[T] 2015 - USA - NY / TX

After my China trip I had some days left for a short visit to the US. Main goal was to visit the Long Island (NY) and Dallas (TX) region.

Long Island was the place were it all started for the Grumman Aircraft Engineering Company. After being located in Baldwin, Valley Stream and Farmingdale, Grumman moved to Bethpage in 1936. From Bethpage Gulfstream history started with first flights of the Gulfstream I in 1958 and Gulfstream II on October 2, 1966. Shortly after that Grumman decided to move the production of Gulfstream aircraft to the current location in Savannah (GA).

I always wanted to visit Bethpage and check out what is still visible from the golden Grumman Gulfstream years. Honestly.... not that much. The Grumman Bethpage Airfield doesn't exist anymore. A business park took over. A part of the old Grumman Bethpage facility is being reused as Grumman Studios. Northrop Grumman's remaining business at the Bethpage campus is the "Battle Management and Engagement Systems Division"

But.... almost on the day of the first flight of the Gulfstream II, 49 years ago, I was on for me holy ground. The birthplace of my favorite aircraft!

Some pictures....

01-10-2015 - Bethpage (NY) - (C) R. Verhaegh

2001/2005 - Grumman Bethpage Airfield and hangars - (C) Paul Freeman

Grumman Bethpage Airfield and hangars - (C) Paul Freeman

Back to spotting business. First stop was Farmingdale-Republic Airport. Also a former Grumman hometown. The Wilson Technological Center houses at the airport and uses a GII (N216RR, c/n 22) as an instructional aircraft. First flight was on June 6, 1968 as N862GA from Savannah (GA). It served for CBS and Frank Sinatra, was converted to GII-SP and was taken out of service in 2013.

01-10-2015 - N216RR (GII, 22) - Farmingdale-Republic Airport (NY) - (C) R. Verhaegh

01-10-2015 Farmingdale-Republic Airport (NY)

GII N216RR (22) GIII N55ME (325) GIV N5JR (1066)

Next stop was Long Island MacArthur Airport (former Islip Airport). Some years ago GII c/n 15, 46, 135 and 229 were reported as wfu here. None of those were seen.... Looks like they are moved or completely broken-up. The Exel Air building seems to be abandoned.

01-10-2015 Long Island MacArthur Airport (NY)

G450 N450GA (4331) G550 N808TC (5154)

02-10-2015 Stewart International Airport (NY)

GIV TC-ATA (1043) G550 N671LE (5130)

Also Rome-Griffiss International Airport (NY) has two stored G2's. N826GW (210) and N457BE (248). N826GW now has serial MVCC 2 applied, an abbreviation of Mohawk Valley Community College which uses the aircraft as instructional aircraft.

02-10-2015 - N457BE (GII, 248) - Rome-Griffiss Int. Airport (NY) - (C) R. Verhaegh

02-10-2015 - N826GW (GII, 210) - Rome-Griffiss Int. Airport (NY) - (C) R. Verhaegh

Airframe 210 was in Swiss service as HB-IEY, flew for Rolls Royce as G-IIRR and was registered 8P-LAD in 1990. On 30 June 2014 N826GW arrived at Rome-Griffiss. 248 is a former Government of Kuwait aircraft, was registered 9K-AEC and operated in Kuwait Airways c/s in the early 80's. It arrived at Rome-Griffiss on 30 December 2014.

04-1983 - 9K-AEC (GII, 248) - London-Heathrow, UK - (C) Richard Vandervord

02-10-2015 Rome-Griffiss International Airport (NY)

GII N826GW (210), N457BE (248)

A highlight of the trip was a visit to Hagerstown Regional Airport (MD). One of the few GII's that made it's first flight out of Bethpage is c/n 3. This first flight was on 3 July 1967 as N831GA. After this it was outfitted as the customer demonstration aircraft and was the first GII to be shown in public at the 1967 NBAA convention in Boston. Another well known owner of c/n 3 was Gillette Co. Since 2006 the aircraft is stored at Hagerstown (MD) without its engines.

02-10-2015 - N300RD (GII, 3) - Hagerstown Regional Airport (MD) - (C) R. Verhaegh

02-10-2015 Hagerstown Regional Airport (MD)

GII N300RD (3)

Dallas-Love Field (TX) is home to one of Gulfstreams Service and Outfitting Centers. From various places around the field it is possible to check out for bizjets e.g. near the rental car area and from the parking lot of the Frontiers of Flight Museum.

03-10-2015 - Dallas-Love Field (TX) - (C) R. Verhaegh

03-10-2015 Dallas-Love Field (TX)
G150 N819AM (272), N817GA (317, green) G200 N451TX (070), N712QS (073), N422TX (093) G280 N28357 (2022), PR-FRT (2056), N280FW (2076), N208GA (2085) GIV XA-JJS (1113), N450WG (1328), N460QS (1360), N401QS (1408), N235KK (1458) G350 XC-PFM (4016) G550 N801TM (5222)

My visit to Dallas-Executive Airport (TX) was a little bit of a disappointment. In June this year 5 GII's and 3 GIII's were reported. Maybe because of the weekend only one GII and one GIII were visible outside. It is possible that the aircraft are moved elsewhere but most likely some are still present in one of the closed hangars. Otherwise the 2 noted Gulfstreams were parked with AAT Aircraft Maintenance which performs light to heavy maintenance and major repairs and modifications on Gulfstream aircraft. This can mean that not all previous noted Gulfstreams were wfu but just worked on.

03-10-2015 - N169MM (GII, 225) - Dallas-Executive Airport (TX) - (C) R. Verhaegh

03-10-2015 Dallas-Executive Airport (TX)

GII N169MM (225) GIII N99PD (314, Texas flag in tail)

GII 225 was in 1979 for a short time on the UK register as G-BGLT of General Electric Company Limited, UK.

03-10-2015 Dallas-Addison Airport (TX)
G280 N927LT (2043) GIII N702DM (428), N975RG (471) GIV M-PZPZ (1202), N800CR (1334)

03-10-2015 - N702DM (GIII, 428) - Dallas-Addison Airport (TX) - (C) R. Verhaegh

The next day I made a long drive from Dallas to Amarillo. The airfield over there is the location of the Texas Air & Space Museum. Highlight of their collection is the Shuttle Training Aircraft (STA) N946NA (c/n 146). N946NA is one of four former STA. The STA was primarily flown by astronauts practicing landings at for example the Shuttle Landing Facility and White Sands Space Harbor as well as to assess weather conditions prior to Space Shuttle launches and landings. Since the end of the Space Shuttle program all four are donated to different museums for display. C/n 146 arrived at Amarillo on 21 September 2011 on its last flight. For me it was the second STA noted so two more to go.
Unfortunately it was a Sunday so the museum was closed. The Gulfstream is clearly visible from the outside but a decent picture is impossible, besides this creative one.....

04-10-2015 - N946NA (GII, 146) - Rick Husband Amarillo Int. AP (TX) - (C) R. Verhaegh

04-10-2015 Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport (TX)
GII N946NA (146)

04-10-2015 Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (TX)
GIV N436QS (1436)

04-10-2015 Dallas-Love Field (TX)
G280 XA-PAZ (2048)

During my tour I also visited Roanoke-Northwest Regional Airport and Waco Regional Airport but no sign of any (wfu) Gulfstream.

With a flight back to New York and on to Brussel my holiday ended. New travel plans to be made!

01-10-2015 Brussels Airport, Belgium
G450 N596DC (4129), N450CW (4250) G550 N933H (5077)

06-10-2015 Brussels Airport, Belgium
G450 TC-REC (4246)