This document is the table of contents and editorial for issue 1 of the magazine "Nonstop By Gulfstream". It introduces the magazine focused on the world of Gulfstream business jets. The table of contents lists articles on Sir Michael Kadoorie, a Hong Kong aviation visionary; the physics of the Gulfstream G650 aircraft; Bangalore, India as a hub for business and technology; exploring old Savannah, Georgia; and snow polo coming to China. Departments cover aviation news, travel experiences on Gulfstream aircraft, pilot training programs, and aircraft maintenance. The editorial discusses the economic shift to Asia and the magazine's goal to convey Gulfstream's nonstop world of global business leaders.
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Nonstop - A Custom Airline Marketing Magazine
1. NonstopBy Gulfstream
Sir Michael KadoorieHong Kong’s Aviation Visionary
PlaneAdvantage
Ultimate Training for
Gulfstream Pilots
Snow Polo
Lands in China
Monterey Square
Exploring
Old Savannah
Denting the
Sound BarrierThe Amazing Physics of the New G650
ISSUE 1 2011
NonstopByGulfstreamDENTINGTHESOUNDBARRIER|SIRMICHAELKADOORIE|PLANEADVANTAGETRAINING|SNOWPOLOINCHINA|EXPLORINGOLDSAVANNAHISSUE12011
GULF.ss11.cover_gulf.indd 1 9/12/11 10:53 AM
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4. 20 Hong Kong’s Aviation Visionary
Sir Michael Kadoorie pioneered business jets in Hong
Kong in a unique collaboration with Gulfstream.
28 Denting the Sound Barrier
The Gulfstream G650 achieves a sustained speed that
no other aircraft can touch—flying at 90 percent of the
speed of sound for a distance of 5,000 nautical miles.
34 A Passage to India
From high tech to high fashion to high-flying
Gulfstream airplanes, Bangalore attracts them all.
46 Monterey Square
One of Savannah’s original squares, it
epitomizes the warmth and sophistication
of our hometown.
54 Snow Polo Lands in China
With a little help from Gulfstream, a wintry version
of the Sport of Kings is flourishing in Tianjin.
42 The Next Level of
Pilot Training
The PlaneAdvantage program lets pilots
experience the huge safety margins built
into every Gulfstream jet.
NonstopBy Gulfstream
issue 1 2011
Features
Cover: Paul Bowen
This page: John Dibbs
2 Nonstop By Gulfstream
GULF.ss11.toc.indd 2 9/12/11 10:33 AM
6. 6 Ready for Takeoff
The economic center of gravity is
shifting eastward, with implications
for global business.
8 Contributors
Meet the “A-Team,” the world’s best in
aviation, journalism and photography.
10 Outside Your Window
Gulfstream’s newest aircraft, the G650
and G280, racing toward certification, glow
in a Savannah sunset.
12 Nonstop News
A green milestone for the G450 … the unstop-
pable Jenny Rogers … celebrating the 300th
G550 … and more.
16 On the Road … to Bangalore
Traveling around the world by Gulfstream,
the author muses on the globally
connected cabin.
60 Stick and Rudder
Gulfstream’s enhanced vision technology
led the industry—and led the FAA to write a
new safety rule.
62 The Business of Flying
Here are the top five considerations in
financing a business jet.
64 Leading Edge
The iPad cometh. Gulfstream and
FlightSafety go paperless.
66 Tool Kit
Gulfstream product support
news and more.
72 Three Green
What if corporate PR
departments extolled the benefits
of business aviation?
NonstopBy Gulfstream
issue 1 2011
463410
4 Nonstop By Gulfstream
Departments
GULF.ss11.toc.indd 4 9/12/11 10:33 AM
7. Delivering the highest quality engine care and service is our
business, and has made CorporateCare the world leader of
business jet engine maintenance programs. It protects against
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are covered anywhere in the world. A fact recognised in more than
just words. Aircraft enrolled in CorporateCare have higher asset
values. Choose CorporateCare and you choose certainty. For more
on CorporateCare, contact Steve Friedrich, Vice President – Sales &
Marketing, at +1 (703) 834-1700, corporate.care@rolls-royce.com.
Trusted to deliver excellence
www.rolls-royce.com
Choosing
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future
with CorporateCare
With CorporateCare® you can be confident you’ve made the right choice
005_GULF_FALL11.indd 1 8/30/11 3:31 PM
10. { contributors }
When consulting editor J.
Mac McClellan heard that
Gulfstream test pilots had
created an advanced safety
course for Gulfstream pilots,
he couldn’t wait to experience
the training. “Gulfstream pilots
are the most experienced and
well-trained in all of aviation,
so what’s left to learn?” asked
McClellan. It turns out the answer
is plenty, as he found out flying,
and then writing about, the new
PlaneAdvantage professional pilot
development training program.
McClellan has been an
aviation writer for more than 35
years and an active pilot for more
than 40 years. He spent 34 years
on the staff of Flying magazine,
20 of those years as editor-in-
chief. He and his wife, Stancie,
and English bulldog, Jake, live in
Grand Haven, Mich.
Photographing in and around
jets presents interesting lighting
challenges. Accustomed to
shooting in studios, fashion pho-
tographer Colston Julian quickly
assessed the tricky lighting op-
tions for shooting inside a G450
with only a handheld flash. His
solution: shoot exterior shots in
the morning and afternoon, and
inside when the sun was directly
overhead, providing balanced
light in the cabin.
Julian works between
Mumbai and his studio in
Toronto, shooting for fashion and
lifestyle publications such as
Elle, L’Officiel and Harper’s
Bazaar. His corporate clients
include Omega, United Colors
of Benetton and Louis Vuitton.
Determined and focused, yet
amiable and flexible, Julian is
a former competitive BMX and
mountain biker. Maybe our
photographers tend to be ath-
letes (see Patrick Wack at right)
because of all that heavy photo
gear they have to carry.
Paul Bowen is the doyen of
aviation photography. He is
credited with more than1,000
magazine covers and count-
less advertising campaigns,
and was selected as one of 60
professional photographers who
make up Canon’s “Explorers of
Light” program. From his base in
Wichita, Kan., Bowen maintains a
busy shooting schedule, traveling
the globe in search of stunning
backgrounds.
He shoots from various air-
planes while flying in tight forma-
tion to achieve his desired shots.
He is often perched in the open
tail-gunner’s position of a World
War II B-25 bomber, strapped in,
thousands of feet up. His headset
and microphone connect him
to the B-25’s pilot, and the pilot
relays directions to the crew of the
airplane Bowen is photographing.
As the target plane gets closer, he
directs them with hand signals.
His four coffee-table books,
Air To Air, volumes I and II, Air
To Air Warbirds and Air To Air
Mustangs and Corsairs have
gained critical acclaim, along with
his annual calendar, Air To Air
Warbirds.
Touring the Hong Kong
Peninsula Hotel’s China
Clipper Lounge brought fond
memories to Michael Westlake.
The big flying boats led to the
age of the big pre-jet landplanes.
“I have wonderful memories of
many hours on trans-oceanic
flights as an 11- and 12-year-old,
but over the South Atlantic in
Super G Constellations, mostly
in the cockpit—my father was
the captain,” he recalls.
One result is his interest
in navigation. “I reckon I’m one
of the few people in Hong Kong
who can still use a sextant,
which has served me well over
many years of sailing across the
South China Sea.” But aviation
will always come first. A journalist
for 45 years, Westlake lives in
Hong Kong with his wife Susana
and two neurotic cats.
Patrick Wack is a freelance
photographer out of Shanghai
doing great corporate work for
companies such as Nike and
Adidas, which is fitting for this
former athlete.When Europeans
say they play football, they
usually mean the kind with a
round ball, but Wack is a gridiron
champion in American football.
He was a wide receiver for
the University of Tulsa Golden
Hurricane while on a one-year
sojourn studying in the U.S. He
played five years for the French
National Football Team, was
twice a champion with the Paris
Flash and once with Berlin Adler
in the German Football League.
After two years in Berlin
as an executive in the music
software industry, Wack had
enough of office life and headed
for Shanghai to discover Asia
and turn his passion for photog-
raphy into a sustainable career.
Touchdown Patrick!
J. Mac
McClellan
Colston
Julian
Paul
Bowen
Michael
Westlake
Patrick
Wack
8 Nonstop By Gulfstream
GULF.ss11.editor_contrib.indd 8 9/12/11 10:56 AM
12. { outside your window }
10 NONSTOP BY GULFSTREAM
GULF.ss11.outsidewindow.indd 10 9/12/11 10:57 AM
13. SisterShips
atSunsetGulfstream’s newest aircraft, the G650 and G280,
display their beauty as the sun sets on the company’s
world headquarters in Savannah, Ga. Both the G650 and
G280 are scheduled for type certification later this year.
Photography by Skip Terpstra
11
GULF.ss11.outsidewindow.indd 11 9/12/11 10:57 AM
14. { nonstop news }
12 Nonstop By Gulfstream
The Gulfstream G150 continues to bolster
its international resumé.
The wide-cabin, high-speed air-
craft recently received type certification
validations from Brazil and China, which
means the business jet can be registered in
both of those BRIC countries.
“This reflects the growing worldwide
popularity of Gulfstream aircraft,” said
Larry Flynn, president, Gulfstream. “It
also demonstrates our commitment to en-
suring Gulfstream ownership continues to
be a smooth and simple process, regardless
of where the aircraft is registered.”
