Design and Development
Work on an improved Westwind began in the late 1970s, with the first prototype flight on March 19, 1984. The first production Astra flew on March 20, 1985, FAA certification came on August 29, 1985 and customer deliveries started in 1986.
The original 1125 Astra was replaced in by the Astra SP, announced in 1989 of which 37 were built. The third variant, Astra SPX, flew in August 1994. This variant was renamed G100 from September 2002 following Gulfstream's acquisition of Galaxy Aerospace, which held the Astra certifications, in May 2001. IAI builds G100s in Israel and then flies the completed airframes to the United States for interior outfitting.
Read more about this topic: IAI Astra
Famous quotes containing the words design and/or development:
“Nowadays the host does not admit you to his hearth, but has got the mason to build one for yourself somewhere in his alley, and hospitality is the art of keeping you at the greatest distance. There is as much secrecy about the cooking as if he had a design to poison you.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Other nations have tried to check ... the fulfillment of our manifest destiny to overspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions.”
—John Louis O’Sullivan (1813–1895)