Dassault's Falcon 7X has flown for the first time, Thursday afternoon, at Dassault Aviation's facility in Bordeaux Merignac, France. Falcon 7X s/n 1 took to the skies for the first time with Test pilots Yves "Bill" Kerherve and Philippe Deleume at the controls. The airplane lifted off at 8:45 am EST and flew for an hour and thirty six minutes.

"The first flight of the Falcon 7X was a success," said Kerherve who is the Senior Test Pilot for Dassault Aviation. "The aircraft performed beautifully and we're on track to start the rigorous 15 months of flight testing that lay ahead."

After departing Bordeaux's International Airport, the aircraft climbed directly to 10,000 feet where various systems checks including hydraulic, fuel, air data systems and landing gear extraction/retraction tests were performed. The airplane then climbed to 25,000 feet where acceleration/deceleration tests were conducted as well as basic autopilot and auto-throttle operations.

The Falcon 7X carried the registration numbers of F-WFBW to remind those watching that this is the first business jet designed with a Fly By Wire flight control system. The test aircraft was fully equipped with instrumentation to allow the measurement of more than 3000 digital and 1000 analog parameters. It touched down at the Bordeaux airport at 10:21 a.m. EST.

"Today the pioneering spirit of Marcel Dassault lives on," said Charles Edelstenne, Chairman and CEO of Dassault Aviation. "That spirit is embodied in every one of our engineers, partners, customers and flight test team who made this spectacular event possible. This is surely a day we will all remember for years to come."

During the next test flight, the airplane will be relocated to the Dassault Test Center in Istres, France. The second test aircraft will arrive in Istres in the 2rd Quarter and the third test aircraft will arrive this summer. Falcon 7X s/n 3 will be outfitted with a full interior and will be used for long range and endurance tests as well as interior sound level validation. Approximately 1,200 flight test hours have been allotted before final certification by the FAA and EASA before the end of 2006. Dassault says that it has 50 firm orders for the new biz-jet.

A static and fatigue test airframe has been undergoing tests at CEAT in Toulouse since March 2005.

FMI: www.falconjets.com, www.dassaultfalcon.com/7x