Random Gulfstream photo #36

Classic Gulfstreams at Luton are few and far between these days. It was therefore nice to hear that G3 N818EC (399) arrived this morning from Venice. I believe that the last G3 to visit here was back in March 2017. Today's arrival was caught by Dave Lythgoe.

It departed to Milan on the Friday and my shot can be seen at the usual Flickr link.

Canadian Gulfstreams - Part 3

By 1975, Gulfstream II owners were expressing an interest in an aircraft that could fly farther and faster. In April 1978, Grumman American introduced the G-1159A Gulfstream III. It had a two-foot longer cabin, new wings with winglets and a more streamlined nose and cockpit section. Despite having the same Rolls-Royce Spey engines as the GII, the GIII had a 27% greater range (3,650NM vs 2,860NM) and a slightly higher cruise speed (M.77 vs M.75).

On August 31, 1978, Grumman Aerospace sold Grumman American to American Jet Industries. AJI changed its name to Gulfstream American and expressed its confidence in the new Gulfstream III. When the prototype was unveiled at Savannah on September 21, 1979, there were 52 orders in hand. The first GIII took flight on December 2, 1979. By the end of that month, the final (256th) GII departed the factory. The GIII received its FAA certification on September 22, 1980 and the first customer delivery (c/n 301, N100P) was made on April 15, 1981.

While the GII had dominated the upper end of the bizjet market for 13 years, a new entrant was aiming to take a share of that prestigious niche. The Canadair CL-600-1A11 Challenger 600 had a wider cabin and engines that were both quieter and less thirsty than the Speys. Gulfstream II owners (including American Financial, Bristol-Myers, Chrysler, Citibank, W.R. Grace, Northrop, Texaco, Time and Xerox) purchased Canadian-built Challengers.

The new competitor had an even greater impact in its home market. The first two Canadian GIII customers had both operated GIIs. Denison Mines of Toronto received c/n 307 (C-GSBR) in August 1981 and Kaiser Resources of Vancouver took delivery of c/n 317 (C-GKRL) a month later. These would be the only two new GIIIs purchased by Canadian companies.

During 1987, there was only one Canadian GIII operating. At the same time, there were seven Canadian corporate Challenger 600/601s in service.

Kaiser's airplane had a short stay, as it was exported to the U.S. in July 1982. Denison's GIII was later operated by Olympia & York Developments as C-GSBR from July 1989 until July 1992. It then became C-GGPM with Peter Munk's American Barrick Resources and remained in Canada until May 2002. Only two other GIIIs wore a Canadian registration. Execaire of Montreal operated c/n 310 as C-FYAG for just over seven months during 1990 and c/n 368 was later operated out of Toronto by Chartright Air as C-GBBB from 1999 until 2012. Of the 202 Gulfstream IIIs built, only four were owned by Canadians.

C-GSBR at Castle Donington in 1987 by Steve Blood

C-GBBB at Luton in 2006 by Bob Holland

Gulfstream In Uniform : Part III

Gulfstream III

When Gulfstream announced the Gulfstream III, the United States Air Force saw a jet that could replace the outgoing Lockheed C-140 Jetstars, with this began a long standing relationship between Gulfstream and the USAF. The designation of C-20A was given to the first four airframes that joined the service, these were handed over for Presidential executive transport support, with deliveries beginning in 1983.
Two C-20Cs followed in 1985 with one more following in 1986, these were handed over to 89th Airlift Wing at Andrews Air Force base, little was known about the mission these were to be used for, but presidential evacuation duties was certainly one priority.
The last batch to be delivered to the USAF were seven Gulfstream C-20Bs handed over from 1986 these also being handed over to the 89th MAW but were for a more conservative VIP duty within the Air Force. One of these (86-0205) replaced the VC-11A with the USCG although it wasn't to last as long with the service as the G-1159 did.

