The view from 51,000 feet, tail camera, G650ER

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Feb 15, 2003
Messages
15,552
Location
Jupiter, Florida
Thought you guys might like this, a top camera view from our Gulfstream G650ER, cruising at 51,000 feet over Texas.

r9Z6h0l.jpg


And of course, the view from my little Cessna, over NASA's older launch pads, about 9,500 feet.

eAQDgRA.jpg
 
Isn't 51k feet pretty high for a passenger jet?

Thinner air = less resistance? Better weather?

Its a neat picture.
 
I see you are from Jupiter, just up the road from me so I can safely assume this is your personal jet. Is it normal to fly at such an altitude in these jets, most passenger jets fly around 30,000 feet.
 
Originally Posted By: Blueskies123
I see you are from Jupiter, just up the road from me so I can safely assume this is your personal jet. Is it normal to fly at such an altitude in these jets, most passenger jets fly around 30,000 feet.
Big passenger jets don't cruise nearly that high. 35,000 ft typical.
 
How is the 650ER? I was checking them out on their page and they look incredible. The range on them is unbelievable for a business/corporate jet.
 
Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
How is the 650ER? I was checking them out on their page and they look incredible. The range on them is unbelievable for a business/corporate jet.


Amazing machine. It does the 3 mutually exclusive "things" equally well and at the same time. 1) range, 2) speed, 3) altitude.

The only thing that comes close to a G650ER is the G550. Every other corporate jet falls short. Does it matter? Not sure, as relatively few people actually use the long range of these beasts.

It's fast, with a M 0.87 climb speed, and a normal cruise of M 0.90 and a descent speed approaching M 0.93, it covers ground amazingly fast in all aspects of flight. People do all sorts of calculations to determine "time saved". However, they often simply use cruise speed to calculate, and neglect climb and descent.

With that in mind, the G650 might not seem much faster on shorter trips (M 0.85 vs. M 0.90 is only a few MPH) , however real world time savings is significant due to the faster climb and descent, added to the faster cruise. In particular, it covers a lot of additional ground in climb. Many jets climb at M 0.72 or less.

Coming back from Savannah, we were at M 0.925 and 100Kts faster than the airliner 1000 feet above us. Amazing sight to run up on, and pass under an airliner, with a 100Kt speed differential.

Here is a pic of the HUD (heads up display)

YFDzTxt.jpg
 
Originally Posted By: Oldmoparguy1
What would a 1 year lease with pilot cost on a G650ER?

I'm thinking about when i win the power ball....
grin2.gif



$70M new purchase price, not sure you could arrange a one year lease. Sorry.

It's said that net worth must be near a Billion to own and operate one of these. The powerball probably won't get you there. But if I were to guess, I'd say that it's possible to own and operate one with a real world net worth over $500M.

g650_aerial_7_1300_580_70.jpg
 
Last edited:
Gorgeous! Thank you. Is it true that one of the pilots must be on oxygen that high - just in case? If so, at what altitude do the put it on?
 
Originally Posted By: Cujet
Here is a pic of the HUD (heads up display) http://i.imgur.com/YFDzTxt.jpg

At first I was wondering why the Horizon line is so high (offset) on the picture. Then it occurred to me it is parallel with the tangent plane on the patch of earth under you.
 
Originally Posted By: Cujet
Originally Posted By: Oldmoparguy1
What would a 1 year lease with pilot cost on a G650ER?

I'm thinking about when i win the power ball....
grin2.gif



$70M new purchase price, not sure you could arrange a one year lease. Sorry.

It's said that net worth must be near a Billion to own and operate one of these. The powerball probably won't get you there. But if I were to guess, I'd say that it's possible to own and operate one with a real world net worth over $500M.

g650_aerial_7_1300_580_70.jpg



Company owner must pay very well if he is worth that much.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top