Originally Posted by
BoilerUP
Spike,
I talked to a mid-cabin Gulfstream demo guy last year who said he's had the G200 in and out of KHXD, albeit at fairly light weights. Looking at APG data, it looks like it'd do it just fine dry (I've heard the G200 stops very well) though 80% wet is a bit marginal.
What length runway would you use as a minimum for the G200?
Also, any issues with operating the G200 in the middle east? I know there are some G200s based in UAE/Saudi so I suspect its not a huge deal, but I've heard aircraft manufactured before Gulfstream bought the Galaxy/Astra from IAI can be refused entry to their FIRs.
Just curious...thanks!
Yeah, we would always use "gulfstream" as a call sign, never "galaxy", when flying through the middle east... I have not heard of a problem that I can remember, but I am sure someone has a horror story.
Being in Dubai for an airshow, first thing anyone asked who walked on was "where is this made?"... we would always attempt "it is completed in dallas,tx USA" first... but the question always came up.
As far as a "minimum" runway, personally I would say HXD is about it. You could "do" less, but it seriously is just pushing it. Landing is not as bad as taking off-- at least in warmer temps. Wet runways will ruin your numbers for both, but we use the "grooved runway=dry runway" airline philosophy, and haven't had a problem as most US runways are grooved. Central and South America have a lot of non-grooved runways, and then you have more issues. Taking off in warmer temps when you are heavy will use more runway, but it is not as bad as the rumors have been--- unless you are at high altitude, then they are worse!
The other consideration is some G200's need a pumping of the brakes when the gear is down before touchdown to exercise the valve and mix cold fluid with warm fluid to get maximum braking potential. I landed once on a 8k foot strip without doing this on one that needed it, and was out of my seat pushing so hard on the brakes before they finally started working properly---and rolled all the way to the end. If you pump just a couple times before touchdown, they work normally. Again, not all do this-- each 200 is different in many ways! Some tail wobble more than others as well!! But it is a 'pefectly designed airplane', I forgot...
