Two Rolls-Royce Pearl 700 engines have successfully powered the brand-new Gulfstream G700 ‘to the skies’ for the first time.
This purpose-designed engine — the most powerful in Rolls-Royce’s business jet propulsion portfolio — is the exclusive power plant for Gulfstream’s flagship aircraft.
The Gulfstream G700, which used a 30/70 blend of ‘sustainable’ aviation fuel for its first flight, took off from Gulfstream’s American headquarters in Savannah (Georgia) and landed 2hr 32min later.
The aircraft and its engines will now undergo an intensive flight test programme ahead of certification.
Dirk Geisinger, director of business aviation at Rolls-Royce (
www.rolls-royce.com), said: “This is a truly great moment for all of us.
“The cutting-edge Pearl 700 is a perfect fit for the Gulfstream G700 and will help the aircraft deliver an unrivalled combination of ultra-long range, speed and performance.
"We have already achieved more than 1,500testing 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 supplier of engines to this market.
The Pearl 700 is the newest member of the Pearl engine family (first introduced in 2018), and it is the seventh new civil aerospace engine introduced by Rolls-Royce over the past decade.
Developed at the Rolls-Royce Centre of Excellence for Business Aviation Engines in Dahlewitz, Germany, it can propel the aircraft to Mach 0.925.