Gulfstream's new G650 recently reached Mach 0.995 on a test flight, which the company says establishes the business jet as the world's fastest civil aircraft. That title that has long been held by Cessna's Citation X, which flies at Mach 0.92. Gulfstream said the G650 achieved the maximum speed during flutter testing, when the test crew took Serial Number 6001 into a dive, pitching the nose 16 to 18 degrees below the horizon. During the dive, flutter exciters introduced a range of vibration frequencies to the wing, tail and flight control surfaces to ensure the aircraft naturally dampened out the oscillations without input from the pilots. "The airplane is very predictable," said test pilot Tom Horne. "It's very easy to control and to get precise control at those speeds."
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.avweb.com/news/gulfstream-claims-fastest-civil-aircraft-title-for-g650