Bizjet Earns FAA And EASA Approval

It's been a busy week for business jets. On Friday, Aero-News learned the latest trijet from Dassault Aviation, the Falcon 7X, earned concurrent FAA and EASA certification. The Falcon 7X is expected to enter service before the end of June, just over two years after the first 7X took flight.

Dassault was awarded type-certification at a ceremony Friday in Bordeaux-Mérignac, France. Patrick Goudou, Executive Director of the EASA, and John Hickey, Director Aircraft Certification Service for the FAA, were on hand to sign the type certificate.

"Certification is a new chapter in the life of every airplane," said Charles Edelstenne, Chairman and CEO of Dassault Aviation. "But when the aircraft has broken new ground and surpassed so many technical barriers it is truly an event to be remembered. When we look back on this event in the future, it will be remembered as a day that brought the design, manufacturing and efficiency of business aircraft to a new level."

"The cooperation from both the EASA and FAA during the certification process was extraordinary," said Alain Picard, Director of Certification for Dassault Aviation. "The Falcon 7X introduces numerous new technologies never before used in business aviation so the challenge of substantiation was a bit more challenging."

Dassault notes the Falcon 7X is the first airplane ever designed and built in an entirely virtual environment using Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) philosophy. PLM sets a higher standard for the design and manufacturing process that brings collaborative teams closer together. Largely due to the utilization of the PLM processes, the time required to manufacture and complete the first flight-test ready 7X was much lower by as much as 50% compared to previous Falcons.

The 7X is also the first business jet to be flown with Fly-by-Wire (FBW) technology. With over 30 years of FBW experience on military programs, including the Mirage and Rafale fighters, Dassault created an advanced Digital Flight Control System for the Falcon 7X. The benefits include exceptional response and controls, safety and passenger comfort through the exceptional stability of the airplane.

"Dassault has delivered to the market not only a ground breaking airplane but one that offers superior fuel efficiency, cabin environment and maintenance," said John Rosanvallon, President and CEO of Dassault Falcon. "The response is truly historic and we see the Falcon 7X as the market leader for years to come." The Falcon 7X is the most fuel efficient airplane in its class and with fuel prices climbing again, very desirable to the market.

Over 160 aircraft have been sold to date, representing over four years of production. Dassault claims that makes the Falcon 7X the most popular launch of a business jet ever in terms of sales dollar value.

Enroute to certification, the Falcon 7X test program accumulated over 1600 flight test hours with over 600 flights performed. Over one-third of the flight hours were dedicated to certification flights.

As ANN reported in Real-Time Thursday, VLJ manufacturer Eclipse Aviation also made news this week... with the awarding of its production certificate for the Eclipse 500 by the FAA.

FMI: www.dassault-aviation.com/en/aviation.html?L=1