Two Rolls-Royce Pearl 700 engines have successfully powered the brand new Gulfstream G700 to the skies for the first time.
The purpose-designed engine, the most powerful in the Rolls-Royce business jet propulsion portfolio, is the exclusive powerplant for Gulfstream’s flagship aircraft, the world’s most spacious business jet.
“The Gulfstream G700, which used a 30/70 blend of sustainable aviation fuel for this first flight, took off from Gulfstream’s headquarters in Savannah, Georgia, USA, at 1:19 p.m. local time and landed 2 hours and 32 minutes later. The aircraft and its engines will now undergo an intensive flight test programme ahead of certification.”
Dr. Dirk Geisinger, Director – Business Aviation, Rolls-Royce, said:
“This is a truly great moment for all of us and we are very proud. The cutting-edge Pearl 700 is a perfect fit for the Gulfstream G700 and will help the aircraft deliver an unrivalled combination of ultralong-range, speed and performance. We have already achieved more than 1,500 testing hours and 5,000 cycles, and we are fully committed to supporting the G700 flight test programme.”
With more than 3,200 business jets in service today powered by Rolls-Royce engines, the company is the world’s leading engine supplier in this market.
The engine was developed at the Rolls-Royce Centre of Excellence for Business Aviation Engines in Dahlewitz, Germany.
“The Pearl 700 combines the Advance2 engine core, the most efficient core available across the business aviation sector, with a brand-new low-pressure system, resulting in an 8 per cent increase in take-off thrust at 18,250lb compared to the BR725 engine. The engine offers a 12 per cent better thrust-to-weight ratio and 5 per cent higher efficiency, while maintaining its class-leading low noise and emissions performance. The result is an engine that is highly efficient, but also able to propel the aircraft nearly as fast as the speed of sound (Mach 0.925).”
Developed in Germany!! Ok then.
Rolls-Royce Germany was formerly a joint venture with BMW but is now wholly owned by R-R.
I guess it’s a globalised world these days, but I still share your disappointment that they weren’t developed here. Any ideas where they’ll be built? I understand RR UK has some pretty good manufacturing facilities?
I often think we should do these things alone. However it is a smaller world now and there are good engineers in Germany and we seem to work well with them in many fields and they are helping keep our car industry in good shape.
I’m glad that due to its constitution R-R is still UK company and a world leader. Too much of our industry has been sold by greedy financiers in my opinion to our detriment. Things should be case by case and in that way you keep flexible and moving forward and giving employment and profits.
Rr cars is german now though isn’t it.
Why can’t we develop passenger planes and compete with Airbus and Boeing? The engines the most important and hardest part is available here and the industrial know how is here too.
Or create a new viable eco Concorde style plane? Think big Global Britain i say ?
Eco-Concorde, that’s a paradox
I fear it is an oxymoron!
Carbon free eco-concorde taking off from the third runway at Heathrow. ?
We make ever single wing that is fitted to every Airbus, so we do make a pretty important part of the aircraft.
There is only one maker of major passenger planes in the US and thats Boeing. Both they an MD had to merge. Just one, and they are the biggest country in the world, the richest continent. Yet you suggest that we should endeavour to compete, on our own, with not just them, but the rest of Europe with Airbus as well?
The question is what future is there in aircraft. Some judge has stopped Heathrow expansion because of supposed climate change. Where will planes go to or from in a few years? It’s not temperatures, it’s absurdities that are rising.
The Heathrow decision is something of a turning point for the hub model. Heathrow grew as the entry point for Europe when transatlantic airliners had limited range. Point to point Dreamliner style will be the future for business travellers.
And for the UK is it too much to hope that more of global Britain’s customers will visiting more business HQs in the North and Midlands and flying direct into Glasgow, Manchester and Birmingham? HS2 will put London and Manchester within 1 hr of Birmingham by train.
Glasgow would be less than an hour by high speed rail over the Boris Bridge to Belfast. Food for thought.
We make landing gear, windows, engines, wings, parts of fuselage, electronics, fuel systems, seats, and the rest and we don’t build our own passengers planes! We were the first to build the dam things well jet powered passenger planes! Crazy…! Even Spain builds big passenger/ millitarys planes and Brazil!
UKDJ – not putting up an article RE: our new nuclear warheads that have just been announced? Seems pretty major
Where did you see thisi?
Leak in the US media. The MoD was forced to admit plans have been in place for some time.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/defence-secretary-announces-programme-to-replace-the-uks-nuclear-warhead
Thanks. I’m assuming this is nothing exciting – maybe just bringing the tech up to date – its probably changed a little over time.
Kudos to RR who also seem to be getting on top of the reliability problems with the Trent 1000 blade cracking. Good work!
OT, but no article here.
Reading that Argus is gone by 2024, with no replacement.
Another asset down the drain, as things stand.
Looks like POW will be the Jack of all Trades flat top.
If that, and the need for a LPH platform and constant carrier availability secure the POW, all well and good I suppose.
I wonder what will be our future PCRS?
Well, we are where we are. Argus’ functions as aviation training, LPH humanitarian casualty evacuation / hospital ship could all be performed by POW at a stretch, just add a few containerised hospital wards….if it is not laid up, at least temporarily.
What will be interesting now is to see the design, number and in service dates of the FSS ships. Humanitarian/ hospital roles with sufficient helo landing spots sound fairly compatible with solid fleet supply design features.
That would mean POW would be primarily LPH but but could quickly assume QE F-35B fleet role.
Agree. If it secures it then acceptable.
The RFA is one of the UK’s trump cards though, and it is being whittled down gradually to a shadow of what it was.
Without an effective RFA the other pillars of the RN’s expeditionary Blue water capability fail.
So will they offer this as option for the B52 re-engine. Would be great if RR could win that deal, won’t be made in the UK but still great for a UK company.