The G150 can now be registered in
Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, the Euro-
pean Union, Israel, the Ukraine and the
United States.
But that doesn’t mean the G150
is resting on its laurels. The aircraft
Gulfstream introduced in 2006 is still
making things happen. In fact, the jet
recently added four city-pair records to
its resumé, bringing the total to 14.
It showcased its long legs by travel-
ing the 3,196 nautical miles (5,919 km)
between Anchorage, Alaska, and Savan-
nah, Ga., in 7 hours and 19 minutes. Its
average speed was 494 mph (795 kph).
The aircraft set two additional
records when it traveled from Hong Kong
to Nagoya, Japan, and back again. It flew
between Hong Kong and Nagoya in 3
hours and 12 minutes. It then left Nagoya
for the return trip to Hong Kong, traveling
1,503 nautical miles (2,784 km) at an aver-
age speed of 391.29 mph (630 kph), with
headwinds of 126 mph (203 kph).
The aircraft set its 14th city-pair
record on a flight from Gander, New-
foundland, to Geneva, Switzerland. The
wide-cabin, high-speed aircraft traveled
the 2,464 nautical miles (4,563 km)
between the two cities in 5 hours and 6
minutes, beating the previous record by
37 minutes. The aircraft’s average cruise
speed was Mach 0.80.
Said Flynn, “The G150 is a mid-size
workhorse.”
Gulfstream G150 gets around
Gulfstream says
‘Jambo,’‘Zdravstvuite’
to multilingual,
multitalented Northeast
sales director
Jenny Rogers, a type-rated jet pilot and aero-
nautical engineer, recently joined Gulfstream
as a sales director covering the East Divi-
sion, including New England and portions
of New York, and Quebec and the Maritime
provinces in Canada.
Rogers held a similar position when
she was based in New Jersey with Hawker
Beechcraft.
She has also volunteered as a tutor in a
Tanzanian orphanage, using her Swahili lan-
guage skills to teach residents there English
and math. She speaks Russian, too.
And when she’s not selling, teaching
or flying, Rogers likes to enjoy the great
outdoors through surfing, hiking, fishing,
kayaking, walking, swimming, biking and
running.
All of that activity came in handy
when she completed the Lake Placid Iron-
man in July.
“It was fantastic,” Rogers said of the
event she finished in just over 14 hours. “And
I loved every minute of it.”
That must be why Rogers’ favorite quote
is from Winston Churchill: “Never, never,
never, never give up.”
KathyAlmand
KathyAlmand
GULF.ss11.fobnews.indd 12 8/31/11 12:26 PM
15. G550 hits 300
Gulfstream recently delivered the 300th G550.
The large-cabin, ultra-long-range aircraft was delivered to a
Taiwanese customer and will be managed by pioneering Taiwan
charter and aircraft management company, Win Air.
Gulfstream celebrated the milestone at its Brunswick, Ga.,
service center, where the aircraft was outfitted.
The G550 and its sister, the G500, were officially introduced on
Sept. 9, 2002, at the National Business Aviation Association conven-
tion in Orlando, Fla. The first G550 was delivered on Sept. 17, 2003.
G450 goes green
crossing a lot of blue
Not to be outdone by the G150 and its city-pair
records, the Gulfstream G450 recently set a
record of its own: becoming the first aircraft to
cross the Atlantic using biofuels.
The Honeywell-operated aircraft flew from
Morristown, N.J., to Paris using a 50/50 blend of
Honeywell Green Jet Fuel and petroleum-based
jet fuel powering one of its Rolls-Royce engines.
Gulfstream worked closely with Honeywell
to ensure the viability of the company’s biofuel,
which comes from camelina, an inedible crop.
The effort supports Gulfstream’s commit-
ment to achieving the business aviation indus-
try’s goals on emissions reductions, including
carbon neutral growth by 2020 and a reduction
in total carbon emissions of 50 percent by 2050,
relative to 2005 levels.
PaulBowen
JeffMiller
13
GULF.ss11.fobnews.indd 13 8/31/11 12:26 PM
16. The first production Gulfstream G280
is now at the Gulfstream mid-cabin
Completions Center of Excellence in
Dallas for outfitting and painting.
Experimental test pilots flew the
super-midsized G280, Serial Number
2004, from Israel Aerospace Industries,
where the airframe is manufactured,
to the Gulfstream facility in Dallas,
where Gulfstream mid-cabin aircraft
undergo final phase manufacturing.
The G650 is about to follow in
the G280’s jet trail, with the ultra-
long-range, ultra-large-cabin aircraft
poised to enter final phase manufac-
turing in Savannah.
Both aircraft are on track for
certification in 2011, with the G280
entering service in 2011 and the
G650 in 2012.
Gulfstream
expands R&D
Gulfstream has added another facility to its
growing research-and-development campus.
The 253,000-square-foot Research and
Development Center (RDC) III opened
in January.
The center features approximately
30,000 square feet of lab space, approximately
223,000 square feet of light manufacturing
and warehouse space, and the potential
for additional office, lab and warehouse
development.
Gulfstream’s Research and Development
campus consists of three locations and is
home to approximately 1,450 employees.
Fun facts:
1. RDC III is actually the fourth RDC
building. RDC II consists of two buildings:
an office building and a lab facility.
2. Did you know that all of the RDC
conference rooms are named after famous
aviators? It’s true. Conference rooms include:
Doolittle, Amelia Earhart and Lindbergh.
How’s that for some aviation heritage?
Found in translation
Forget Yahoo’s Babelfish or Google Trans-
late. Now, you can read Gulfstream’s website
in five different languages without using a
translation service. The full company website
is available in English, Russian, Chinese,
Spanish and Portuguese, making the Savan-
nah-based business-jet manufacturer the only
original equipment manufacturer of its kind
to offer marketing materials in such a broad
range of languages.
Website visitors can select their preferred
language from a drop-down menu on the right
side of the home page before navigating to the
rest of the site. Any subsequent pages they click
on will appear in the selected language.
“We started this effort in 2010 with the
addition of a Russian-language website and
the distribution of select news releases in
Chinese, Korean and Japanese,” said Larry
Flynn, president, Gulfstream. “Now, in a nod
to the popularity of our products in markets
such as Brazil and China, we’ve translated
our website into Chinese, Portuguese and
Spanish. We’re thrilled that we can connect
with our current and potential customers in
this way.”
New aircraft programs
make steady progress
{ nonstop news }
PaulSuszynski
Gulfstream can build its own circuit
boards for testing advanced avionics
concepts and create test composite
structures in its autoclaves.
14 Nonstop By Gulfstream
GULF.ss11.fobnews.indd 14 8/31/11 12:26 PM
18. When we fly for business at Gulfstream, we fly
pretty much the way, you, our readers, fly your
business jets. Most of our flights are long, so it’s
a mixture of work, rest, dining and trying out
the entertainment systems.
Our catering is usually superb. When
we dispatch from Savannah, as we are today,
local restaurants such as the New York-hip
Sapphire Grill load aboard their best scallops
and filet mignon. These are sometimes supple-
mented by smoothies—a pilot favorite—and
various types of comfort food. On the way to
London, en route to the Bangalore Air Show
this past February, cinnamon Pop-Tarts are a
favorite on the flight deck, and we can’t resist
scarfing some of these down in the back, too.
By the time we get to Mumbai, we restock with
chicken tikka, chili toast and the Leela Hotel’s
delectable club sandwiches.
Our captains are Bob McKenney and Tony
Briotta and our flight attendant is Denée
Nason. Roger Sperry, regional senior vice
president of sales for South America and the
Far East, heads our team. Also aboard are
Steve Cass, director of sales engineering, who
can answer any technical question about a
Gulfstream, and Gita Mirchandani, our PR
consultant for India, who knows the players
among the vast, free-wheeling Indian media.
We often talk about the benefits of low
cabin altitudes on board our aircraft. Gita brings
up a benefit we hadn’t thought of before: She
can wear her high-heels through two full days
of flying, and her feet feel great. Not the same
on the airlines, where even those of us in roomy
Italian loafers can have trouble squeezing our
toes back into our shoes.
It’s a workday flight, so laptops are
open. BBML (our air-to-ground cabin com-
munication system)
is up and running
on computers, iPads
and BlackBerrys. I
can’t rave enough
about this amazing
system for en route
productivity. On
this trip, I find it
useful to connect on
the iPad to The New
York Times online for
the latest updates on Egypt, which is in the
midst of a revolution, and all the other day’s
news. On a subsequent flight back home
from Hong Kong, Roger and I and others
monitor the tsunami devastation in Japan
on CNN. When we fly, it’s a balance between
escaping earthbound matters for a little while
and needing to know what’s going on.
On the flight to London, what really
surprises me is that somewhere near Iceland,
my computer starts making that characteristic
Skype dial tone—boop-boop-boop. It’s a
video call from my son, checking in from Safed,
Israel. We have a nice chat, and the video
streaming is pretty good. This was the stuff
of science fiction when I was a kid. Now
we hardly give it a second thought, even
at 45,000 feet.
About an hour out of Luton, I step into the
cockpit to chat with
Bob and he shows me
the weather for our
destination—a 1,200
foot scattered ceiling
and 37 knots of wind
gusting to 45 knots
more or less down the
runway. “It will be
a little bumpy,” Bob
says, which we all
know is pilot-speak
for expect some
pretty good turbulence.
When we break out of the
clouds, the cabin monitor shows run-
way lights ahead and to the right of
our nose (there’s a TV camera in the
tail), indicating a healthy crab angle
to compensate for the crosswind.
