Although Gulfstream executives aren’t talking, most everyone else in business aviation is buzzing about the anticipated debut of the company’s newest large-cabin design, rumored to replace the G450 and give Dassault’s Falcon 5X — unveiled last October — a run for its money.
“We know what we are going to do next, but we haven’t announced what we are going to do next,” Gulfstream president Larry Flynn, told Flightglobal during a recent media flight on a G550.
However, since Flightglobal, an international media company dedicated to the aviation and aerospace industry, first mentioned P42 four years ago, references to the project have continued to pop up on websites around the world.
For example, a flight control engineer for Parker Aerospace, which developed the G650’s “fly by wire” systems, recently listed the Gulfstream P42 project on a LinkedIn resume. Another employee with a different supplier also touted work on the “Gulfstream P42 (-1, -2, -3),” insinuating that the company could have as many as three different versions in development.
Speculation heated up earlier this month when, on July 4, UK-based Corporate Jet Investor posted a story with the headline “Gulfstream discounts G550 prices as it prepares for P42 launch.”
The story, which disappeared almost as quickly as it went up, was followed the same day by a retraction
emailed to all Corporate Jet Investor subscribers.
“Earlier today we published a story saying that Gulfstream was offering discounts on its G550. That article was inaccurate, did not receive the proper editorial review and should not have been published,” the email said. “Gulfstream has confirmed that this story was inaccurate and that no such discounts have been offered. Corporate Jet Investor apologizes to Gulfstream and its customers for having published this inaccurate information.”
The correction did not address CJI’s indication that the P42 will be launched in October at the National Business Aviation Association’s Convention and Exhibition in Orlando.
Keeping the lid on
Gulfstream, as a policy, doesn’t comment on any aircraft in development that hasn’t been announced, said Steve Cass, the business jet manufacturer’s vice president for communications.
“As you know, we have a very robust research and development program, so it’s safe to say we always have projects in the works,” Cass said Friday.
“But we are very conservative when it comes to making announcements. Before we announce any new product, we want to be sure it does what we say it is going to do and we want to make sure the positioning is right for the market.
“We look forward to making an announcement when all those elements fall into place.”
That Savannah-based Gulfstream is growing and working on new projects is obvious to any visitor to its local campus.
Four years ago, the company was in the fifth year of an announced seven-year, $400 million growth plan when —with that plan nearly complete — it announced another expansion, this one a $500 million, seven-year plan expected to result in 1,000 new jobs.
Since then, Gulfstream has built new facilities in the northwest quadrant of the Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport – including a huge building whose use has not been designated – and renovated several existing facilities on the main campus off Gulfstream Road.
It has also expanded office and lab facilities at the Gulfstream Research Development Center in Crossroads Business Park and more than doubled its announced new hires.
Another clean sheet?
Whatever the project code-named P42 looks like, most industry insiders agree it will be Gulfstream’s answer to the Falcon 5X, which has a wider cabin and the ability to fly 1,000 nautical miles farther than the G450.
Aviation News has reported that the P42 is a clean-sheet successor to the G450 and will build on the all-new wing, fuselage and systems of the G650.
Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the P42 is the report from Aviation News that General Electric and Pratt and Whitney appear to be the front-runners to power the new aircraft after Gulfstream ousted longtime supplier Rolls-Royce from the contest.
If confirmed, the decision would mark the first time in more than 50 years a heritage Gulfstream business aircraft has moved into final design with a non-Rolls engine.