After several Covid years with almost no aircraft spotting possible, 2023 finally gave the opportunity again to fly abroad and visit the US for the first time since 2019. And to make the most of it I decided to combine 2 hobbies in 1 trip.

 

On the 18^th of March the 12 Hours of Sebring took place. The 12 hours of Sebring is an annual motorsport endurance race for sportscars held since 1952 at Sebring International Raceway in Florida. The cool thing is that the circuit is on the site of the former Hendricks Army Airfield, a former WWII air base. The race has historically been considered to be one of the three legs of the informal Triple Crown of Endurance Racing along with the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 24 Hours of Daytona.

 

 

I flew with Lufthansa from Frankfurt to Miami (FL). From there it was a 2 hour late evening drive to the first destination. During this drive I passed Opa-Locka airport (FL).

16-03-2023 – Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport (FL)

GIV N365WW (1173), N610GW (1289), N961V (1298), N606PS (1477) GV N786JM (502), N598KZ (582) G400 LV-CAZ (1514) G550 N513MA (5019), N550TS (5147), N780E (5258), N961JF (5349)

 

My motel was located in Okeechobee (FL). Years ago, the local airport was one of the places with a considerable amount of wfu Gulfstreams. Nowadays not much is going on here….

 

17-03-2023 – Okeechobee-County Airport (FL)

GIII N194PA (464) GIV N151SD (1249)

 

Th N151SD is the former Floyd Mayweather GIV.

The race at Sebring attracted some nice Gulfstream visitors to the local airport which is right next to the racetrack.

 

17-03-2023 – Sebring-Regional Airport (FL)

G500 N828KD (72046)

 

18-03-2023 – Sebring-Regional Airport (FL) 

G500 N756SJ (72021)

 

After some great race days, it was back to Gulfstream business. Some serious miles to cover on my way to Savannah (GA).

 

19-03-2023 – Fort Pierce-Treasure Coast Airport (FL)

GII N148V (54) GIII N456BE (335), N300JZ (875) GIV N918SC (1075), N368AG (1087), N305TC (1116), N919MB (1230) GV N716AS (687)

 

The N465BE is broken up and only the fuselage is still there with the registration written on it. The N368AG has no registration, a clover leaf in the tail and is without engines.  Besides these Gulfstreams there is also a blue/white c/s rear fuselage with no registration present. 

 

19-03-2023 – Vero Beach-Regional Airport (FL)

G550 N990NB (5192) G650 N662FX (6148)

 

19-03-2023 – Melbourne-International Airport (FL)

GIV N619ML (1062), N403SB (1417) GV N780W (530)

 

19-03-2023 – Daytona Beach-International Airport (FL)

GIII N127GK (311), N358CY (358)

 

19-03-2023 – Jacksonville-International Airport (FL)

G650 N2LA (6187)

 

Also, Titusville-Space Coast Regional Airport was on my way to Savannah (GA). No Gulfstreams present but next to the airport I found the small but very interesting Valiant Air Command Warbird Air Museum. The museum houses a great collection with e.g., a F-4, F-14, F-16, RC-21A and F-18 in Blue Angels c/s. For me the most interesting airplane, which could be found outside in the backyard of the museum, was the 1972 F-5E NASA Super Sonic Boom Demonstrator. This Northrop F-5E with a modified fuselage was used to demonstrate that an aircraft's shock wave, and accompanying sonic boom, can be shaped and thereby reduced. The program was a joint effort between Northrop, NASA Langley, Dryden and Edwards ADB.  Also, Gulfstream did, and maybe still does, extensive research on sonic booms and the development of a Supersonic Business Jet. So, this gives still some connection with Gulfstream after all. 

 

19-03-2023 – Brunswick-Golden Isles Airport (GA)

G550 N808TC (5154), N550FG (5180), N517TW (5209), N527GA (5627), N529GA (5629), N530G (5630), N531GA (5631) G650 N650XF (6071)

 

Brunswick was the highlight airport of the day. Nicely lined-up were 4 green G550 airframes. These are, or were, destined to be fitted out as ISR aircraft for the Morocco Air Force. But at this point the status of this deal is unclear. Further present was the N517TW which is the Gulfstream of golf player Tiger Woods. 

