Walking into PBI today I noticed N777ZH a Gulfstream 650 depart. Not completely unusual here at PBI - as it is home to many of the wealthiest aircraft operators around. Then I pulled it up on flightaware.com and noticed it was flying non-stop to Almaty, Kazakhstan, with a flight time of almost 13 hours. First off - PBI to Kazakhstan is a little unusual of a route. Second - that's a serious hike even for that type of bird. Any idea who would be flying that route - with the understanding that PBI gets many unusual visitors now because of President Trump. And what is the range for the G650 - I would imagine this has to be one of the longer (not longest) flights? Just a quick side note - flightaware.com currently has the aircraft doing 718mph at 49,000 feet.

Range is approximately 8050mi

This flight is a stretch, but still within range.... probably due to reduced speed/payload, and being semi-polar.

It shows planned route of 7,669mi - so that is definitely pushing it. Do you need two flight crews?

canyonblue17 wrote:

Do you need two flight crews?

Considering that the flight is the same length as SFO-SYD, I'd say so.

The G650 is an impressive bird. We had clients fly in on a G650 CAN-BFI in just under 11 hours, about 2 hours faster than DL 38 (HKG-SEA) on the same day. They used 2 crews.

canyonblue17 wrote:

It shows planned route of 7,669mi - so that is definitely pushing it. Do you need two flight crews?

Legally speaking, it would depend what regulations the aircraft is being operated under.

Still any thoughts on who might be on that flight? Any prominent South Florida names with ties to that country?

canyonblue17 wrote:

Still any thoughts on who might be on that flight? Any prominent South Florida names with ties to that country?

Weekend golf with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago?

Trump's resort is closed for the summer and he is in the DC area at his other golf resort.

That bird (quoting OP) has N-registration, so I assume it must have 2 crews.
It must be boring, floating for 13 hours, seeing nothing.
And I assume it had nice tailwind along the way, they might not be able to return nonstop, except if they go the other way round.

benbeny wrote:

That bird (quoting OP) has N-registration, so I assume it must have 2 crews.
It must be boring, floating for 13 hours, seeing nothing.
And I assume it had nice tailwind along the way, they might not be able to return nonstop, except if they go the other way round.

Like any job it can get boring. But you are getting paid good money and seeing the world. Bizjet jobs are more demanding than the airlines because your work rules are not as good.

canyonblue17 wrote:

Walking into PBI today I noticed N777ZH a Gulfstream 650 depart. Not completely unusual here at PBI - as it is home to many of the wealthiest aircraft operators around. Then I pulled it up on flightaware.com and noticed it was flying non-stop to Almaty, Kazakhstan, with a flight time of almost 13 hours. First off - PBI to Kazakhstan is a little unusual of a route. Second - that's a serious hike even for that type of bird. Any idea who would be flying that route - with the understanding that PBI gets many unusual visitors now because of President Trump. And what is the range for the G650 - I would imagine this has to be one of the longer (not longest) flights? Just a quick side note - flightaware.com currently has the aircraft doing 718mph at 49,000 feet.

It was probably empty as it was its delivery flight after completion of interior mod work. Probably heading for China imho and I have a suspicion it's for Yu Heng International as they have a G550 with a similar reg.

Look at the flight log on flight aware and explain what on earth he was doing at 11:46-12:30. They are all over the place. Climbed to 41k then was all over the place down to 29 and back up to 43. Id assume it was for turbulence and maybe they wanted lower but usually it's not 11k difference. Any thoughts?

Boeingphan wrote:

Look at the flight log on flight aware and explain what on earth he was doing at 11:46-12:30. They are all over the place. Climbed to 41k then was all over the place down to 29 and back up to 43. Id assume it was for turbulence and maybe they wanted lower but usually it's not 11k difference. Any thoughts?

Perhaps they descended due to lower fuel temperatures at the higher flight levels. Although, seeing as they were only an hour out of sunny Florida, I'll admit that's rather unlikely. Turbulence or weather of some sort is probably your best bet - although 12,000 feet does seem like a massive drop indeed!

Looking at the scheme on 777ZH I would guess it's a replacement for Almaty based G450 N888DC. Impressive flight but would guess it was Its proper delivery flight having left Gulfstream last week.

Wes...

Thanks for the info Wes. Any idea who operates that aircraft in Almaty - or is it just a leasing/rental company?

canyonblue17 wrote:

Thanks for the info Wes. Any idea who operates that aircraft in Almaty - or is it just a leasing/rental company?

Plenty of wealthy well-connected oil/gas/infrastructure people in Kazakhstan and Almaty.

wezgulf3 wrote:

Looking at the scheme on 777ZH I would guess it's a replacement for Almaty based G450 N888DC. Impressive flight but would guess it was Its proper delivery flight having left Gulfstream last week.

Wes...

Why would it go to PBI first before being delivered? Interior finishing at Jet Aviation? That wouldn't be enough time on the ground.

Could be the crew? It was outfitted at Appleton by Gulfstream then flew ATW-PBI before flying PBI - Almaty.

Wes...

How many U.S. based G650's are there currently? I am always surprised everytime I am at TEB I end up seeing 3 or 4.

Ralph Lauren's G650 N11RL and Ronald Perelman N838MF are very often there and usually see a couple others

There is a big ex-soviet origin population in the FLL and Boca Raton Area. This past weekend the Polo US Open final was supposed to be held at Wellington, it was posponed due to rain, PBI being the closest airport to the venue, it attracts a big number of zillionare fans from all over coming to see/play with the stars.
My guess is that this flight could be related to either of the two.