Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation announced the development of the jet-powered Gulfstream II (design number G-1159) on May 5, 1965. The Gulfstream I cockpit and cabin were matched to a new T-tail and wings to minimize development and tooling costs. Two Rolls-Royce engines were mounted on each side of the rear fuselage. Configured like this, the Gulfstream II was flown for the first time at Bethpage, Long Island (NY) on October 2, 1966 by Bob Smyth and Carl Alber. The FAA type certificate was issued on October 19, 1967. In 1967 production of the Gulfstream II was switched to Savannah (GA) where the first aircraft built flew on December 17 of that year. The first Gulfstream II delivered to a customer was handed over to National Distillers and Chemical Corporation on January 6, 1968. To increase the range of the Gulfstream II still further, the tip-tank installation was developed and first tried on c/n 173 in March 1976. In total 254 GII's were built and delivered by Grumman, Grumman American Aviation Corp. and Gulfstream American between October 1966 and March 1980.