On August 8, just prior to the LABACE show, Gulfstream handed over the first example of its large-cabin, long-range G600 to an undisclosed U.S. customer. The manufacturer is displaying this aircraft model again at LABACE, where it made its Brazilian debut last year, alongside a G650ER and a G280.

Handing over the first aircraft is another major milestone for the G600 program, following the June 28 award by the FAA of both type and production certificates. The G600’s smaller stablemate—the G500—also received dual certification simultaneously on July 20, 2018. The G600 certification effort included 100,000 hours of laboratory testing and 3,200 flight hours.

“Getting both authorizations on the same day is evidence of the maturity of our G600 production processes and speaks to the safety and reliability of the aircraft’s design,” said Mark Burns, the Savannah, Georgia-based airframer’s president.

The G500 and G600 were developed in parallel, and both aircraft are powered by Pratt & Whitney PW800-series turbofans, the first Gulfstream products not to feature Rolls-Royce power. With PW815GA engines, the G600 can achieve a range of 6,500 nm at its long-range cruise speed of Mach 0.85, and 5,500 nm at a high-speed cruise of Mach 0.90.

On show at LABACE is one of the five flight-test G600s that is also now being used as a sales demonstrator. It still remains on an experimental certificate, but Gulfstream said it will be modified to certificate-conforming standards.