Though Grumman had a good aircraft in the turboprop Gulfstream I, it was clear by the mid-1960s that the future of executive transports was jet-powered. A host of new small business jets were coming into service from Cessna, Learjet, Lockheed, and North American, and Grumman needed to keep up. As a result, the company began development of its own "bizjet," the Gulfstream II.
The new aircraft bore almost no resemblance to its turboprop predecessor; only the forward fuselage was the same. Finding the right kind of jet engine was an obstacle, as turbojets were too noisy and smoky, but Grumman settled on the Rolls-Royce Spey turbofan for powerplant. A swept wing offered superb performance; the wing was based on Grumman's A-6 Intruder attack aircraft. Interiors were left to customer preference.
The Gulfstream II was immediately a hit with buyers, and 256 would be built. The basic design would also become the basis for the even more successful Gulfstream series, such as the Gulfstream III and IV and G.550. Ironically, one of the Gulfstream IIs weaknesses was engine noise, and those aircraft not equipped with hushkits have been withdrawn from service. A number are still in service.
N947NA was an "off the shelf" Gulfstream II bought for NASA as one of four Shuttle Training Aircraft in 1980 to train Space Shuttle pilots how to land the aircraft--while simulators were useful, there was nothing like as close to the real thing as NASA could make it. The pilot's seat and instrument panel were modified to be identical to the Shuttle's, while panels were placed to give the pilot roughly the same view; the copilot retained the Gulfstream's usual controls. To simulate the Shuttle's approach, the trainee took the C-11 up to 37,000 feet and put the aircraft in a shallow dive, lowering the main landing gear to slow it down to the Shuttle's gliding speed. The nose gear would be lowered on approach for safety reasons, and at 36 feet above the runway--the Shuttle's height--a light would come on to simulate touchdown. The pilot would then either land normally or take the C-11 up for another pass.
N947NA was based at one of four spots: El Paso or Ellington Field, Texas for training, the Kennedy Space Center (for either training or to act as a chase plane for actual Shuttle landings), and White Sands Space Harbor (for training and to assess flight conditions in case the Shuttle needed to land there). N947NA was retired in 2012 after the retirement of the Shuttle fleet, and was donated to the Evergreen Air and Space Museum.
This was another aircraft I missed in 2015, though I had seen N947NA in its position in the parking lot; at the time, we were all pretty tired and none of us felt like walking over there on a hot day. In May 2024, I made sure to get a picture--it helped that the weather was cooler! Despite sitting outside for awhile, N947NA looks like it just flew in.
