Dassault Aviation has begun completion work on the first customer-bound Falcon 8X long-range trijet as the company progresses toward certification and deliveries next year. The aircraft, S/N 04, arrived in the Dassault Falcon Jet completion facility in Little Rock, Ark., on October 9, the company announcedThursday.
S/N 04 was the second of Dassault’s new 8X family to be sent to Little Rock for completion. The first—S/N 02—arrived last summer for installation of an interior that will be used for the 8X cabin comfort and functionality test program. This airplane will also be used for an around-the-world operational test campaign to demonstrate reliability and performance in various flight conditions, such as temperature extremes, high-altitude operations and high humidity. Dassault has nine other aircraft in various stages of assembly inMérignac.
While Dassault ramps up production, the flight-test program continues to check off milestones. As of October 10, the Falcon 8X flight-test program had accumulated 315 flight hours and 153 flights from Dassault’s flight test center in Istres, near Marseille, France. Flight-test aircraft have opened the flight envelope, with S/N 01 recently reaching a speed of Mach 0.97. Initial certification tests covering takeoff and landing performance andEASy flight deck validation are alsoprogressing.
“These achievements reflect the steady advance of the Falcon 8X flight-test program since the aircraft first took to the air last February,” said Eric Trappier, chairman andCEODassault Aviation. “Tests have fully confirmed target capabilities, in particular long-range performance.” Dassault, which unveiled the aircraft during the May 2014EBACEand flew the first 8X in February, hopes to secure bothEASAandFAAcertification in mid-2016 with deliveries following later thatyear.