We hear the audio call-outs
from the cockpit radar altimeter as
the lights come up to meet us and the
nose gradually shifts to straight down
the runway centerline, followed by a
smooth landing. A nice bit of piloting.
Given the turbulence and gusting
winds, this is a great tribute to the G450. The
wind is howling when we step outside, but our
descent was remarkably smooth. The G450 is a
tough and resilient ship that delivers passen-
gers a great ride. ■
16 NONSTOP BY GULFSTREAM
On the road …
ToBangaloreText and photography by Jeff Miller
An army may travel on its stom-
ach, as Napoleon once said, but a
flight crew apparently is fueled by
Pop-Tarts, here being conveyed to
the flight deck by Denée Nason.
Regional Senior Vice President
Roger Sperry prepares for a
satellite phone call to Hong Kong.
Top right: Director of Sales
Engineering Steve Cass sends
email on an iPad and—what’s
this?—media relations consul-
tant Gita Mirchandani reads
something called a “book.”
Above: Captains Bob
McKenney and Tony Briotta
and the amazing Gulfstream
PlaneView cockpit system.
Below right: In Bangalore for
Aero India 2011, Mirchandani,
Senior Sales Assistant Mindy
Neve, Sperry and Nason.
16 NONSTOP BY GULFSTREAM
GULF.ss11.ontheroad.indd 16 9/12/11 10:37 AM
19. We have a mission: To serve you best!
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Flying with the confidence that you can count on a global company that understands all your aviation needs, no matter
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FBO l Maintenance l Aircraft Management l Charter
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017_GULF_FALL11.indd 1 8/26/11 9:17 AM
23. Sir Michael Kadoorie is ranked with his
family at No. 159 among the world’s bil-
lionaires, and at No. 6 in his hometown
of Hong Kong, with wealth estimated at
U.S. $6.1 billion. Among other business
interests, Kadoorie is a force in top hotels
(including the flagship Peninsula brand),
and chairman of CLP Holdings Ltd.,
which provides 80 percent of Hong
Kong’s power needs. He is the founder
of Metrojet, which literally introduced
business aviation to Hong Kong.
Given Kadoorie’s passionate interest
in flying, we thought it auspicious
to interview him in the Hong Kong
Peninsula’s China Clipper Lounge prior to
an exclusive luncheon to celebrate the cen-
tennial of aviation in Hong Kong this year.
The “Sir” in Kadoorie’s name is a
British knighthood, an honor bestowed
upon him by Queen Elizabeth II in 2005
for his charitable work in Britain and
elsewhere. At age 70, Kadoorie remains
extremely active, counting among his
many leadership roles the chairmanship
of the Hong Kong Aviation Group, which
set up business jet operator Metrojet and
rotary wing operator Heliservices.
Asked about his early association with
Gulfstream, Kadoorie tells us, “In 2001 we
One of Asia’s most
respected entrepreneurs,
Sir Michael Kadoorie
uses Gulfstream jets to
expand diverse interests
and teach others
the beauty and utility
of private wings.
By Michael Westlake
21
Typically a whirlwind of activity, Sir Michael
Kadoorie pauses for a quick photo at the
entrance to his beloved China Clipper Lounge.
GrahamUden
GULF.ss11.kadoorie.indd 21 9/12/11 10:34 AM
24. 22 Nonstop By Gulfstream
Chaired by Sir Michael Kadoorie, the Hong Kong Aviation Group set
up business jet operator Metrojet and rotary wing operator Heliservices.
The Metrojet fleet of 26 aircraft includes 15 Gulfstreams.
GULF.ss11.kadoorie.indd 22 9/13/11 12:45 PM
25. hidden gems
The China Clipper
Lounge
Peninsula Hotel, Kowloon, Hong Kong
The original China Clipper was a Martin M-130 flying boat that
was part of PanAmerican’s Clipper fleet.These giant flying boats,
which later included models from Boeing and Sikorsky,operated
trans-Pacific flights from the1930s until shortly after World War II.
Today, the great Clippers live on in a lounge that serves
as a venue for small private functions, but mainly as the depar-
ture and arrival center for helicopter service that operates from
helipads at the Peninsula Hotel in Kowloon, Hong Kong.
The lounge contains history and memorabilia of the Chi-
na Clippers themselves, as well as mementos of the history of
civil aviation in Hong Kong.
Artifacts include a silvered propeller from a DC-3, a beau-
tifully restored Pratt and Whitney Double Wasp piston engine
(again from a DC-3, but similar to earlier models used on some
of the China Clipper flying boats), a cutaway model of the China
Clipper M-130 flying boat itself, and many, many photographs
with descriptions of the early days of Hong Kong’s well-known
airline Cathay Pacific Airways and its affiliates.
The first Clipper flying boat to arrive in Hong Kong did so
in the harbor on Oct. 23, 1936, carrying Juan Trippe, president
of what was then Pan American Airways System, his wife Betty,
and associates who were scouting new Clipper routes around
the world.They stayed overnight at “The Pen,” as the Peninsula
is still known.The original Clipper flights from California took six
days with a maximum of eight passengers.
The China Clipper Lounge, with its simulated aircraft
superstructure, riveted aluminum wall panels, period-inspired
furniture—not to mention a spectacular view onto Hong Kong
Harbor—evokes a day gone by. “The China Clipper is not just
a lounge,” says Sir Michael Kadoorie, head of the Hong Kong
and Shanghai Hotels group, which owns the Peninsula. “It’s
a tribute to the history of aviation, particularly the crossing of
the Pacific, opening doors to commerce between the United
States and Asia.This could never have taken place without avia-
tion.All credit must be given toJuanTrippe.”
Kadoorie’s passion for aviation has also found practical
form in retro-lounge décor in other Peninsula hotels in Bangkok
(the Paribatra Aviation Room), Tokyo (the Seven Seas Pacific
Aviation Lounge), and a similar but more local tribute to aviation
history in a lounge in the Peninsula in Shanghai. This is called
the Rosamonde in memory of the two-seater biplane that was
the first “modern” aircraft designed and built in China (by three
Americans under contract) in 1923 at the behest of Dr. Sun
Yat-sen, the still-revered founding father of China as a republic.
Our tip to the business jet traveler: Take a helicopter to
“The Pen,” but leave a little time for a cocktail at the China Clip-
per Lounge and inhale the nostalgia.
—Michael Westlake
entered into a unique arrangement with
Gulfstream to try to stimulate the business
aviation market here. It was still a very
new concept. We started with a GIV for
charter as a market test. The gamble paid
off, the market responded, and Metrojet
later leased a G200, which seemed the
perfect size for the market at that time,
and then bought another.”
With things going well, Kadoorie
sold some shares in the second aircraft to
friends, but one day found that the aircraft
was not available for his own use, so he
bought another G200. Today there are 26
aircraft managed by Metrojet, of which 15
are Gulfstreams. Says Kadoorie, “It’s a win-
win for us and for Gulfstream, who makes
every effort to keep our aircraft operating
at their peak. We’ve both gained. We both
have high standards; it’s a happy meeting.”
The Kadoorie family’s roots go back
to Iraq, and then to Shanghai in 1880,
where his grandfather launched what is
today the Kadoorie Group, with hotels
and other interests. When China effec-
tively closed its doors to foreigners with
the communist takeover in 1949, the
Kadoories retrenched to Hong Kong and
started to rebuild.
Today, Kadoorie vigorously pursues
interests in Hong Kong, on the mainland,
including Shanghai, and beyond. He says,
“We’ve been very fortunate; we’ve been
welcomed by the Chinese people first in
Shanghai and then Hong Kong. In 1948
Hong Kong began to build up, and we’ve
continued to meet challenges—the family
“It’s a win-win
for us and for
Gulfstream,
who makes every
effort to keep
our aircraft
operating at
their peak.”
23
The décor of the China Clipper Lounge is1930s chic; the view outside is
Hong Kong skyline 2011—inspiring by day, spectacular by night. Photos: Graham Uden
GULF.ss11.kadoorie.indd 23 9/12/11 10:35 AM
26. 24 Nonstop By Gulfstream
motto is ‘Adhere and prosper.’”
So how has Hong Kong changed in his
lifetime? “Two changes have impacted me
most: the skyline, like New York, and the
pace of life—electronic media and immedi-
ate communications. Our reach is toward
both the United States and Europe, and,
with instant communications, if you’re not
careful, you can be saturated.”
Kadoorie’s interest in aviation has
been lifelong. He earned a fixed-wing
private pilot’s license and enjoyed flying
around Hong Kong, but ended up flying
helicopters and turned that into a business
opportunity. As ever, the business came first.
Says Kadoorie, “My brother-in-law and I
were taken up in a helicopter and I asked
who inspected the power lines. From this
beginning we became involved in helicopter
operations and eventually won a contract
with Balfour Beatty to build power lines.
The purchase of three Aerospatiale Lama
helicopters followed, and the company grew
from that.”
Is there a future for business aviation
in China’s mainland beyond what Metrojet
is able to obtain now? “There’s no ques-
tion,” says Kadoorie “China spans huge
distances. There’s a clear need for private
aviation, which can speed up business
generally. The important ‘opener’ will
be accessibility of smaller airports, not so
much the airspace.”
But when will this happen? “I would
hope it’s like a snowball that gets bigger
and bigger, though it hasn’t been that quick
until now.” Kadoorie says the obvious com-
parisons are the United States and Australia,
and predicts, “It will be a new industry.”
