# New Plane



## oldman (Aug 17, 2016)

I returned home from Virginia yesterday after spending three weeks at Gulfstream learning to fly the new plane that the company I work for had purchased. On Monday, I was certified by the FAA to fly the jet and to act as its Captain. My next move will be to teach two other pilots in the organization to fly the plane, which I don't foresee any problems as both men have many hours of commercial flying time. It will be just a matter of learning the avionics. It was a great two weeks of flying (one additional week was spent in the classroom) as we put the Gulfstream through its workout and me as well. Just a lot of fun.

Once my teaching job is completed, I will have just a few weeks remaining before the FAA says that I must retire. It will be a sad day and one which I am not looking forward to. But, before all of that, I am going to be taking some long trips flying the new plane, so it's not all bad. But, when it's over, it's over and I guaranteed myself that the sun will still rise the next morning.

Here is a look at the new plane for those that are interested. The interior on our plane is configured differently than shown on the drawings that are in the brochure. The plane is fitted with two Rolls Royce engines, which make a very distinctive sound. It will eat up about 6300 feet of runway for takeoffs and it will be cruising at about Mach 0.80 and at an altitude of between 38,000-40,000 ft. The higher we fly, the lighter the air is and the less fuel we will burn. We won't be as heavy as commercial jets, so we will be able to fly higher.  

I had to use the pictures on the website because Gulfstream does not allow any picture taking during training. 

http://www.gulfstream.com/aircraft/gulfstream-g650er


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## Butterfly (Aug 17, 2016)

Pretty cool, Oldman!  It would be hard to retire from that, I'm sure.  Looks like a fun thing to do.  That cockpit looks super complicated, though.


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## SeaBreeze (Aug 17, 2016)

You're lucky Oldman to have such an interesting and exciting career, and what a rewarding challenge to train the new guys!  Enjoy your time there, and when you retire you'll have such good memories and stories to tell.  :cool2:


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## Byrd (Aug 18, 2016)

What a rewarding task! Good for you.


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## oldman (Aug 18, 2016)

Butterfly said:


> Pretty cool, Oldman!  It would be hard to retire from that, I'm sure.  Looks like a fun thing to do.  That cockpit looks super complicated, though.



Anytime we don't understand something, it appears to be complicated. If I explained to you what the function was of each instrument, dial and gauge, you would think differently. From takeoff to touchdown planes today are pretty much operated by the computers and the pilot has now become a computer operator, as well as a pilot. 

Full retirement was something that I never get a lot of thought about until a year ago. It saddens me to think about it, but after almost 34 years with the airline and 4 years with this leasing company, I guess that it is time to go.


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## Pappy (Aug 18, 2016)

What a beautiful plane to fly and the great memories you will have knowing you did fly her. I have a dumb question, oldman. The newer planes have the wing tips turned upward. Why?


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## oldman (Aug 18, 2016)

Pappy said:


> What a beautiful plane to fly and the great memories you will have knowing you did fly her. I have a dumb question, oldman. The newer planes have the wing tips turned upward. Why?



The wing tips, as you call them, are actually called winglets. Winglets were frowned upon by the airlines at one time because of their expense. However, when the engineers at Boeing used their R&D department (research & development) to toy around with using winglets they actually found that they aided the plane's flying ability by reducing drag. Later, they again tried to improve upon an already good idea and turned the winglets upside down and by doing so, that reduced fuel consumption. My guess is that it may have only reduced fuel savings by a penny or so per nautical mile, but when the nautical miles are all totaled, the savings were probably in the hundreds or hundreds of thousands. The last sentence is only my perspective on it because I have no knowledge on what the real numbers are. I am sure that if I was still at the airline, I would be able to get that information. As you can see now, almost all aircraft have the winglets installed, even the larger aircraft like the Boeing 777 and the Airbus A-380. Many of the planes now have the winglets shaped like a "V" going sideways.


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## Pappy (Aug 18, 2016)

Thank you, oldman. They look nice too.


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