for a private jet.
Since production of the jet ceased, however, the only way to acquire a G150 would be on the secondary market. Thankfully, there are at least a few G150s up for sale at any one point.
On the “cheaper” end, an older G150 from between 2005 and 2008, with a total time on the engines/fuselage that reflect this, you’d be looking at paying as low as $3.25 million, and as high as $3.75 million depending on age, condition and number of hours.
For an average-age Gulfstream G150 (built between 2009 and 2012) with an average time on the engines (roughly 2,000 to 2,500 hours), you’d be looking at paying roughly $4.2 to $4.75 million depending on the specifics.
On the “higher” end, a relatively new G150 – one built between 2013 and 2017 – with a relatively low number of hours, will likely set you back anything north of $6 million, up to around $10 million for a 2017 model with almost no hours.
Yet acquisition costs are only a small part of the total costs of operating the G150, the real killer comes in terms of operating costs (which often bankrupt wannabe-operators long before they get to truly enjoy their new toy!)
As for the Gulfstream G150, assuming you were to fly it for 450 hours per year, you’d be looking at paying roughly $2,395 per hour to operate the G150, including the cost of fuel, wages, airport fees and the like.
Specifications
| Specifications | Gulfstream G150 |
|---|---|
| Length | 56 ft 9 in (17.3 m) |
| Wingspan | 55 ft 7 in (16.94 m) |
| Height | 19 ft 1 in (5.82 m) |
| Crew | 2 |
| Passengers | 7 |
| Cruise Speed | 850 km/h (528mph; 459 kn) |
| Range | 5,112 km (3,176 mi; 2,760 nmi) |
| Service Ceiling | 45,000Â ft (14,000Â m) |
| MTOW | 26,100 lb (11,838 kg) |
How Safe is The Gulfstream G150?
Flying, though the safety way to travel by far, is not without its problems. Even though all new aircraft are stress-tested within an inch of their lives to ensure there are no defects, the sad fact of the matter is that crashes do happen, even if they are rare.
Yet if we were flying commercial, say on a Boeing 747, we can easily find how safe it is.
A quick search on Google reveals hundreds of thousands of results, telling you that of the 1,565 747s ever built, 4% of them (63) have been involved in a fatal, aviation-related incident of some sort, resulting in 3,746 fatalities.
For private jets like the G150, on the other hand, it’s not so easy – mainly because there isn’t that much published on private jet safety stats. However, there are at least some stats published about the safety of private jets, including the G150…
Of the 120 G150s Gulfstream built, five have been involved in an aviation-related incident of some sort, making it as safe as the 747 at least statistically speaking.
But you could also make the argument the Gulfstream G150 is safer.
For the 747, 4% of those made have been involved in an a fatal crash of some kind. On the other hand, only 4% of the G150s ever made have been involved in a crash – and only one of those five crashes was fatal, and even then, it was only one person.
Though this is still one person too many, this makes the G150 incredibly safe by modern standards.
In regards to the death, it occurred in January 2018 and was caused by a build up in pressure inside the cabin which later led the G150’s door to fly off and hit the captain, with its immense weight crushing him to death in the process.
Accident investigators later found that it was caused by a pressurization outflow valve not being fully open and the door being closed, thus preventing the pressure from equalizing, eventually leading to the explosion.
As for the other four incidents, these were caused by factors that cause most crashes – pilot error, poor maintenance, adverse weather conditions – rather than anything to do with the G150 itself.
What’s it Like to Fly on The Gulfstream G150?
What do you think of the Gulfstream G150? Have you ever flown on it? Tell me in the comments!
Featured image courtesy of Markus Eigenheer via Flickr.