Falcon 8X nearing certification

Dassault Falcon 8X in Canada

The Dassault Falcon 8X has begun the final stages of its flight test and certification program. The FAA and EASA certifications of the Falcon 8X are expected by the middle of the year and the plane is expected to enter into service by late summer.

The three aircraft in the flight test program have nearly completed all certification test requirements, and to date have accumulated over 650 flight hours in 325 flights.

After undergoing thermal, acoustic and cabin amenity testing at the Little Rock Completion Center the first 8X equipped with a fully fitted interior, returned to the Istres Flight Test Center near Marseille in early March to prepare for cold soak trials. The cold soak trials was conducted at Ranken Inlet, Nunavut, on Canada’s Hudson Bay.

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The Falcon 8X s/n 03 will now begin a global test campaign to demonstrate aircraft operational reliability and performance in different conditions of flight. The month-long campaign will take the aircraft through Europe, the Middle East, Asia and North and South America and include more than 60 tests of various lengths.

The campaign will focus particular attention on cabin equipment and functionalities and other high speed communications systems during long distance, intercontinental flights and flights over remote areas.

Eric Trappier, chairman and chief executive of Dassault Aviation, said: “We are delighted and thrilled with the way the Falcon 8X program is proceeding. The flight test campaign has been flawless and the aircraft will be in initial customers’ hands this summer, just as planned when we launched development three years ago.”

Dassault Aviation recently completed work on a new hangar in Little Rock to handle 8X completions and launched a new six-bay hangar at Bordeaux-Merignac to provide additional maintenance and repair resources for the 8X and 7X models.