Falcon 10X On Track for 2025 Certification Date
Dassault reports its Falcon 10X program is gaining momentum on its way to a proposed 2025 Q-4 certification date. The French aerospace giant states parts production for its future flagship business aircraft is underway, with final assembly set to begin in 2023.
As detailed design work nears completion, assembly sites in Europe and North America—to include a brand-new Factory 4.0 smart manufacturing facility in Seclin (northern France)—are gearing up to make the ultra long-range, ultra wide-body Falcon 10X a reality.
Currently, the first of the Falcon 10X’s all-composite wings is in assembly in Biarritz, France. The wing will undergo testing in a static rig this summer.
“We are making excellent progress in getting this new aircraft into production, and the coming months will see an increasing flow of parts, subsystems and large structures into our facilities in the south of France,” says Dassault Aviation Chairman and CEO, Eric Trappier. “With help from the world’s leading suppliers, the Falcon 10X will be the most advanced and capable aircraft in business aviation.”
When complete, the 10X will boast a cabin height of six-feet, eight inches and volume of 2,780 cubic feet— the largest cabin of any purpose-built business jet. The aircraft’s range—according to Dassault—will be 7,500 nautical miles (13,900 km) at Mach 0.85 and top speed will be Mach 0.925.
The first of the ultra-efficient Pearl 10X engines that will power the 10X is being tested at Rolls-Royce’s Dahlewitz, Germany facility. To date, the 18,000+ pound-thrust engine has accumulated one-thousand test-hours, including runs on 100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Rolls Royce states the Pearl 10X will be certified to operate on 100-percent SAF.
Dassault’s has outfitted the Falcon 10X with a single power-lever which cedes control of its two, Rolls Royce Pearl 10X engines entirely to the aircraft’s digital flight-control system. The controversial system is intended to preclude power-management mistakes flight-crews might make in high-stress, abnormal, or emergency situations.
“The idea is to prevent an upset, but if the pilot doesn’t react, maybe he is focused in other things, automation will take the lead,” noted Jean-Lous Montel, Special Advisor on Technical and Design Issues for Dassault.
“There are all kinds if unusual attitudes where the pilot may be lost a little bit and doesn’t know what to do. This [system] could bring many opportunities to the crew in these kinds of situations,” added Alain Boucher, Dassault Engineer.
How Dassault’s avant-garde, single power-lever system might circumvent FAR 25.903(b) remains to be seen. Subject regulation states:
Engine isolation. The powerplants must be arranged and isolated from each other to allow operation, in at least one configuration, so that the failure or malfunction of any engine, or of any system that can affect the engine, will not -
(1) Prevent the continued safe operation of the remaining engines; or
(2) Require immediate action by any crew-member for continued safe operation.
Controversy and FARs notwithstanding, Dassault’s Falcon 10X promises to be a remarkable aircraft—perhaps even a world-changing one. Time, as ever, will tell.
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