Unveiled in 2014 alongside the G600 it was developed in tandem with, the Gulfstream G500 entered service in September 2018 and has since been on the minds of seemingly everyone in the aviation community!
Background
In 1967, the company that would eventually become Gulfstream Aerospace (then just a division of Grumman) released their first business jet, the Grumman Gulfstream II, as a successor to their turboprop-powered Grumman Gulfstream I.
Against all expectations, the long-range G-II was a massive hit with large corporations as it could easily fly transatlantic routes and Gulfstream was inundated with orders. It was even the private jet of choice for a US Vice President (Nelson Rockefeller)!
Having proved successful, Gulfstream acted on the feedback it had received from the G-II’s corporate operators, and began developing what they called the Gulfstream III – a slightly longer derivative of the G-II – to act as its successor.
Once again, the GIII was successful and prompted Gulfstream to develop yet another jet, known as the Gulfstream IV. Once again, it was just a longer derivative of its predecessor (albeit with all-new engines and updated interior, which its predecessor didn’t get).
Still, the GIV was popular, and even went on to sell over 900 times, making it Gulfstream’s most popular jet to date.
Just as they’d done before, when it came to developing the GIV’s successor, all Gulfstream engineers did was lengthen the fuselage, re-engineer it to have more fuel-efficient engines and update the interior. This jet became the Gulfstream V.
Once again, the GV was quite popular with both corporate and military operators and when it came to developing a successor, all Gulfstream engineers had to do was lengthen the fuselage by a few feet, give it new engines and an all-new interior.
What resulted was the Gulfstream G550. Unsurprisingly, this too was quite popular and was in production from 2001 up until very recently, when the last rolled off the assembly line in late June 2021.
As you can imagine, just lengthening the fuselage of an aircraft designed over half a century ago and giving it new engines was no longer possible. The fuselage literally couldn’t take being lengthened any more.
Seeing this, Gulfstream had no other option than to design a G550 successor completely from scratch. This led to the ever-popular (and ever-expanding) G650 family.
Not long after the G650’s introduction, however, potential operators began to demand a slightly smaller jet with less range and better amenities that was specifically designed for that role – not just a shorter G650, nor a longer G280.
Development
Operational History
Corporate Jet
Nike, BMW, Rooney Holdings, Eli Lilly & Co, Enterprise Holdings
Private Jet
Charter
Fractional Ownership
Price
As one of the newest private jets on the market, as well as one of the largest and most luxurious, the Gulfstream G500 is certainly not cheap. In fact, it currently has a base price of $46.5 million; not exactly chump change.
Yet despite how new it is to the market, acquiring the G500 brand new is not your only option. Though incredibly rare (mostly due to how new it is), you can occasionally find a used G500 for sale on the secondary market.
Owing to how rare seeing one of these is, and often how new it is, used G500s can go for literally anything…
As of the time of writing, there is only one G500 currently for sale on the secondary market: a 2018 model with a little over 700 total hours, with a price tag of a cool $37.5 million.
Past sales, however, have seen one year old G500s with a few hundred total hours actually go for more than their factory price, usually because they’re virtually brand new (often only having delivery/test hours on them) and there’s not a several year long wait to get it! Crazy.
However, acquisition costs are only one half the equation of aircraft ownership. The other half is operating costs.
Assuming you were to fly 450 hours per year, you’d be looking to pay roughly $3,973 per hour to operate the Gulfstream G500, including fuel costs, insurance, airport fees, pilot wages, maintenance etc.
Features
Variants
G400
G600
Specifications
| Specifications | Gulfstream G500 |
|---|---|
| Length | 91Â ft 2 in (27.78 m) |
| Wingspan | 87Â ft 1 in (26.55 m) |
| Height | 25Â ft 6 in (7.78 m) |
| Crew | 2 |
| Passengers | 13 – 19 (depending on layout) |
| Cruise Speed | Mach 0.85 (903 km/h; 561 mph; 488 kn) |
| Range | 9,630Â km (5,984 mi; 5,200Â nmi) |
| Service Ceiling | 51,000Â ft (15,545 m)Â |
| MTOW | 79,600Â lb (36,106Â kg) |
How Safe is The Gulfstream G500?
Even though every care is taken to ensure that flying is as safe as possible, flying always involves an element of risk: whenever we fly, there is a possibility we may crash.
Sadly, flying on your own private jet, say a Gulfstream G500, doesn’t remove you from this risk (though flying private is every bit as safe as flying commercial, if not more so). So this begs the question: How safe is the Gulfstream G500?
During development of the G500, Gulfstream engineers made every effort to ensure that the new jet would be Gulfstream’s safest yet. This was even included in some of the marketing material for the jet!
And whilst it’s too early to say whether or not that statement is fact or fiction – the G500 has only been in service for a few years, so it’s likely that any issues won’t be discovered for a few more years – most air safety experts agree that this is going to be fact, not fiction.
What’s it Like to Fly on The Gulfstream G500?
What do you think about the Gulfstream G500? Have you ever flown on it? Tell me in the comments!
Featured image courtesy of Charly W. Karl via Flickr.