19-03-2023 – Savannah-Hilton Head international Airport (GA)

GIV N327TL (1330) GV 7T-VPG (617) G450 HZ-MS4A (4313) G550 RA-10202 (5119), M-IPHS (5246), N542GD (5542), VP-CRO (5270), B-8125 (5276) G650 T7-NGNG (6070), N612GA (6512), N657GA (6557) G700 N700GA (87001), N702GD (87002), N171GA (87017), N721GD (87021), N725GD (87025)

 

20-03-2023 – Savannah-Hilton Head international Airport (GA)

G800 N700G (88001)

 

Savannah was Gulfstream heaven as always but also still frustrating. Viewing on the Gulfstream ramps is limited and also Gulfstream security should be avoided. But the visit gave me some nice new G700's and my first G800 (which was later also seen at EBACE....). After this I started my long drive up to Huntsville with some airports in between. 

 

20-03-2023 – Atlanta-Dekalb Peachtree Airport (GA)

GIV N55PJ (1121), N917W (1158) G550 N998FA (5450) G650 N235DX (6336)

 

20-03-2023 – Cartersville-Airport (GA)

GII N164PA (257)

20-03-2023 – Huntsville- U.S. Space & Rocket Center (AL)

GII N945NA (118)

 

21-03-2023 – Huntsville-International Airport (AL)

G650 N651FX (6013)

 

The main Gulfstream goal of this week was to complete my GII STA collection. After visiting several other museums in the last 10 years for the STA's I finally was able to go to the Huntsville - U.S. Space and Rocket Center Museum which has GII STA N945NA on outside display. 

22-03-2023 – Orlando-Executive Airport (FL)

G650 N653FX

 

22-03-2023 – West Palm Beach-International Airport (FL)

GIII N888SM (367), N555DW (459) GIV N250RG (1003), N165JF (1251), 5N-BYO (1388), N406JS (1394) G450 LV-KEB (4116), N458FX (4238), N917VZ (4364) G500 N788DQ (72048), N955WB (72097) G550 N928GC (5239), C-GGPM (5306), N838KE (5398), N8988 (5391), N550DR (5413), N441GC (5441), N76VZ (5623) G600 NN715VM (73078), N101MH (73081) G650 N724AG (6075), N650NB (6200), N476V (6300) G700 N702GD (87002)

 

22-03-2023 – Boca Raton-Airport (FL)

GIV N30DJ (1269), N610DW (1289) GV N888HE (638) G450 N402JE (4266), G500 N500DH (72059) N85MX (4228) G550 N801AS (5097)

 

22-03-2023 – Pompano Beach-Airpark (FL)

GIV N605RA (1028), N522VR (1102), N463MA (1108) GV N549CF (519)

 

N605RA was a part of the fuselage only. N463MA did not have any engines and serial.

 

22-03-2023 – Fort Lauderdale-Executive Airport (FL)

GII N540EA (174) GIII N734TJ (392) GIV N177BB (1073), N481SC (1313) G550 N550 (5033) N446VG (5253) G600 N325DA (73102)

 

22-03-2023 – Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FL)

G450 N455QS (4074), N950KT (4187), N94JL (4205), C-GOWI (4302) G550 N95MJ (5250), N552SN (5625) G650 M-AAAL (6279)

 

22-03-2023 – Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport (FL)

GIV N675RW (1046), N305PB (1088), N605CM (1137), N365WW (1173), N348DJ (1348), N869MD (1363) GV N786NM (522), N996GA (596) G500 N756SJ (72021) G550 N789LR (5100), N269WR (5153), N889MS (5190)

 

23-03-203 – Miami-International Airport (FL) 

G450 N458FX (4238) G550 N550SN (5195)

 

The rest of the week before heading home was spend in the Florida area. This is for Gulfstreams still the place to be.