When it comes to transportation,
Kadoorie aims to make the best even bet-
ter. In aviation, his pilots provide valu-
able input on new Gulfstream products,
especially the new super-midsize G280.
As for automobiles, when Kadoorie talks,
Rolls-Royce listens. The Peninsula Hotel
operates the largest fleet of Rolls-Royce
cars in the world. The hotel has placed
orders with Rolls-Royce eight times, the
largest order for 14 long-wheel-base cars
in 2006. In that case, Kadoorie asked
for—and obtained—some 36 changes to
the basic specification. These included
moving air-conditioning controls to make
them easier to reach, customizing tread
plates, installing grab-handles for passen-
gers, and other items.
Kadoorie says, “Luxury cars in the
An avid collector of antique automobiles, Sir Michael Kadoorie
is seen here at the wheel of his 1903 Cadillac, driving in the
2010 London to Brighton Veteran Car Run. The Peninsula
reflects Kadoorie’s passion for good design, amenities and
service; the hotel operates the largest fleet of Rolls-Royce
automobiles in the world. Opposite page: Kadoorie celebrates
the delivery of Metrojet’s first G200 in 2002 with Gulfstream
Regional Senior Vice President Roger Sperry.
MickMcCarron/SussexSportPhotography.com
GULF.ss11.kadoorie.indd 24 9/12/11 10:35 AM
27. hotel business need big trunks, and the
Rolls trunks weren’t big enough. By relo-
cating ancillary equipment, the trunk was
made bigger.” The Peninsula took on
its first Rolls-Royce fleet in 1970; experi-
ence told him and the hotel what needed
to be changed.
There is a comparison between Rolls-
Royce and Gulfstream, he feels, which also
applies to the Peninsula Hotels. “We all
strive to produce the ultimate product in
our own markets.
“I’ll tell you what made a big impres-
sion on me about Gulfstream, right off
the bat,” Kadoorie says. “After we had
purchased our first G200, taken delivery
and departed Monterey, Calif., for a day
trip to Seattle, we discovered the mi-
crowave oven was not working. A little
squawk, certainly not essential for flight.
Gulfstream dispatched a G100 from
Savannah to pick up a new microwave
in Dallas, flew it to the West Coast and
installed it before our departure for
Hong Kong the next day. That distin-
guished Gulfstream from other
manufacturers for me.”
Given that his operations span the
world, we were curious what advice
Kadoorie would give to Western executives
approaching Asian markets. “It’s the same
whether you’re heading West to East or
the reverse,” he says. “Be sensitive to the
culture of the local area. That takes time.
You may stumble, but with prudence it will
pay off in the long run. Allow time.” That’s
certainly a formula that has worked for the
Kadoories, who have built their enterprises
over generations.
Lastly, given his interest in the China
Clippers, we couldn’t help asking, even
if whimsically, is there a possible future
market in flying boats for Gulfstream’s
engineers to consider? He laughs. “If they
made it out of noncorrosive materials and
it had the performance of a G650, maybe
there would be a market for people on
isolated islands. But it’s unlikely. I look
forward to the G650. I think Gulfstream
has always been a leader in terms
of engineering.” n
“China spans huge distances. There’s a clear need for
private aviation, which can speed up business generally.”
25
GULF.ss11.kadoorie.indd 25 9/12/11 10:36 AM
28. Hong Kong is a magnet for Westerners of all ages itching
with ambition and eager to tackle new challenges. Hong
Kong says to them: Come on, bring your talents; we’ll
learn from you, you’ll learn from us.And so it was that
Björn Näf arrived in Hong Kong in October 2010 to try
something new.
A former airline pilot for Swiss carrier Crossair, Näf
showed an early talent for management and ended up
leading Swiss Express and later Gulf Air, which stands
alone in first-class service with its sky chefs and sky
nannies. He also spent four years running a humanitarian
relief airline for the U.N. in Africa. It all taught him the value
of teamwork, he says.
Bringing more than 20 years of aviation experience
from commercial airlines, Näf is convinced that opera-
tional excellence and service excellence are two very
important aspects to the future success of Metrojet. Part
of his mission is to standardize and improve the quality of
back-end services such as accounting, billing, information
technology, human resources, finance and dispatch—with
the end result being smoother, better front-end service
that the business jet customer does see.
Business aviation is still a young industry in Asia,
Näf says. So improving operations will be important to
growth.“We aim to position Metrojet as the best-in-class
one-stop shop for business aviation in aircraft charter,
aircraft management, maintenance, sales and services.”
A quick learner, we asked Näf what business jet
operators, or those thinking of becoming an operator,
should know.
I’m thinking of buying an airplane? Where
should I register it?
Well, if you wish to charter your aircraft to offset operating
costs, and you are based in Hong Kong, we recom-
mend the Hong Kong Registry. Metrojet, and others, have
Aircraft Operating Certificates
(AOCs) from the Hong Kong
Civil Aviation Department
(HKCAD), permitting us to fly
for hire.
If you intend to operate
the aircraft strictly privately,
we’ve found there is little
difference among private
aircraft registrations, such as U.S., Cayman Islands, Isle of
Man and Bermuda.
Let’s say I want to register in Hong Kong.
What should I be thinking about?
Certain aircraft are considered “first of type” in Hong
Kong—that particular model hasn’t been registered there
before. If that’s the case, expect a six- to nine-month lead
time to register with HKCAD.Whatever type you want to
register, allow about six months to recruit pilots, as very
few HKCAD-rated pilots are available for business jets.
Why is this business of flight plan filing so
complicated, and wait times so variable?
Well, business aviation here is still a new phenomenon,
and the air traffic control (ATC) system in China, and in
most of the world, is geared toward airliners which fly on
fixed, predictable schedules. But we are seeing a lot more
flexibility now in China as the ATC system learns how to
accommodate business aviation. I can tell you what we
do at Metrojet to expedite approvals.We have a repre-
sentative office in Beijing to facilitate requests, allowing
us to receive flight plan approvals in less than 24 hours,
although two days is typical.
For destinations worldwide, we maintain a 24/7 flight
dispatch operation.That speeds up the approval process.
What are the most frequent routes to and from
Hong Kong?
For Asia—Beijing, Shanghai,
Tokyo and Singapore. London
and Paris for Europe. In the
U.S., the most frequent destina-
tions are Los Angeles, San
Francisco and Las Vegas.Viva
Las Vegas!
I’m from the U.S. or Europe.
What’s different about
flying in Asia—what should I be aware of?
There are fewer airports, that’s one thing.And just
because a destination has an airport doesn’t necessarily
mean it’s accessible by business jet. Expect longer lead
times for permits than you would in America or Europe—
you can’t be quite as spontaneous.There’s less ground
support infrastructure for business aviation—FBOs and
all the services they can offer.
Also, expect higher costs for just about everything:
fuel, third-party handling charges, over-flight fees,
management fees.
If I’m an Asian businessperson new to aviation, what
can a management company do to assist me in us-
ing an aircraft efficiently and effectively?
We’re advisors, project managers, consultants and service
providers all in one. It really depends on the level of sup-
port you need. Some customers just want maintenance
management; the other aspects of owning an airplane
they can take care of themselves. For some customers,
we help identify the right aircraft, negotiate the purchase,
supervise the outfitting, arrange all necessary certifica-
tions, and provide pilots, maintenance and all other
aspects of full-service management.
Business aviation is new and a little mysterious to a
lot of businesspeople who could benefit from it.We help
make it less mysterious and more practical. n
Aviation in
asia, a primer
Björn Näf, chief executive officer of Metrojet,
shares insights on operating an aircraft
in Hong Kong, China and other parts of Asia.
26 Nonstop By Gulfstream
KathyAlmand
GULF.ss11.metrojet.indd 26 8/31/11 12:51 PM
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30. 28 Nonstop By Gulfstream
denting the
Sound
Barrier
It takes decades of experience—and the latest technology—to fly faster than 90 percent of the speed of sou
By J. Mac McClellan
GULF.ss11.g650.indd 28 9/12/11 1:03 PM
31. dd of sound for 5,000 miles.
KathyAlmand
29
GULF.ss11.g650.indd 29 9/12/11 1:04 PM
32. The sound barrier conjures up images of
steely-eyed test pilots with the right stuff flying rocket-
powered airplanes over the California desert in the
late 1940s. True, those pilots did “break” the sound
barrier, but they couldn’t change the physics that hold
back all jets that approach the speed of sound.
Yet with attention to the details of every curve
and shape on the G650, Gulfstream engineers have
been able to create an airplane that will routinely
fly for many thousands of miles at 90 percent of the
speed of sound. No other airplane, civilian or mili-
tary, can do that. Only the Concorde could cruise
faster than sound, but its range was barely enough
to cross the Atlantic, while the G650 could almost
cross the ocean twice flying at Mach .90 without
stopping for fuel.
To understand why there is a sound barrier
that holds back the speed of jets, imagine a crowd
of people walking along in the same direction, per-
haps leaving a stadium after a sporting event. Each
of those people is just like a molecule of air. They
are moving as quickly as they can without knocking
each other over, or shoving and jostling.
Now imagine a person trying to run through
the crowd. Soon, the runner would be crashing into
people, who would then knock aside others and
there would be chaos. That is what happens to the
air molecules when a jet flies close to the speed of
sound. The molecules just can’t get out of the way
and they must be pushed aside.
