Gulfstream Details Nine-Day, Four-Jet Aerial Photo Mission Over Iceland at NBAA-BACE 2026 Media Event

Gulfstream held a media event at Henderson Executive Airport in Las Vegas on the evening before the opening of NBAA-BACE 2026, giving invited media a look at a nine-day aerial photography and video mission over Iceland earlier this year. The event took place at the convention's newly named Aircraft Connection static display. Jeannine Haas, Gulfstream senior vice-president and chief marketing officer, hosted it, joined by developmental test pilots Eric Holmberg and Tobias van Esselstyn and senior director of multimedia Matt Stephan.

Stephan conceived the project because he wanted imagery different from what Gulfstream had produced before. It involved the G500, G600, G700 and G800, plus a camera aircraft, and took about eight months of logistical planning. Each of the four demonstration aircraft was available for only about 48 hours.

Weather was the main obstacle. Rather than fix locations in advance, the team divided Iceland into geographical zones and matched potential backdrops to the different aircraft, holding weather briefings each morning. Conventional aviation weather reporting was limited in remote areas, so crews used highway webcams, along with Starlink connectivity aboard the aircraft, to look for improving conditions and reposition. A third aircraft was sometimes sent ahead to scout weather and shooting locations.

On one flight, turbulence damaged a gear in the camera aircraft's gimbal, and the crew abandoned the mission less than an hour after departure. Technicians repaired the equipment on the ground, and about an hour later all the aircraft were airborne again.

Formation flying among aircraft with different performance characteristics required close coordination, and both pilots drew on military formation-flying experience. Holmberg said the camera aircraft could take the lead position while two Gulfstreams maneuvered behind it, and that roles could be swapped on the fly. Van Esselstyn said safety was the number one priority and the maneuvers were meticulously briefed.

Stephan's most memorable moment came while flying along Iceland's southern coast photographing the G500 and G600, when the clouds parted and a rainbow appeared. Van Esselstyn recalled a G800 mission near a southeastern Iceland glacier and an iceberg-filled lake, reached during a brief weather improvement. Holmberg's favorite was an airport landing sequence filmed from a helicopter traveling in the opposite direction along the runway.

Van Esselstyn estimated that nearly 50 people supported the operation in Iceland. Haas said the landscapes and flying sequences in the footage were real, not computer-generated.

Large business-jet manufacturers compete on brand as much as on range and cabin specification, and imagery is one of the few tools that shows an aircraft in its intended environment. A shoot that ties up four production-standard demonstrators for 48 hours each, backed by roughly 50 support staff, shows how far a top-tier OEM will go to separate its visual identity from competitors' studio renders. Haas's emphasis that the footage was not computer-generated points to authenticity as the selling angle.

The operational details carry a second lesson. Using Starlink on board and public highway webcams to replace thin weather reporting in remote terrain is a practical method that other operators of long-range aircraft can borrow for flights outside well-instrumented areas. The scouting aircraft sent ahead and the morning briefings by zone show a planning discipline closer to expedition flying than to a standard demonstration sortie.

The next milestone is the release of the finished footage and stills. Their use across Gulfstream's channels will show how directly the company ties this kind of content to its four-model product line.