On Friday, 22 October, the GV was ferried from Greenville, SC to Savannah, GA after the completion of the aircraft modification effort by Gulfstream and Lockheed Martin. The GV will now reside at the Savannah Air Center (SAC) for the next several weeks as painting and interior completion are completed by Garrett Aviation Consulting Group and SAC personnel.

The GV performed very well during the transit flight, and the Gulfstream pilots in command were able to successfully complete a number of important aircraft and communications system checks during the trip to Savannah.

After the GV arrives at the Jefferson County Airport in Broomfield, Colorado, NCAR staff members will work from January to June 2005 to install and test numerous infrastructure systems (data acquisition and SATCOM systems, standard sensors, etc.) on the aircraft. Initial development of the GV is planned to be completed by mid-June 2005.

Visit the photo gallery for pictures of the GV's departure from Lockheed's facility in Greenville and arrival at the SAC in Savannah.