At flying speeds up to about 400 mph, the air
molecules can move fast enough to get out of the
way of the airplane, just as the people walking in
an orderly crowd can move smoothly. But at speeds
As the airplane flies faster, the pile of air molecules
ahead forms a giant wave that the airplane
must force its way through to fly even faster.
PaulSuszynski
PaulSuszynski
30 Nonstop By Gulfstream
GULF.ss11.g650.indd 30 9/12/11 1:04 PM
33. To fly near the speed of sound for great
distances, every surface of the aircraft
must be aerodynamically optimized.
These images of the Gulfstream G650
show some of the aircraft’s unique
geometry, including the wing-to-body
fairing, the engine nacelles and, of
course, the wing itself. In flight, the
shape of the G650 wing is ever-chang-
ing, with every subtle curve and swoop
being absolutely critical for controlling
how the air flows over and under the
wing while the airplane flies near the
speed of sound.
31
GULF.ss11.g650.indd 31 9/12/11 1:04 PM
34. faster than 400 mph, the airplane begins
to push the air molecules into each other.
The molecules begin to pile up ahead of
the airplane. As the airplane flies faster,
the pile of air molecules ahead forms a
giant wave that the airplane must force
its way through to fly even faster.
So it isn’t really the speed of sound
that is the barrier to fast flight, but the
behavior of air molecules when they
are disturbed. Sound waves disturb air
molecules and they transmit that wave
at a specific speed we call Mach 1, the
speed of sound. Mach 1 is the fastest air
molecules can move without piling up
on each other. The actual speed of Mach
1 varies with temperature. Sound travels
the fastest in warm air and slows down
as the air cools with altitude. Near the
surface of the earth, Mach 1 equals about
760 mph. At the high altitudes above
38,000 feet where Gulfstreams fly, Mach
1 is about 660 mph.
The real challenge in designing a
fast jet is that before the airplane actu-
ally reaches the speed of Mach 1, the air
flowing over the airplane has acceler-
ated to that speed. As the airplane moves
through the air, the air molecules must
speed up to pass over and under the fuse-
lage, wings and tail. At some fast flying
speed, the air speeding up to pass around
the airplane will reach Mach 1 and the
big wave of piled-up air molecules will
form, holding the airplane back even
though the actual speed of the airplane
is far slower than Mach 1. In a jet using
older technology, this big drag increase
begins when the airplane is flying at
around 70 percent of the speed of sound,
or Mach .70, as pilots say.
The design triumph of the G650 is
that it is able to control how the drag of
the piled-up air molecules forms into a
wave as the airplane accelerates to Mach
The design triumph of the G650 is that it is able to
control how the drag of the piled-up air molecules form
into a wave as the airplane accelerates to Mach .90.
KathyAlmand
32 Nonstop By Gulfstream
GULF.ss11.g650.indd 32 9/12/11 1:05 PM
35. .90, or even up to its limit of Mach .925.
Gulfstream engineers cannot prevent
the air from piling up into a wave as the
molecules flow over the airplane, but
they have figured out how to make the
air behave to create the least drag. The
technology Gulfstream refined mini-
mizes the wave, and makes its formation
gradual, while on other jets the wave
shape is steep and its formation is abrupt
and the drag is insurmountable.
The shape of the wing is, of course,
critical, and so are the shape and slope
of the windshield. The design of the
fairing that guides the air around the
junction of the wing and fuselage is
absolutely crucial to controlling the
Mach wave drag. And the location of the
engines and the shape of their mounting
pylons and nacelles are huge factors in
the airplane’s low drag.
When you get to walk around a G650,
look at the underside of the wing. It is
absolutely smooth. There are none of the
fairings hanging down, as there are on other
jets, because all of the wing flap actuation
mechanism is housed within the wing.
Also, look at the sweep angle of the wing,
the way it swoops up toward the wingtips,
and notice how the shape and thickness of
the wing changes continuously along its
span. These subtle, almost imperceptible
changes in the wing are the fundamental
technology that Gulfstream has developed
and perfected over the years. There was
not one “ah-ha” moment in the creation
of the G650 with its unprecedented speed.
Rather, its success is the collection and
perfection of 40 years’ worth of techniques
learned by designing and building the fast-
est and longest range business jets.
The sound barrier still exists; it’s
real in terms of a hurdle holding back
the top cruise speed of jets, but Gulf-
stream technology allows the G650 to
nuzzle up to the sound barrier without
sacrificing fuel efficiency, cruise range or
safety. Other jets using less sophisticated
technology are still trying to push those
air molecules out of the way and are
burning up a lot of fuel and going slower
to do it. n
Computers Can ‘See’ Air
Color coding shows how fast air molecules are moving—
key knowledge in optimizing aircraft design.
Gulfstream employs the most sophisticated computer modeling to tailor airflow and air pressure distribution around the aircraft. This
aspect of engineering is called Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), because air (from the point of view of physics) behaves as a fluid.
CFD provides engineers a visually stunning depiction of flow patterns.
The image above provides a colorized representation of local air pressure: the warmer the shade, the faster the speed of air flowing
around the surface of the aircraft, some of it at supersonic speed.The image also shows “off body” pressure distribution.The outer dark
blue patterns at a distance from the airplane are weaker pressure fields generated by the aircraft’s passage through the air.
Engineers use CFD to tailor “hot spots” by controlling pressure, reducing drag and shock wave strength, and eliminating flow
turbulence to allow travel at extremely high speeds in silent cabins. Optimized regions include the wing and tail planes, the aft fuselage/
pylon geometrics, the wing-to-body fairing, the cockpit crown, the Enhanced Vision System camera, and the engine nacelles.
CFD can analyze pressure distribution in all sorts of ways (the image above shows “slices” along the wing). CFD is used to design
the shape of the aircraft for precise control of airflow across the span of the wing and around the whole airframe. Every CFD
image is the result of billions of calculations. The intersections in the grid pattern show individual points where flow equations are
iteratively solved. The grid becomes much denser as it moves toward and around the surface of the aircraft, where flow parameters
change rapidly and reach large magnitudes. Engineers make thousands of CFD “runs” to optimize and perfect the aircraft’s aero-
dynamics. Gulfstream uses cutting edge NASA CFD tools as well as commercial and proprietary CFD tools in its work.
33
GULF.ss11.g650.indd 33 9/12/11 1:05 PM
36. 34 Nonstop By Gulfstream
Italian fashion? Guess again.
Purple shift button dress by Roma
Narsinghani in Mumbai. Our new
friends at Verve magazine did
a great job of meshing a bright
fashion palette with the bold lines
of the G450.
GULF.ss11.fashion.indd 34 9/13/11 12:46 PM
37. 35
A Passageto
India
From high tech to
high fashion
to high-flying
airplanes, Bangalore
attracts them all.
Gulfstream is known for its firsts. Well, here’s another one—conducting the
first fashion shoot at Yelahanka Air Force Station in Bangalore, India. Security
is tight on air bases anywhere, as you can imagine. And their proprietors are
not accustomed to hosting fashionistas. So a little explanation is in order for
how the ultimate business machine became fashion accessory for the day.
By Jeff Miller
ColstonJulian
GULF.ss11.fashion.indd 35 9/13/11 12:46 PM
38. 36 Nonstop By Gulfstream
We didn’t come to Bangalore with
this specific mission in mind. We came to
participate in one of the world’s increas-
ingly important aerospace trade shows—
Aero India 2011.
But when the extremely persua-
sive Falguni Kapadia, editor-in-chief
of India’s prominent Verve magazine,
proposed combining haute couture and
high-altitude travel, we capitulated and
said we would try to figure out the logis-
tics for such an undertaking.
The rapid growth in the Indian
economy is well-known. Less well-known
is the rapid maturation of its aerospace
industry, largely centered in Bangalore,
which is also regarded as India’s Silicon
Valley. The world’s aerospace industry
beat a path to Bangalore this year to show
its wares and look for strategic tie-ins.
Aero India looked very much like the
now century-old Paris Air Show, only with
guaranteed sunshine. Fighter performanc-
es dominated prime-time air show hours,
just as they do in Paris and Farnborough.
Government dignitaries and prominent
industrialists such as Ratan Tata were seen
climbing in and out of fighter cockpits,
and much was made of this in the Indian
media, as the country is on the cusp of a
major fighter acquisition.
Aero India has simply become a
must-attend event for the aerospace
community, and that goes for business
aviation, too. So Gulfstream brought its
G450 and G550 aircraft to the show and
hosted guests in a nearby chalet.
In our preparation for attendance,
we found some interesting data on the
Indian market. The country has a grow-
ing roster of billionaires: reportedly 47,
Clockwise from top left: High gloss on model Preeti
Dhata and on the G450. En route from Mumbai to Ban-
galore, Fortune magazine’s Pavan Lall, Gulfstream Sales
Vice President Jason Akovenko, flight attendant Denée
Nason and Regional Senior Vice President Roger Sperry.
Verve calls these “multi-coloured button leggings,” and
cites Janis Joplin as the inspiration. OK with us.
Photos:JeffMiller
GULF.ss11.fashion.indd 36 9/12/11 12:00 PM
40. 38 Nonstop By Gulfstream
ranking fourth in the world, according
to the Forbes’ 2010 billionaires list. With
more than 126,000 millionaires, India
has the eighth largest base of high-net-
worth individuals, with year-over-year
growth of 51 percent, according to Merrill
Lynch-Capgemini, not to mention an ac-
tive IPO market and positive investment
climate. If we were a military organiza-
tion, we would call that a target-rich
environment.