The US Navy and US Marine Corps also noticed the usefulness of the Gulfstream III in the VIP role and designated their jets C-20Ds one for each service was delivered mid 1987, the US Navy however took on one other, a former USAF C-20A which was delivered in 2004 to replace a VP-3A Orion known as "CATBIRD" for European VIP duties. Not wanting to be left out of the Gulfstream III party the US Army had two C-20Es both delivered in 1988 and served until 2014. unfortunately only a handful of C-20s are still in service today with most ending up at AMARG.

The Gulfstream III also saw many orders from foreign military forces with, Denmark, Mexico, Venezuela, Ireland, Italy, Saudi Arabia and India all using them in various roles. Of those nations the Indian Air Force have two heavily modified examples, the very obvious lumps on each side are long range cameras for looking into their neighbours back yard, although both have been seen flying from Delhi International, it is thought that two newly delivered Global Express jets are to replace them.

Photo by Westleigh Bushell 

Classic Update

Just back from another Florida trip. Only the one classic Gulfstream seen flying this time. G3 N400AA (362) arrived at Palm Beach on the 20th. A Mexican G2 was seen at Opa Locka which was probably XA-CVS. The following were seen at Fort Lauderdale Exec. G2s N721CN (206) and N1218C (99), G3s N36DA (450), N320MK (370), N500EF (400), N975RG (471) and XA-LNP (323). Another G2 defied recognition. Pic below. Any ideas?

Update: Info suggests this is N88LN (020) which was originally delivered to P&G as N2PG in November 1968, exactly 50 years ago. Thanks to FKL for this snippet.



Round-up 6/11

Flexjet have again gone to the market and G450 4238 is now registered N458FX, the 9th in the fleet. G650 N658GD (6358) flew from Savannah to Long Beach on the 30th as GLF68. G280 N260GA (2160) flew from Tel Aviv to Stansted on the 31st. Looks like N530GD has started flying. The 30th G500. 6329 has been upgraded to G650ER. Been over a month since the last one.
Did you know that the first business jet to fly over both poles was the Gulfstream 3? This occurred in November 1983, 35 years ago. The frame in question was N303GA (357). See link for more info

via GAC



Sad sight at St. Lucie part 3

It's been a few years since we last did a report from here. St. Lucie in Florida is where some Gulfstreams go to die. Good friend Dave Lythgoe did a side trip here during the recent NBAA. G2 N117JJ is still here but has now been joined by a pair of G3s. N109DD (415) arrived here in July while N456BE (335) appears to have arrived within the last 12 months. The 2 Drummond G2s N125DC and N188DC are still present. Not that we're counting but this is the 350th post to this blog.

Update: N109DD departed on 8th November so not withdrawn here.



Random Gulfstream video #3

It's about time we showcased another video and what better than G3 N540EA (338) arriving at Bern in Switzerland recently. Make sure you turn the volume up. I first saw this one in 1983, just 35 years ago. That was in Switzerland too.

... and the departure

Random Gulfstream photo #27

Getting to be a rare sight here in Europe. G3 N388MM (490) is seen here arriving at Oxford-Kidlington from Teterboro. It was caught this morning by my good friend Dave Lythgoe.



Random Gulfstream photo #21

Have been sent a picture of G3 K2960 (420) taken by Neil Harris as he left Delhi last February on his way home. This has been reported as VT-ENR but doesn't appear to carry this registration now. This was built as an SRA-1 demonstrator (N47449) and first flew in August 1984. It appeared at the Farnborough show a month later. It was delivered to the Indian Air Force via Luton in May 1987 where it was caught by my good friend John Lythgoe. It seems to have used VT-ENR for ferry flights to the States for maintenance. Used primarily for monitoring the border between India and Pakistan and presumably will be replaced by Globals. K2961 was also present during Neil's visit.



Catbird Gulfstreams

"Catbird" is the callsign of the personal transport of the Commander in Chief, Allied Forces Southern Europe (CINCSOUTH) US Navy. Based at NAS Sogonella in Sicily with VR-1 squadron. The first use of this goes back 60 years when the aircraft used was an R4D. It then transferred to a C-131 (141020 was a regular in Northolt in the 70s) and then to P-3 Orion. In 2004, delivery was taken of an ex Air Force machine 30500 (382) with the registration carried being abbreviated to 500. This was retired in 2014 and replaced by C-20G 165151 (1199) which is current. The badge carried was designed by an artist from Walt Disney so a copyright to this effect has to be included.

