Savannah airframer Gulfstream caught the aerospace industry by surprise last October when it rolled out the prototype of its newest ultra-long-range business jet, the G800. The company had somehow managed to assemble the first test aircraft in secret, and aside from a few rumours had managed to keep the programme's existence under wraps. Perhaps this should not have been so unexpected. The G800 has long been a central component of a product development initiative Gulfstream set in motion with the G500 and G600 about a decade ago, says company president Mark Burns. Gulfstream had always intended for the G500 and G600 to be first-borns in what was to be a larger family of modern, technologically similar business jets. Toward that end, the company followed the G500 and G600 with the G700, which it launched in October 2019 and remains in flight testing.
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