For all its increasing wealth, business
aviation is still in the early stages in India,
limited to a certain extent by infrastruc-
ture, landing slot allocations and other
growing pains typical of emerging mar-
kets. That picture is changing, however.
India now has its first international FBO,
run by Universal Aviation in Mumbai, and
this is an important step forward.
Indian entrepreneurs seeking to
expand global business relationships un-
derstand the value of business aviation,
and are learning how to use these rapid-
transit machines to strategic advantage.
That’s why our fleet in India is growing,
quadrupling in the last decade from five
to more than 20.
More than half of those aircraft are
our longest range models, because Indian
business people, like those in other parts
of the world, have to cover vast distances.
But it’s nice to know that even our mid-
The Verve crew made the G450 a character, not a backdrop,
in a story about the unlimited possibilities of private aviation.
38 Nonstop By Gulfstream
GULF.ss11.fashion.indd 38 9/12/11 12:00 PM
41. summer 2011 39
Fourteen-seat G450 interior with
three seating areas and white
leather, dark wood interior—a hit
with air show visitors. Maroon jacket
and skirt from India’s Shahab Durazi.
ColstonJulian
39
GULF.ss11.fashion.indd 39 9/12/11 12:01 PM
42. 40 Nonstop By Gulfstream
cabin airplanes like the new G280 excel
on routes such as Mumbai to Moscow or
Singapore.
But what about the fashion models,
you ask. Of all the tactical missions per-
formed at Yelahanka, few may have been
more complex than the Gulfstream and
Verve photo shoot.
These things take careful planning; in
this case, weeks coordinating with the Indian
Air Force, the police and other authorities. We
were not sure the shoot would happen until
Verve’s photo crew passed the last guarded gate
at Yelahanka’s Aero India 2011.
The Verve crew made the G450 a
character, not a backdrop, in a story
about the unlimited possibilities of pri-
vate aviation. For that, we thank Kapadia
and her entire team.
Photographer Colston Julian quickly
assessed the interior and exterior lighting
and angle possibilities. The aptly named
model Preeti Dhata was a consummate
professional, looking cool as a cucumber
in woolen outfits on a hot tarmac.
The G450 showed its impressive
cabin features: an extensive wardrobe was
hung in the walk-in baggage
compartment; Dhata emerged from
the large lavatory transformed in a
new outfit each time; makeup was
applied in the cabin, and refreshments
were served from the galley. Gulfstream
pilots were on hand to keep the
aircraft powered up with a ground
power cart, and cooled with an
external air-conditioning unit.
I don’t think another magazine or
aircraft company will achieve something
like this any time soon—the process,
even though the airplane never left the
ground, was about as complicated as a
polar circumnavigation. n
Clockwise from top left: The Red Bull aerobatic team
promotes the high-energy drink with, well, verve. Hair styling
in the Gulfstream version of a makeup studio. Crowds
observing jet fighter performance. Verve editor Falguni
Kapadia and photographer Colston Julian setting up a shot.
Photos:JeffMiller
GULF.ss11.fashion.indd 40 9/12/11 12:01 PM
43. summer 2011 41
If there is one thing our
customers especially love, it’s
our trademark large elliptical
windows, which provide
spectacular views. For this
shot, the Verve team selected
“space age” pants from
Wendell Rodricks of Goa and
a top from designer Reynu
Tandon in New Delhi.
ColstonJulian
41
GULF.ss11.fashion.indd 41 9/12/11 12:01 PM
44. PlaneAdvantage lets pilots experience the huge
safety margins built into every Gulfstream jet.
The remarkable safety record of the business jet fleet is founded on full-motion simulator training,
and Gulfstream and its partner FlightSafety International offer the most advanced simulator training
in the world. Yet, as realistic as the latest simulators are, they cannot duplicate every abnormal situation
a Gulfstream jet is designed to handle. That’s why Gulfstream’s test pilots have developed the new
PlaneAdvantage™ professional pilot development training program. PlaneAdvantage demonstrates in
flight how the Gulfstream can handle the worst that nature or mechanical failures can throw at it.
By the time pilots are qualified to captain a Gulfstream, they have logged many thousands of
hours. But for most, those hours will have been the routine, safe and smooth flying we all expect.
Abnormal situations are extremely rare, and a typical pilot may go his whole career without seeing an
unusual event, except in the simulator. But the people who design and build Gulfstreams expect the
unexpected and have prepared the Gulfstream to handle it. And Gulfstream test pilots make certain
that every jet off the assembly line is up to this demanding world-class standard.
By J. Mac McClellan
Photography by Kathy Almand
42 NONSTOP BY GULFSTREAM
GULF.ss11.planeadvantage.indd 42 8/31/11 12:44 PM
45. Gulfstream’s PlaneAdvantage
program lets professional pilots
execute maneuvers normally
reserved for the flight
simulator, such as steep banked
turns at high cruise altitude.
43
GULF.ss11.planeadvantage.indd 43 8/31/11 12:44 PM
46. The PlaneAdvantage training program is
actually a version of what the Gulfstream pro-
duction test pilots do with every airplane before
it is turned over to its owner. PlaneAdvantage
training is not going beyond the established
flight envelope; instead, it’s a way to show just
how large the safety margins are in a Gulf-
stream when the abnormal happens.
There are a number of other training
programs that put business jet pilots into small
aerobatic airplanes and show them how to
recover from an upset. Those programs are
good to teach basic airmanship, but they do
nothing to demonstrate how a business jet will
react in such a situation. The small aerobatic
airplanes are designed for loops and rolls and
spins; throwing them around the sky may be
interesting and even fun, but that knowledge
doesn’t transfer directly to how a business jet
will perform in a similar situation.
High-Altitude Drill
What happens, for example, if unexpected tur-
bulence upsets a business jet from its normal
flight path while flying at high cruise altitude?
At 41,000 feet the air is only 20 percent as
dense as at sea level, leaving very little cushion
for some wing designs to create lift. That’s why
all pilots maneuver gently with shallow bank
turns and gradual climb and descent angles
up high. But clear air turbulence can hold a
surprise that both the pilot and airplane need
to be prepared for.
In the PlaneAdvantage training program,
a pilot and his Gulfstream test pilot instructor
climb to high cruise altitude and purposely per-
form steeply banked turns. The Gulfstream has
the performance margin to fly through those
turns even at its altitude ceiling of 45,000 for the
G450, or 51,000 feet for the G550. PlaneAdvan-
tage shows a pilot how the Gulfstream would
respond if it were upset and takes the mystery
and possible fear out of a high-altitude upset.
In simulator training engines fail all the
time, and pilots learn how to continue safely.
But how many pilots have had an actual engine
failure in flight? I haven’t. In the jet age, not
many pilots have had an engine quit because
the engines are so reliable. But it could happen,
so PlaneAdvantage training shows a pilot what
it’s really like to fly with one engine shut down.
All jets have naturally imposed limits on
how fast or how slowly they can fly. Properly
designed airplanes like the Gulfstream will
buffet and shake to warn a pilot that he is near-
ing a limit, while the advanced avionics issue
visual and audible warnings. Again, most pi-
lots never fly near the airspeed limits of a jet, so
they can only experience a simulation or read
about how the airplane will behave. In my re-
cent PlaneAdvantage training, by contrast, we
flew the G450 out to its high-speed limit and
I experienced the mild buffet of a Gulfstream
when it reaches that limit. More importantly,
I learned how to recover smoothly to a proper
airspeed for the conditions.
Approaching To Land
On the low airspeed end of the flight envelope,
training and Federal Aviaition Administration
(FAA) testing requirements demand that a jet
pilot never fly slower than the landing reference
airspeed. Flying too slowly can create a rapid sink
rate, or worse, can cause the wing to stall.
But Gulfstream jets have a wide margin
of safety built in, so there is no need to fly faster
than the target while approaching to land.
PlaneAdvantage training shows pilots how
they can fly slower than the target airspeed,
and even make steep turns, without having the
Gulfstream misbehave. The training builds
confidence in the Gulfstream so pilots are not
tempted to add extra airspeed when landing,
which can cause problems in stopping the
Author J. Mac McClellan
(right) poses with
Al Moros, a Gulfstream
test pilot who served
as McClellan’s
PlaneAdvantage
instructor.
44 Nonstop By Gulfstream
GULF.ss11.planeadvantage.indd 44 8/31/11 12:45 PM
47. aircraft on the runway.
All Gulfstreams have a two-phase warning
system to alert the pilot that he is flying too
slowly and is nearing stalling speed. The first
warning is a system that vibrates the control col-
umn, and it activates well before the wing could
stall. Pilots are taught to add power immediately
and lower the nose at this stick-shaker warning
to avoid a stall. In PlaneAdvantage training, pi-
lots allow the airplane to continue to decelerate
until the second safety device, the stick pusher,
takes over and automatically moves the control
wheel forward to gain airspeed and avoid a stall.
A True Confidence Builder
There is nothing dangerous or risky about
allowing the stick pusher to avoid a stall,
and that system is tested in every Gulfstream
before delivery, but very few nontest pilots
have experienced the stick pusher for real.
With Gulfstream senior production test pilot
Al Moros in the right seat telling me what to
expect, and then following his guidance for the
recovery with a gentle movement back on the
wheel, I found the stick pusher experience was
a true confidence builder.
