G200

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Pilotcollin

Well-Known Member
I am looking into a position in a G200. Never flew a Gulfstream before. I do understand this is not one of the big ones. Does anyone have insight on the G200. The good. The bad. The ugly. My current plane is a Hawker 900.
 
Not really a Gulfstream, former IAI design.

In some ways, it's actually an evolution of the Commander 500

Absolutely LOVES the runway.
 
I've never heard much good from anyone that has flown one.

But a job is much more than what airplane you're flying. Pay and QOL trumps airframe.
 
Ill highlight some comments from another forum..

It’s not THAT bad. At least once on an empty leg go full T/R then you’ll know what everyone is talking about. You can just deploy them and leave them at idle or pull a little power and it’s fine. Brakes are good. I’ve always been able to keep it on the runway. 5000’ dry landing is easy.

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It’s a pig, but it’s not nearly as bad as it’s been made out. There are negatives to it but if you’re based anywhere in the Midwest with a 5000ft runway it’s a lot of bang for the buck for the owner. I’d rather fly a 200 for a happy owner than a 700 for grumpy SOB. Now if you’re trying to do coast to coast and there’s a short runway involved on either end it might not be the right bird.

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Don't be afraid of the old 200. Respect her and she'll treat you well. Don't be afraid of the tr's either, you can pull a little power from them if needed without going off roading..... It's a good airframe when maintained meticulously. I got to where I loved flying it. I think flying the 200 improved my piloting skills.

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I only managed a few hundred hours in the thing before moving on. It had its quirks, but all in all, I enjoyed flying it.

If you have the auto throttles, best to disconnect them when trying to hand-fly an ILS. They'll do a great job holding speed exactly. But the massive pitch changes coupled with thrust changes can generate some wicked PIO when hand flying.

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2500 hours in the Galaxy/G200. I know they hate people saying this, but I always used the tiller after landing. Just little bumps on the tiller. Every pilot I’ve trained had trouble keeping it straight using just the rudder pedals until I would take the yoke and hold it full forward and let them use the tiller. One pilot I flew with was having trouble until I told him this and he says “oh, just like a GIII!” Whatever that meant? It worked though.

Don’t plan on going to FL450 very often. Must be light AND cold. I did it half a dozen times in all those years.

I loved using full T/r’s as they spool back on their own. Rudder is worthless then so, again, it’s about the tiller.

Got my current job in a G600 because I could fly a G200 well as a contractor.

Wet runway numbers are awful.

Brakes are stiff and weird.

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Preface: I'm a mechanic who worked on G200s for a few years, a decade ago. I went to FlightSafety for MX Initial and the airplane I was taking care of was owned by a Fortune 500 company but managed and occasionally chartered by the company I worked for.

It's not a bad airplane from my perspective, but it does have some downsides that Gulfstream got rid of with the 280. People hear the name Gulfstream and they expect an airplane with a lot more ramp presence, it sits low on the ramp.
The engines are not served well by electric starters because they are just a little too big, and when you consider the fact that it has a GTCP-150 APU there's plenty of bleed air available (the 150 is commonly used on large cabin jets with air starters) you wonder why are they trying to kill the batteries?

The flat/slat/Krueger system is one of the things the 280 did not keep, and the inflatable boots on the wings and the tail. It became enough of an embarrassment they started making silver leading edge boots to mimic a heated leading edge. And both systems, the flap/slats and the boots are not super difficult to troubleshoot but it requires time and sometimes equipment from the manufacturer and I've heard that they won't just send you the box with a set of instructions, now they require a tech to accompany the equipment and it gets expensive exponentially.

Engine changes are not a big deal, FADEC makes them pretty much plug and play. The worst thing anyone maintaining a G200 for any appreciable amount of time will find is the lack of a Structural Repair Manual. Almost all Gulfstreams have an approved SRM, it gives guidance when a repair is needed that isn't addressed in the Aircraft Maintenance Manual. Engineering dispositions become the norm and and they aren't cheap or quick.

Having said all of that, the best time I ever had in corporate aviation was taking care of that G200, the crew was great, the owner was great and I guess me and the airplane got along pretty well. It's not a G-IV, but that's not was it was meant to be. Go forth and prosper.
 
I know the G280 was originally called the G250, but "250" is a homophone for "idiot" in Chinese slang, so Gulfstream renamed it.

The story is basically that in ancient China, coins were strung together in stacks of 1000. It was considered modest and politely self-deprecating for scholars to refer to themselves as “half a stack”—in other words, “500.” Half of 500 is, of course, 250, so 二百五 (èr bǎi wǔ) came to refer to someone who’s so dumb they aren’t even half a stack!
Click to expand...
 
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