Simply Abu Dhabi XXXV

6 2 S I M P LY A B U DH A B I Gulfstream|V Gulfstream’s interior design expertise has received a number of affirmations within the design sphere. Gulfstream’s interior design team has earned International Yacht & Aviation Awards (IY&AA) for Private Jet Design on the G600 and two for the G650ER, in addition to an IY&AA Product Design Award for the seats on the G500 and G600. Gulfstream’s design leadership was also recently recognized with the Design Society International Designer of the Year award. This award recognizes an overall contribution to the industry and excellence in design on an international scale. Gulfstream design certainly soars, to the great benefit of its customers. Special Missions Gulfstream’s Special Missions program also carries on a long company tradition; this one stretches back five decades and provides aircraft to governments and militaries around the world. These Gulfstream platforms address a wide variety of missions, including head-of-state transport, airborne early warning, ground surveillance, maritime patrol and aeromedical evacuation. Gulfstream’s special missions expertise is rooted in the engineering innovations the company embraced early on, and this was illustrated in the early 1970s when the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) purchased two GII aircraft to serve as trainers for astronauts preparing for space flight. Grumman modified the GII to simulate space shuttle flight characteristics during its landing sequence and redesigned the flight deck to mimic the space shuttle’s flight deck. Flight characteristics are simulated when the training aircraft reverses its engines in flight routinely, flies with its two sets of main landing wheels down at high speed, and pulls out of a steeper dive than any airliner can, all without damaging the airframe. The aircraft have been so effective for NASA, the modified GIIs were still being used well into the 2000s. Gulfstream’s work with NASA continues. In 2006, NASA and Gulfstream collaborated on ongoing research into supersonic flight. Gulfstream developed the revolutionary Quiet SpikeTM, a 24-ft/7.3-km-long telescoping device that spreads the sonic boom shockwave to minimize the effects of breaking the sound barrier. NASA flight-tested the Quite Spike on a modified F-15 fighter jet to prove the concept. Today, Gulfstream continues to lead the business-jet industry in special missions with a dedicated military and government program, in-house airframe modification engineers and facilities, and more than 205 special missions aircraft in service in 40 countries.