Gulfstream Recognizes 40th Anniversary Of The GII's First Flight

An interesting milestone came about last Tuesday... it having been the 40th anniversary of the first flight of the nearly legendary GII. On October 2, 1966, Grumman Aerospace test pilots Carl Alber and Bob Smythe flew the first Gulfstream II (GII), serial number 001, on its maiden flight over the skies of Bethpage, N.Y. The GII was the first large-cabin, purpose-built business aircraft powered by jet engines.

During the 52-minute flight, the GII reached an altitude of 10,000 feet above the Long Island Sound, passing all flight tests. Halfway through the flight, the pilots engaged the autopilot, which marked the first time a corporate aircraft was flown by an autopilot system.

The GII was powered by two Rolls-Royce Spey turbofan engines, each providing 11,400 pounds of thrust. Because the Speys provided more propulsion than the aircraft required to fly safely, GII pilots had more power to fall back on in case of an emergency. Commenting on the first flight years later, Bob Smythe said, “It was tough to hold her back. It felt like she really wanted to move out.”

Remarking on the same flight, Alber said “… nothing went any smoother than the first flight of the Gulfstream II. It was a perfect flight.”

The first GII entered service on Jan. 6, 1968, when it was delivered to National Distillers & Chemical, which had also owned a Gulfstream I (GI). The GII could accommodate 19 passengers and three crew members. It could take off from a 4,300-foot runway, reach speeds of up to Mach 0.85 and an altitude of 39,000 feet that was later increased to 45,000 feet. The GII could fly 2,700 nautical miles nonstop and required only 3,500 feet of runway to land.

While the GII adopted the familiar signature oval windows from the Gulfstream I (GI), it was the first Gulfstream aircraft to feature the T-tail design, swept-back wings and engines mounted at the aft fuselage. Today’s G350, G450, G500 and G550 aircraft models, while longer from nose to tail and wider from wingtip to wingtip, all share the same distinctive ‘Gulfstream look.’

From 1966 to 1980, Gulfstream manufactured 258 GII aircraft, 251 of which were manufactured at Gulfstream’s present-day headquarters in Savannah, Ga. Some 240 GII aircraft, including serial number 0001, continue to operate around the world.

FMI: www.gulfstream.com