Long Beach G650 Update

A couple of pictures from based photographer Michael Carter taken earlier this year but possibly more relevant now that IDs are known. N4050 (6368) is probably a replacement for G550 N3050 (5096) operated by PayPal of San Jose. N232G (6365) certainly reminds me of G550 N10XG (5186) which is operated by Google. Hopefully some nice flying pictures will appear soon.
Talking of pics, a lot have been added to the Latest Uploads page of the photo site so check 'em out before the next lot arrives.

Round-up 20/3

A day late this week as haven't been well.
G500 N100JS (72023) delivered to Morristown on the 12th to become the 14th delivery of the type. G280 N473GA (2173) ferried Tel Aviv to Stansted on the 17th. G550 N37NG (5580) delivered to Dulles on the 18th. G650 N656GA (6356) ferried Long Beach to Savannah on the 18th. Cancelled to Malta the following day and is believed to be taking up 9H-OKO. Latest G650ER on the register is 6355.

N656GA at Long Beach by Michael Carter

Long Beach Action

Things are picking up at Long Beach. The following pics have been sent to me recently by Michael Carter. OK-VEA was seen in mid November and has since been identified as con 6352. An unidentified G650 has just appeared (23rd) sporting a Thai flag. If it's for King Power, then they've got a new scheme. Finally another shot of 9H-CAA flying as N350GD (6350), also on the 23rd.

Round-up 15/1

A 2 week edition although still not a lot to report. The latest G650 demonstrator N650GF (6341) is in service now and was seen at Liverpool just before Christmas. G280 N216GA (2166) ferried from Tel Aviv to Stansted on the 2nd. The next one doesn't seem to be far away. G650 N1895T (6346) flew from Long Beach to Savannah on the 14th using it's new registration suggesting delivery is imminent. Upgrades on the register to G650ER this period are 6347, 6348, 6349, 6359 and 6360. This now passes the 200 mark for ER conversions. A source has stated that the first G500 with the 7th window is #7 which should be the 2nd production aircraft. Without seeing a picture, I can't confirm but as numbers 6, 7 and 8 are likely to be for Flexjet (my guess only), this seems a little strange. As always, time will tell. Further to my post at the end of October, the new N305CC for Carnival Cruises has been identified as con 6348 and has had a slight change of paint scheme. Thanks as always to Michael Carter. Can't wait to see this at either Fort Lauderdale, where it will be based, or Luton. The old one (6021) is already flying as N300CC.

Round-up 18/12

A busy 7 days as Gulfstream try to get their delivery stats up. G550 N587GA (5587) appears to have made a first flight on the 11th from Savannah as GLF84. G650 N829AR (6338) ferried from Appleton to Savannah on the 11th and shortly after delivered to Washington Dulles. G650 VP-CSG (6085) returned to the US register as N608JG on the 11th. G650 N665GS (6365) ferried from Savannah to Long Beach on the 12th as GLF68. See pic below. G650 N988DJ (6143) cancelled to San Marino on the 12th and is believed to have taken up T7-ARN. G650 N557JF (6343) delivered from Savannah to Honolulu on the 13th, continuing on to Kunming, China via Guam. Another continuing delivery flight as G650 N9527C (6339) flew from Guam to Singapore Seletar on the 14th. G650 N235DX (6336) delivered from Bradley to Pittsburgh (as MLN235) on the 14th. G500 N261PC (72016) delivered from Savannah to Pittsburgh on the 14th to become the 5th delivery of type while G500 N5117 (72020) delivered from Savannah to Kansas City on the 16th and became the 6th. G500 N511GD (72011) cancelled from the US register to Qatar on the 14th and N515GD (72015) did the same on the 17th.

N665GS arriving at Long Beach by Michael Carter



Round-up 30/10

A very quiet 7 days with only the delivery of N1RF being notable. I'll therefore take this opportunity to show a couple of G650s at Long Beach recently thanks to my regular contributor Michael Carter. Hopefully con numbers for these will come to light soon.
During a recent investor conference call, General Dynamics announced that Gulfstream had delivered 27 aircraft in Q3 and 79 in the year to date of which 58 were large cabin models. Slightly down on the previous year and not helped by the delay with nacelles from NORDAM. Buying out the company has resolved this but it will take a while to catch up. There are enough nacelles to hopefully deliver 8-10 G500s in Q4. More G550s have been added to the US register with allocations now up to 5600.

Round-up 23/10

G650 N721MM (6332) departed Long Beach on the 17th heading to Atlanta-Peachtree on it's delivery flight. It flew to Gulfport–Biloxi the following day before finally arriving at Las Vegas on the 19th. G280 N259GA (2159) flew from Tel Aviv to Stansted on the 18th. G650 2-EPIC (6286) finally delivered when it departed Long Beach on the 19th heading to Anchorage. It continued on to Shenzhen the following day. G650 9H-CAA (?c/n) has been spotted at Long Beach recently sporting the same colours as Global 5000 OE-ICA so presumably is for Avcon Jet of Moscow. G150 N162RU (245) cancelled to Estonia on the 17th to become, I believe, the first Gulfstream on that register. Talking of registers, 30 G650s have been added to the US one bringing allocations up to 6395.
G650 N888YT (6013) has just been registered as N651FX which would suggest this is the 2nd of the type for Flexjet. Strange they would go to the used market so soon. Possibly to cover late delivery of G500s (?)

N721MM departing on delivery. Pic by Michael Carter

Random Gulfstream photo #28

G4 N49RF (1246) has recently been chasing hurricanes in the Hawaiian islands and was caught by Michael Carter at Long Beach recently on the way home. Named "Gonzo" after the Muppets character due to the modified nose. A non standard rear fuselage too. A fairly elusive machine for many.



