“The business-jet market in China is expanding rapidly, and we are committed to staying ahead of that growth with an expanding product support infrastructure,” said Mark Burns, president, Gulfstream Product Support. “This agreement ensures Deer Jet receives the award-winning product support Gulfstream is known for, and that Deer Jet can continue to pursue growth opportunities in Asia.”

The growing presence of Gulfstream in China also includes the creation of three positions in the region: a Product Support regional program director, an international distribution manager for parts and materials, an FSR.

Mark Thibault, the former chief operating officer of Metrojet Limited in Hong Kong, was recently named to the regional program director post. Thibault is responsible for overseeing all Product Support efforts for Gulfstream aircraft fleet operators in Asia. His duties include coordinating aircraft maintenance and support requirements for Gulfstream operators located in or traveling through Asia, and supervising the growth of the Gulfstream support network.

James Liang will join Thibault in Hong Kong as the international distribution manager for parts and materials. Liang will manage Gulfstream inventory and oversee distribution for more than $48 million in parts and materials at three strategic locations: Hong Kong, Beijing and Singapore.

Jenson Saw, the new FSR, is based in Beijing but will assist customers throughout the country. Saw speaks six languages, including English, Mandarin and Cantonese, and has 15 years of business-jet maintenance experience.

According to published reports, China’s private-jet market is expected to grow by a world-leading rate of 15.6 percent from 2009 to 2018. A wholly owned subsidiary of Hainan Airlines Group, 16-year-old Deer Jet grew by 32 percent in 2009 and is projected to grow by 60 percent in 2010. Approximately 30 private jets are currently registered to operate on China’s mainland. Including its in-service Gulfstream aircraft, Deer Jet operates 23 corporate jets, three of which are owned by pr

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In a company first, both G650 flight-test aircraft — T2 and T1 — were airborne simultaneously and were tracked by dual telemetry facilities in real time.

“T2 performed extremely well during the initial tests of its integrated flight control system and handling,” said Pres Henne, senior vice president, Programs, Engineering and Test, Gulfstream. “We plan to make half a dozen flights to assess basic system functionality before proceeding to more intensive testing.”

“The conditions were very gusty and blustery, yet T2, like T1, handled great,” said Freeman. “To control the aircraft precisely requires small, light control input from the pilot. It’s an easy jet to fly.”

The G650 flight-test and certification plan involves five aircraft and an estimated 1,800 hours of testing. Each aircraft is used for a specific series of tests, with T1 focused on performance and flight controls, T2 on systems and T3 on avionics. The two production aircraft in the test program — P1 and P2 — will be used to evaluate the interior systems and reduced vertical separation minimums (RVSMs), respectively.

T1, which spent approximately six hours in the air on Thursday, has completed 18 flights over more than 43 hours. The aircraft has reached a maximum speed of Mach 0.90 and a top altitude of 47,000 feet (14,326 m). Test pilots are progressively opening the flight envelope in conjunction with load testing of a ground-test airframe designated S6.

Gulfstream expects to receive concurrent G650 certification from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) in 2011.

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“In the last 90 days, we’ve seen lots of awakening on the new aircraft sales side as well as on the services side of the business,” said senior v-p sales and marketing Larry Flynn. “In the last two quarters we have seen net positive orders versus cancellations. Large aircraft have definitely been stronger. With midsize the market, it has hit the bottom. There are a lot of white tails and pre-owned [aircraft in the marketplace] that have to clear themselves. [Meanwhile], we are not interested in lowering prices. With the large cabin [aircraft] we are already seeing pricing improvement.

“The market here [in the Middle East] is good, and in China, but larger cabin planes are selling better than mid-cabin,” he continued.

Flynn said that the G250 is “very, very close to first flight.” With the G650 major systems and structural article testing being completed, the G650 prototype can take to the air soon, as well. Orders stand at nine aircraft for the G250 and about 200 for the G650, confirmed Flynn.

With other Gulfstream models Flynn said that there are 80 G150s in service, 218 G200s, 153 G350/450s and 228 G500/ 550s. He was keen to point out that the flagship G650, an all-new design, had stimulated a new top-end segment, which had not impinged on the G550’s territory. “With 200 aircraft sold, right now that’s our market,” he said, responding to a question as to what rival Bombardier might do in response to the G650’s success.

Asked why the G650 has proved so popular Flynn responded, “It is the fastest, farthest, largest. It’s the best. We have created a new market, cutting over an hour off some trips. Customers are getting the string out and looking at city pairs at 6,000 and 7,000 nautical miles and seeing that the aircraft can give them real flexibility, that they don’t have to stop for fuel.” These are the reasons Flynn gave for why its aircraft had “surpassed all our expectations.” He added that Gulfstream is “confident” that the aircraft will be kept below 100,000 pounds mtow, something the company found to be a key customer requirement because “it opens up a lot more airports, [which is] a significant [product] differentiator.��%9

via Gulfstream: bizav market is ‘awakening’: AINonline.