Round-up 9/1

As expected, very quiet over the holidays so 2 weeks between my reports. G280 N137GA (2137) was ferried Tel Aviv to Stansted on the 1st. Gulfstream Savannah had to close for a couple of days as heavy snow hit the area. See AIN report Changes to the G1 fleet are few and far between as it's believed there are no more than 10 still in service. N164PA (054) has N170PA reserved on the US register suggesting there may still be some life in this one. Very sad to see reports of a G150 (OE-GKA 300) captain being killed when he went to open the door of his aircraft in Kittilä, Finland.
See ASN.  Reports are suggesting aircraft was pressurised but am sure the full details will be revealed eventually. The current G650 demonstrator (N650GA 6275) has N675GS reserved which was it's original test reg. As it's their only demo machine, it's understood that it will be leased back to Gulfstream for about 2 months pending the arrival of N650ER (6306). The last N650GD (6252) went to Canada in November but was seen just prior to that at Farnborough by Westleigh Bushell.



Round-up 15/8

G650 N312ZW (6256) delivered Savannah-Prague on the 9th. Continued on to Changsha in China the following day. G280 greenie N226GA (2126) arrived at Stansted on the 10th from Tel Aviv. Continued on to Halifax the following day en route to Dallas. Yesterday (14th) was the 59th anniversary of the first flight of the Gulfstream 1 in 1958. The plane that started it all.

The Gulfstream photo site passed a milestone recently with more than 4000 pictures now on show.

End of an era at Palm Beach

The regular sight of a G-159 Gulfstream turboprop landing at Palm Beach in Florida is now no more.

Phoenix Air, who operate the aircraft, have lost the contract and flights ceased at the end of July. Trackers show that N164PA (seen above and my last shot of her) positioned to Cartersville on the 31st. The G1C N195PA which returned to service at the end of April positioned there the following day.

PBI G1 update

Further to my post at about this time last year, things have changed with the G1s at Palm Beach. The G1C N195PA was thought to be ending it's days due to corrosion but close inspection reveals it may be back in the air after a major overhaul, The reserve G1 N196PA is away on an 18 month inspection so the gap is being filled by G1 N164PA (054). These details via Scott Morris.

N164PA arriving at PBI on 4th February



Gee One visit

Have recently returned from Florida and had the pleasure of meeting Scott Morris (G1 captain and author of  www.g159hrm.com) and visiting both the G1s based at Palm Beach. They operate 2 rotations most days for AUTEC (Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Centre) using a Greybird callsign. The G1C (N195PA con 088) is usually used as the stretched version carries more passengers. G1 N196PA (con 139) is the reserve aircraft. Only 15 G1s remain active out of 200 originally built.

Pics 1 and 2 are N195PA, pics 3 and 4 are N196PA. Pic 5 shows Scott proudly at the door of 195 while the final shot shows 195 arriving several days later.