Gulfstreams have layer upon layer of
backups for the critical systems, including
electrical and hydraulic, so the odds of being
without those systems are extremely long. But
PlaneAdvantage shows pilots what it’s like to
fly if all three or four generating systems should
somehow fail. I was amazed how much equip-
ment the batteries could support, including the
autopilot. And there are emergency batteries
backing up the normal batteries.
Gulfstreams use hydraulics to muscle
the flight controls, much the same way as cars
have power steering. It would take multiple
failures of the rarest type to lose that power
steering, but Moros, who developed the
PlaneAdvantage training syllabus for the G400
series, “tricked” the systems into going offline
so I could fly the G450 with no power assists.
Just like in the car with failed power steering,
the controls are heavy and hard to move, but
the airplane is entirely controllable. Even if the
extremely unlikely sequence of multiple fail-
ures required to leave you without hydraulics
did happen, PlaneAdvantage shows how you
can fly on to a safe landing.
PlaneAdvantage takes pilots through many
other very abnormal situations such as failure of
the flaps to extend, or aborting a landing at the
last minute, including a go-around using only
one of the two engines. Every normal system is
intentionally disabled so that pilots can experi-
ence flying with the backup system.
PlaneAdvantage is such an intimate look
into abnormal situations that only Gulfstream
test pilots teach the course; testing the airplane
in every possible situation is, after all, what
they do every day. A classroom portion cover-
ing aerodynamics and a simulator profile are
offered before the training flights. The flight
training requires about two-and-a-half hours to
complete. It comprises what test pilots call “the
test card,” which describes in exacting detail the
steps to perform each maneuver.
The Gulfstream fleet has compiled an
enviable safety record, but for those owners
who want to be certain their pilots understand
how to use every bit of the capability designed
into their jets, the PlaneAdvantage professional
pilot program is the way to give them invalu-
able hands-on experience flying safely if the
unexpected happens. n
McClellan watches from the left seat (above) as
PlaneAdvantage instructor Moros runs through the
ground portion of the test card. The landing drill (below)
gives Gulfstream pilots confidence not to add extra
speed while approaching to land.
MatthewStephan
45
GULF.ss11.planeadvantage.indd 45 9/13/11 12:48 PM
48. 46 NONSTOP BY GULFSTREAM
Monterey
Square
From homicide to holiness, this historic square in
the South’s seductive city of Savannah has seen it all.
By Patty Jensen
Photography by Terry Duthu
GULF.ss11.monterey.indd 46 9/12/11 10:38 AM
49. It’s a sultry summer evening in one
of Savannah’s hauntingly beautiful,
centuries-old squares. The humid air
hangs as heavily as the gray Spanish moss
draping the square’s majestic live oak
trees, their gnarly limbs eagerly peering
above the neighborhood’s rooftops,
listening to the wind’s gossipy whispers.
If only these ancient behemoths could
speak. As custodians of Monterey Square,
they have watched its history unfold,
including the mysterious doings at a home
that hosted a homicide so heinous—and
fascinating—it inspired a best-selling
book and movie. Among other memorable
events were the construction of a soaring,
neo-Gothic-style synagogue with Jewish
roots going back to the early 1700s; and
the creation of an obelisk monument to a
Polish hero of the American Revolution-
ary War paradoxically erected in a square
dedicated to the Mexican-American War.
But with true Southern gentility, the
trees have kept their thoughts to themselves.
Some claim Monterey Square, estab-
lished in 1847, is the most beautiful of the
city’s historic squares, of which 23 of the
original 24 remain. Savannah is Georgia’s
first city, founded by Gen. James Edward
Oglethorpe on Feb. 12, 1733, and now
home to Gulfstream’s world headquarters.
Oglethorpe’s decidedly modern vision was
to develop a village of mixed uses, where
each square had trust lots for public struc-
tures on the east and west and tything lots
for private homes on the north and south.
Today, much has changed on Mon-
terey Square, but more has not. All of the
surrounding structures, except the United
Way building, are original to the square.
Perhaps the most famous—or infa-
mous—is Mercer House, situated at the
southwest end of the square. Begun in
1860, the home’s construction was inter-
rupted by the American Civil War and not
completed until 1868. However, it is not
the building’s red-brick beauty that attracts
47
GULF.ss11.monterey.indd 47 9/12/11 10:39 AM
50. a steady stream of tourists in horse-drawn
carriages, trams and on foot—it’s murder.
Purchased in 1969 by Savannah
restorationist Jim Williams, it was later
the site of the shooting death of Williams’
lover and assistant, Danny Hansford. The
story’s drama was retold in the 1994 best-
selling novel, Midnight in the Garden of
Good and Evil, and later in a star-studded
movie by the same name. Affectionately
known in Savannah as simply “The
Book,” the novel and film are credited
with increasing the city’s recognition and
resulting tourism revenues.
Directly across the square, history
transitions from homicide to holiness.
Congregation Mickve Israel’s mag-
nificent neo-Gothic synagogue, completed
in 1878, reflects Savannah’s strong Jewish
heritage. Only five months after Gen.
Oglethorpe founded the city, 41 Jews ar-
rived by ship from London to settle in the
New World, establish a congregation and
raise their families. Architecturally, the
48 Nonstop By Gulfstream
GULF.ss11.monterey.indd 48 9/12/11 10:39 AM
51. Opposite, top left: The infamous Mercer House, where mystery
and murder came together to spawn a best-selling book and
star-studded movie, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.
Consecrated on April 11,1878, Congregation Mickve Israel’s
synagogue (this page) was built in an unusual neo-Gothic
style. Opposite, from top right: Light filters through multicol-
ored stained glass windows to softly bathe the synagogue’s
soaring sanctuary. A page from the congregation’s book of
corporate matters displays the signatures of early members
of Mickve Israel. The keyboard is a detail of a small reed
organ that served as a substitute for the sanctuary’s large
pipe organ damaged in 1900. Brian Markowitz, a local
Savannah businessman, serves as the congregation’s
parnas, a position similar to president.
49
GULF.ss11.monterey.indd 49 9/12/11 10:40 AM
52. synagogue features a neo-Gothic design,
including faux-marble cast iron columns,
Gothic arches, stained glass windows, a
choir loft and 40-foot ceiling.
Travel down the square to Taylor Street,
home of Ginger and John Duncan and
their quaint shop located on the building’s
lower level, offering antique maps, prints
and books. Originally a modest house, built
in 1869 with two stories over a basement,
today’s gorgeous four-story, Second-Empire
Baroque-style home was created in the 1880s
by a department store owner who believed
in conspicuous consumption. The couple
fell in love with Monterey Square, and
waited patiently until a house opened up
for sale. Now worth nearly $2 million, the
Duncans purchased the home for $36,000
in 1976. Almost the entire interior is
original to the home.
Hop across the square and enter Alex
Raskin Antiques. Located on the south end of
the square, this building is the last unrestored
grand mansion in Savannah. Owner Alex
Raskin, a native of Savannah who was born
300 yards from his business, has spent years
accumulating a treasure trove of artifacts,
from historical trinkets to one-of-a-kind
exquisite pieces of furniture. His shop, four
50 Nonstop By Gulfstream
GULF.ss11.monterey.indd 50 9/12/11 10:40 AM
53. Clockwise from upper left: John and Ginger Duncan and their Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, Sally and Emma,
pose in the Duncans’ antique maps, prints and books shop. The home’s front parlor features the original wood
and plaster cornices, pier mirror, stencil ceilings, marble fireplace, chandeliers and Georgia heart pine flooring.
Dappled sunlight shines through a bay window to illuminate a recamier. The facade of the 1880s house was
designed to impress. A rare lithograph shows Monterey Square’s Pulaski Monument in 1855. Deer antlers grace
the back porch. A wooden, four-foot tall West African rain mask seems to look out at the world in amazement.
51
GULF.ss11.monterey.indd 51 9/12/11 10:40 AM
54. 52 Nonstop By Gulfstream
GULF.ss11.monterey.indd 52 9/12/11 10:41 AM
55. floors crammed with thousands of items,
entices customers to spend whatever it takes
to possess these desirable collectables.
Back to the centerpiece of Monterey
Square—the monument to Polish Gen.
Casimir Pulaski, who served his adopted
American country so faithfully during the
American Revolutionary War. There is
much controversy as to whether Pulaski
truly lies below the obelisk. During
the reconstruction of the monument,
Pulaski’s alleged remains were exhumed
in 1996 and examined in a lengthy forensic
study. The results were inconclusive.
So is it the general’s body buried beneath
the monument? The trees aren’t telling. n
Opposite page, clockwise from upper left: Alex Raskin chose
the corner of Bull and Gordon to establish his antique shop
and showcase its thousands of treasures.A pair of mahogany
English parlor chairs, circa1900, await a buyer, while a chandelier
of Russian or Polish ancestry invites you to gaze up into its
beautiful crystals. Considered to be Savannah’s last unrestored
grand mansion, the home’s12,000 square feet and four floors
are perfect for housing the antique shop’s large pieces, including
armoires, gilded mirrors, breakfronts and sideboards. This page:
The staircase to the second floor features faded prints and faded
memories of bygone days.A graceful1860s Meridian chaise
lounge is lit by the late afternoon sun.
53
GULF.ss11.monterey.indd 53 9/12/11 10:41 AM
56. SnowPolo
Landsin
CHINA
SnowPolo
With a little help from
Gulfstream, a wintry
version of the Sport
of Kings is flourishing
in Tianjin.