Further to my earlier

A couple of updates to earlier posts worth highlighting here.
Further to my post of 27th June 2018 (link) a blog reader has kindly referred me to an item on the US Navy NC-37B (G550) at www.navair.navy.mil which includes a picture showing it carrying N544GD so is confirmed as 5544.

Further to my post of 20th August 2018 (link) trying to identify the cabin trainers at Long Beach, Eric the Pilot has sent me an earlier shot of the outside one showing a crest by the door. This suggests this may be the old Panamanian machine but any crest had certainly been painted out when it was seen in storage at St. Lucie. A pic of HP-1691 (link) active in 2011 shows no crest here. Could it possibly be an ex Mexican machine? Any help most welcome.

A very low definition pic but you get the idea

Update: Tony Dann has identified the crest as being on the Venezuelan G2 0004 (con 124). The fuselage was actually seen at Long Beach in 2007. See link to original picture It was rescued from the scrap man at Mojave and last carried N124TV.



Round-up 4/9

G650 N628GA (6328) ferried from Long Beach to Savannah on the 29th as GLF33. Cancelled to the Caymans on the 31st and is believed to be taking up VP-CHK. Looks like a first flight for G550 N582GA (5582) on the 31st as GLF88. Don't normally report G650 first flights but a notable one was N350GD on the 2nd as GLF46 which is the 350th G650. New ER this period was 6330. Nice to see a couple of new G500 reservations appear. See my list to the right.

N628GA was caught by Michael Carter at LGB last month



Another G450 for Flexjet

G450 N457FX (4154) arrived at Long Beach yesterday from Portland. This will be Flexjet's 8th G450 but I'm sure it will receive a new coat of paint before entering service with them as it still retains the colours of the previous Chinese operator. Whether this is part of the long term plan or a reaction to the late deliveries of G500s will probably never be admitted. Hopefully these new models will appear by the end of the year. The latest member of the fleet was caught on short finals to Long Beach by Michael Carter.





Long Beach cabin trainers

Eric the Pilot has sent me some more "inside" pictures, this time from Long Beach. Both are believed to be G2s. The first has been reported as 078 (the old HP-1A parked at St. Lucie for several years) and the second as 107 (N10123). Any help confirming these frame numbers would be appreciated. Note the G650 simulator in the lower pic. A sad ending but better than the alternative.

 

Update: Thanks to Wes for spotting this, we may have the 2 G2s in question the wrong way round. The upper pic shows the "eye brow" above the central cockpit window while the lower doesn't have it. N10123 had the "eye brow" but the Panamanian didn't.

Chinese news

Good to see yet another Chinese G650 preparing to deliver. N620GD (6320) was caught returning to Long Beach by Michael Carter recently.
On the debit side though, 3 G650s destined for Deer Jet seem to be going nowhere. The Hainan Group (HNA) which includes Deer Jet are in debt of an eye watering amount so new aircraft deliveries are likely on hold. Although 6286 was registered 2-DEER, the lack of any sightings in more than 2 months suggests this never left Savannah.



300th G650 delivered

G650ER N476V (6300) recently left Long Beach on delivery. It was seen last month carrying the test registration of N630GD (picture by Michael Carter). The scheme is basic Gulfstream house colours so may be joining N358V (6161) which is an ex demonstrator.



Recent Long Beach action

Thanks as always to Michael Carter for sending these lovely shots over the last couple of weeks taken at Long Beach. N656TT (6234), N282GA (6282) in Deerjet colours and N685GD (6285) which has previously been seen as N709DS.

 

 



DeerJet G650 on display

A small aviation event at Long Beach on Saturday saw the inclusion of a new G650 painted in the colours of DeerJet. Some discreet enquiries revealed that this is con 6290. Many thanks as always to Michael Carter for sending this. My 250th post.



It's a funny old game

In an age where most private jet owners keep a low profile and go for an uninspiring paint job, fortunately a few break the mould. The Sultan of Johor (and family) is one. His G550 9M-TMJ (5493) started off with a very nice scheme. This was then transferred to the football team The Southern Tigers (JDT) and painted up in their colours with a new registration of 9M-JJJ. Not sure what happened but looks like this fell through as it appeared yesterday in a variation of the original scheme. Certainly keeping the painters at Long Beach in work.

Top pic at Stansted in December 2016. Others at Long Beach by Michael Carter



Another Manx G650 soon

Michael Carter has just sent me this shot of G650 M-JSWB through the heat haze at Long Beach yesterday. It is believed to be con 6292 but this needs to be confirmed.



New G650s spotted

Have recently been sent a couple of "sneaky" shots of new G650s seen in the last few days. The first is N188W (6263) taken at Jackson Hole WY on the 7th. The contributor sounds like he'd rather remain anonymous. The 2nd shot is from Long Beach on the 6th by Michael Carter. A fair amount of heat haze but shows a nice scheme on N709DS whose identity is unknown at this time.



Round-up 29/8

The San Marino G450 reported last week took up T7-BRG. It was actually re-registered at Geneva. 3 G650s were upgraded to ERs on the FAA register this last week. They were 6264, 6270 and 6272. Black G650 N639GA (6239) did a test flight from Long Beach on the 22nd so good to see something might be happening here. G650 N2PG (6272) was delivered Appleton-Bermuda-Lunken on the 25th. G650 N290GA (6290) was ferried Savannah-Long Beach on the 26th as GLF42 (see below) for completion. G650 G-LLWW (6253) has appeared on the US register as N999HX for a Hong Kong customer but updating of databases seems premature as it arrived at Luton last night from Basel still carrying the G- reg. This incidentally is the 180th different G650 frame to visit Luton.

N290GA was caught by Michael Carter