165151 at Southampton last week by Antony Pratt

via milart.com

830500 departing Luton in May 2012



Random Gulfstream photo #18

Have just received this pic taken at Fort Bragg NC on 21st March 1989 of G3 (C-20E) 87-0139 (497) operated by the US Army. It shows Senator Ted Kennedy deplaning and the welcoming group includes his nephew Joseph (amended). They were there to attend a DELTA briefing before heading to Washington for the inauguration of Dick Cheney as the new Secretary of Defense. Many thanks to MSG Dennis J Wilkins for the info and of course the picture. This G3 and sister ship 70140 were the last 2 off the production line. Both are now wfu at Davis Monthan.



Round-up 11/7

A fairly quiet period but might have been better if it had been even quieter. The main news is the loss of G3 YV2896 (469) which crashed in to the sea off the coast of Venezuela on the 4th killing all 9 on board. See aviation-safety.net report Originally delivered in December 1986 to it's first owner in Jordan as JY-HZH. See pic below. The only other item of interest was G550 N562GA (5562) ferrying to Appleton on the 10th as GLF48 for completion.

G3 469 at Zurich in 1988 by Rolf Wallner



Random Gulfstream video #1

I came across this video on YouTube recently and thought I just had to share it here. Would anyone out there like me to do more of these? It will only be now and then if I do and they'll just be the ones that make me go "Wow!" Any feedback welcome.

Random Gulfstream photo #15

I've recently been sent this pic by Paul Filmer (link) of this lovely old G3 arriving at Centennial (KAPA) last month. N510FR (446) is now operated by Oneflight and sports this terrific black scheme. Originally delivered to Unitech in 1985 as N446U.



Random Gulfstream photo #11

G3 N270MC (374) returned to Luton today from Amsterdam and was caught by John Lythgoe. It has also visited Birmingham and Liverpool lately as well as Luton last week. Con 374 was originally delivered to Dow Jones & Co. as N122DJ in 1983, replacing a G2 with the same registration.



N30LX gains some new bumps

G3 N30LX (438) belonging to Lockheed Martin has found itself a new role and some new bumps. Serial number 438 was originally delivered to Dun & Bradstreet, Inc. (founded in 1841) as N1841D. D&B provides analytics that assist corporate managers with their strategic decision making. 33 years on, this airframe has been modified by its current owner to collect data that can be used by military leaders to make their strategic decisions. (Thanks to FK Larkin for the history) More details can be found at lockheedmartin.com

via Lockheed Martin



Moroccan G3 still active!

Veteran G3 CN-ANU (365) arrived this morning at Farnborough on a brief visit and was caught by Eric Denison. Originally delivered to Saudia as HZ-AFO in 1983 and transferred to Morocco in 1989. Good to see this still in service and has had a repaint recently.



37 years ago today

The prototype Gulfstream G-1159A G3 (N300GA) flew for the first time on 2nd December 1979 from Savannah. 202 of this model were eventually built. Rolled out on 21st September 1979, it and one other (249 and 252) were originally taken out of the G2 line and built as G3s. A slightly longer fuselage and new wings and the introduction of winglets. These proved so successful that many G2s were retrofitted with G3 wings and became G2Bs.
A busy week for anniversaries with last Monday (28th November) being the 21st anniversary of the first flight of the G5 in 1995.



"New" Aruba registered G3 spotted

G3 N702DM (428) was cancelled to Aruba on the 5th October. Has appeared at Tires in Portugal and was caught by Joao Sa Pessoa on 15th October carrying the registration P4-BFJ.



Random Gulfstream photo #5

I just had to include this one. Lovely old Gulfstream 3 N416WM (487) arriving at Palm Beach in February this year by Brian Thompson.