CHINA
By Jeff Miller
Photography by Patrick Wack
54 NONSTOP BY GULFSTREAM
GULF.ss11.snowpolo.indd 54 9/12/11 1:00 PM
57. China has achieved a lot of milestones recently. It’s be-
come the world’s second largest economy, has the second
largest number of billionaires (115 according to Forbes)
and is the largest consumer of automobiles.
And now China has hosted its first international snow
polo tournament.
It’s probably too soon to analyze the social signifi-
cance of the arrival of the Sport of Kings in China. But
the tournament certainly is a powerful statement of the
country’s economic emergence.
Tianjin Goldin Metropolitan Polo Club, the tour-
nament’s organizer, invited Gulfstream to sponsor this
February event in Tianjin, a city of 11 million two hours’
drive from Beijing. Polo being the right kind of networking
environment for Gulfstream, we accepted.
The Polo Club is being developed by Goldin Proper-
ties and its visionary chairman, Pan Sutong. Chairman
Pan made one fortune in MP3 players and other
electronics. He is building another in mixed real estate
development in Tianjin.
The Polo Club is just one part of a complex intended to
include Goldin Finance 117, planned to be Tianjin’s tallest
office tower with 117 floors. The vast complex will even-
tually showcase luxury hotels, government buildings, an
international central business district, an upscale shopping
Team France and Team New Zealand vie for control of
the ball. Snow polo uses an inflated type of mini-basketball
for better visibility and control on snow.
55
GULF.ss11.snowpolo.indd 55 9/12/11 1:00 PM
58. 56 Nonstop By Gulfstream
mall, Broadway-style theaters, apartments
and homes.
Goldin Properties, which will develop
the Tianjin site in three phases over five
years, believes it is in the right place at the
right time. Tianjin is fast growing, but not
traffic clogged. It is closely integrated by
rail and road with Beijing. Plus, the Goldin
development is on the outskirts of Tianjin
in the direction of Beijing, but only 25
minutes from downtown and also near the
Tianjin airport.
Moreover, Tianjin is being promoted
by the Central Government as a new finan-
cial and economic center. Beijing planners
intend Tianjin to be the country’s next
economic powerhouse after Shenzhen and
Shanghai.
There’s a lot of real estate develop-
ment going on in China. Anyone who’s
read a newspaper lately knows that. For
upper middle class and affluent consum-
ers, much of this development is taking
place around golf courses. But many
developers can offer a Greg Norman- or
Robert Trent Jones-developed golf course
community these days.
Polo, however; that’s distinctive.
Chairman Pan wanted a commu-
nity that would appeal to several income
brackets, including upscale families
who would look at their home and club
membership as a multigenerational
investment. In fact, at this snow polo
tournament, fathers who play came to
watch their sons play.
Team HK Goldin faced competitors from
New Zealand, Australia, Argentina, England
and France. Team England took top honors,
with Team Argentina the runner-up.
But how long can it be before China leads
in polo, as well? n
Clockwise from left: Entertainers roam the sidelines to
keep the audience amused during breaks between the six-
minute chukkers; even hardy polo ponies are drained after
six minutes of vigorous play and need a rest. Gulfstream’s
banner is displayed among the event’s sponsors. Audience
members watch the action intently.
GULF.ss11.snowpolo.indd 56 9/12/11 1:01 PM
60. Clockwise from top left: Chairman Pan Sutong of Goldin Properties presents
the champion trophy to Team England.We received a tour of the polo stables
by Judy Shen, director of membership sales for the Tianjin Goldin Metropolitan
Polo Club.This model of the Goldin Metropolitan project shows its two polo
fields along with residential and commercial developments that are in the
making. Gulfstream’s Peter Hoi, regional vice president of sales for the Far East,
and Roger Sperry, regional senior vice president of sales for South America
and the Far East, proudly sport their official polo tournament parkas, while Hoi
calls attention to the Gulfstream logo.A statue of a polo player and pony helps
welcome guests to the Tianjin Goldin Metropolitan Hotel, a luxury resort destina-
tion located next to the polo club.Traditional Chinese tunes with a beat, played
on Lucite instruments, no less.
58 Nonstop By Gulfstream
GULF.ss11.snowpolo.indd 58 9/13/11 12:49 PM
61. HK Goldin’s Chevy Beh
controls the ball. Polo is an
upscale endeavor, but it’s
not croquet. Polo players
have more “war stories”
than pilots. This we learned
over dinner with the players
around the traditional “lazy
Susan” piled with Chinese
favorites, including roast
whole piglet.
A Short
History of
Snow Polo
Polo, which the casual observer tends
to associate with European royalty and
Argentinean playboys, may have actually
originated in China and Persia 2,000
years ago, according to a brief history
of the sport provided by the Ascot Park
Polo Club.
The British discovered polo in India
and exported it to their home country.
The oldest polo club in continuous
existence is reported to be the Calcutta
Club, founded in 1862. The first polo club
in England was founded in 1872 and
in Argentina in 1875. It was an Olympic
sport from 1900 to 1939, and there was
some discussion among aficionados in
Tianjin that it should be again.
Snow polo, played on a smaller
field with snow-shoe-equipped polo
ponies, originated in the 1960s. It was
formally introduced in 1985 in St. Moritz,
Switzerland, where today it is played on a
frozen lake for the Cartier Trophy.
In the U.S., it is played exclusively
in Aspen, Colo.
As a first-time observer of the
sport in any form, I found at least a few
things of interest. The ponies are bred
and trained for maneuverability and have
the remarkable ability to stop on a dime
and shift direction quickly. They are also
fearless. Other types of horses would
be frightened by a mallet swung close to
their eyes. Not polo ponies.
Also, it’s a rough sport. It’s perfectly
acceptable to push other ponies around
and even, in snow polo at least, to “slam
them into the boards,” as in ice hockey.The
ponies are tough and the riders are gutsy.
Lastly, snow polo does require a
warm wardrobe. Arriving directly from
Mumbai, for which I had packed
appropriately lightweight wool suits, I
found myself the next morning touring
the plush—but unheated—polo stables
at the Metropolitan Polo Club. My toes
went numb in minutes, followed by
a bout of shivering until I arrived at a
heated tent on the polo grounds and
had a nice cup of tea.
—Jeff Miller
59
GULF.ss11.snowpolo.indd 59 9/12/11 1:02 PM
62. All business jets meet the minimum
safety standards set by the Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA). Gulfstream looks
ahead of the existing requirements for new
ways to improve the safety and utility of its
business jets. Gulfstream’s development of
its Enhanced Vision System (EVS) caused
the FAA to write a new rule to define EVS
performance and to allow Gulfstream pilots
to land safely when other business jets can’t.
And now, as usual, others in the business jet
industry are following Gulfstream.
EVS uses an infrared camera to see
through fog, precipitation and darkness.
That’s not new. The military and even basic
security cameras have used infrared tech-
niques for many years. But it was Gulf-
stream’s program manager Bob Morris and
experimental test pilot Gary Freeman who
grasped that a properly designed infrared
camera could give a business jet pilot a real-
time look at the runway ahead—even though
low visibility blocked the human eye view.
Morris made the business case, and Freeman
would prove the system.
Infrared cameras work by detecting slight
differences in temperature. When the cam-
era is pointed at the airport, as it is when a
Gulfstream is on final approach to the runway,
the runway pavement is slightly warmer than
the grass on either side, so the runway shows
clearly. Objects at the airport such as buildings
also have a unique temperature that makes
them visible. Vehicles or other airplanes give
off significant heat, so they really stand out on
the EVS display, as do the runway lights. Even
large animals, such as a deer on the runway, can
be seen on EVS, although fog or darkness may
block the view of the runway itself.
Searching for Bad Weather
The infrared camera works well in the
laboratory or fixed on a pole as a security sen-
sor; making it function while moving through
the air at hundreds of miles per hour while
mounted in the nose of a Gulfstream was the
hard part. And that’s why it took Freeman and
pilots Ron Newton and Glenn Connor, along
with flight test engineer Bill Osborne, hundreds
of hours flying approaches to landings in
terrible weather to perfect EVS.
Freeman and Connor flew the first EVS
tests in a Cessna propeller airplane that was
stuffed full of large experimental electronics,
including an F-16 head-up display (HUD). As
those tests gained success, the infrared camera
and the electronics to support it were miniatur-
ized and toughened up to be suitable for the
business jet environment. To be successful, the
EVS camera had to function when it was 90
degrees Fahrenheit at the airport, and then be
subjected to minus 70 degrees at cruise altitude.
The camera itself had to be cooled to a constant
temperature, no matter the extremes of tem-
perature outside the airplane.
The EVS camera is mounted in a small
bump on the nose of Gulfstreams. It peers
ahead through a lens that is heated to prevent
fogging up or icing over. The camera is aimed
to replicate the pilot’s eye view from the cockpit.
The other key element to the success
of EVS is the HUD, which Gulfstream
was first to offer in a business jet. Like the
infrared camera, the HUD, a special glass lens
mounted ahead of the pilot’s eyes, has roots
in the military. The magic of the HUD is that
numbers and symbols—and the EVS image—
can be projected onto the lens, but the pilot
60 Nonstop By Gulfstream
How EVS
Came to Light
Gulfstream’s enhanced vision technology caused
the FAA to set new safety standards. By J. Mac McClellan
{ stick and rudder }
KathyAlmand
GULF.ss11.EVS.indd 60 9/12/11 12:43 PM
