Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. announced that the Gulfstream G280 recently completed the longest flight in its history.

On July 5, a G280 flown and owned by David MacNeil, founder and CEO of automobile accessory manufacturer WeatherTech, flew 3,922 nautical miles/7,264 kilometers nonstop. The aircraft traveled from Chicago/Aurora Municipal Airport in Illinois to Tours Val de Loire Airport in France with four passengers and two crew members, including MacNeil, on board. The trip took 7 hours and 40 minutes at an average speed of Mach 0.80. The G280 landed with fuel in excess of the National Business Aviation Association instrument flight rules reserves.

“This flight highlights the G280’s long-range capability and outstanding fuel efficiency,” said Scott Neal, senior vice president, Worldwide Sales and Marketing, Gulfstream. “We are thrilled that our G280 owners can make these types of missions nonstop with this best-in-class aircraft. This is another example of a Gulfstream aircraft exceeding a customer’s expectations.”

The G280, which has earned more than 50 city-pair speed records, has a range of 3,600 nm/6,667 km at Mach 0.80. It is equipped with two Honeywell HTF7250G engines, each of which provides 7,624 pounds of thrust. The engines can propel the G280 to a flight level of 43,000 feet/13,106 meters in approximately 20 minutes and feature reduced emissions, longer maintenance intervals and decreased noise levels. The aircraft also has the best cabin in its class, with high-definition entertainment systems, industry-leading cabin sound levels and 19 super-sized windows.

“After we considered many super mid-size jets, the G280 has far exceeded our lofty expectations for performance, comfort, safety, efficiency and range,” MacNeil said. “As an experiment on this trip, we climbed directly to the aircraft’s maximum altitude of 45,000 feet out of Chicago at maximum gross takeoff weight, and it never dipped below Mach 0.80. As one of the few owners who can also fly the G280, I’m proud to say that our investment in this aircraft is paying even more dividends than we expected.”