We are consulting with Gulfstream re:: these cameras. Not only is the low resolution surprising, they have no ability to record either. We are giving them a whole new perspective on what these cameras might do. You would think that you’d get a capable 4K camera with your $80 million dollar aircraft. Maybe we need to put a Shotover on the nose😂
Agreed, Jim. That is such a cool angle that they have and they could do so much for their marketing by having their clients submit images from trips with unique lighting and skyscapes...
What's a grand or two in the scheme of an $80 million aircraft, right??
Exactly! It's not a problem in this instance (or any instance where someone is buying one of these aircraft) but nothing on a Gulfstream is a couple of grand. The cost of ownership, once you have made the initial stroke, is just unimaginable. Just the recurrent training for the crews is in the millions every year, muchness periodic inspections. Most manufacturers offer maintenance programs where the client has a monthly fee that covers any and all repair items, the engines are on a scheduled maintenance contract as well, kind of an insurance policy so th aircraft owner has an idea of what their monthly outlay will be. This particular 650ER has close to 5,000 hours on it, but it is immaculate.
I would take a wild guess at a camera revision in the vertical stabilizer being north of $250,000 with the required STC's, and that might be very low. There is a camera in that spot, one on the belly, and one on the nose.
I remember a conversation with a good friend of mine years ago, he flew a GV for an insurance company out of Louisville. They had a loaded Piper Seneca that they used for an airborne pick up truck, it was worth $250,000 at the time. The GV needed wheels, brakes and tires, they sold the Seneca and came out even on the undercarriage expenditure. On the other hand, we were sitting in the GV having lunch on the ramp at love field when the company's Lear 60 rolled up, seems the CEO forgot some paperwork that morning so the Lear flew it down. This is a world that is inconceivable to mere mortals, but it sure is nice to peer into it once in a while.
Had the opportunity to photograph this beautiful G450 last week, as the owner is upgrading to a new G550. Parked next to it, in the hangar was a Boeing BBJ. Oh how I would have loved to have gone on board that jet and taken a tour. Oh well.
