A talk incessantly Rafale and his adventures in export, you almost forget that the Falcon business jets represent 73% of sales of Dassault Aviation. The French manufacturer, he has not forgotten the first copy of the new Falcon 5X device very large cabin and long range made for the premium market, from the factory Tuesday, June 2 in Merignac (Gironde ). Offered at $ 45 million, this unit, whose first flight is planned this summer and the end certification 2016, is the largest investment in the history of Dassault business aircraft, with one billion euros invested.
Why gamble in a market even business jets convalescent after the 2009 crisis? Dassault wants to be well placed to benefit from the recovery commands supported by the US and the Chinese market, he hopes for the coming months. And to get his way, the French aircraft manufacturer pursues the strategy that propelled the third largest premium business jet: if not the biggest, the most malignant
A ceiling height of nearly 2m
5X Falcon and refuses racing “biggest toy on the tarmac”, the biggest toy on the track, despite the taste of the Chinese market for the biggest and efficient aircraft. Where the American Gulfstream and Bombardier of Canada rely on devices with very long range (13,000 to 14,000 km), the 5X 8X leaves the Falcon, the flagship of the range (12,000 km range), to rub ultra-premium segment, and merely 9,360 kilometers, already more than reasonable performance.
The idea of Dassault is primarily to focus on comfort. If it falls short of the Gulfstream 650, for example, the Falcon 5X and displays a higher cabin ceiling (1,98m against 1.95 m). The windows are 10% larger than those of the Falcon 7X, and 30% greater than those of the Falcon 900. The air quality, ensures the aircraft manufacturer, will be 10 times greater than that of an office building.
The pressurization equivalent to an altitude 1,300 m instead of 2,000 m, also makes the flight more comfortable for the passenger. Best of all, the aircraft offers an exclusive “overhead door”, drilled in the ceiling, to bring more natural light into the cabin.
An engine 100 % new
Dassault has also relied on its other traditional strength: low consumption of its aircraft. After a first agreement with the British engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce, it is ultimately the new French Safran French Silvercrest engine was chosen, with a consumption expected gain around 15%. The French group announced in May a six-month delay in the certification of the engine, now scheduled for mid-2016.
5X, like its counterparts in the Falcon range, can also take off and land from short runways such as London City Airport, Aspen (Colorado) or Mole Saint-Tropez, with a landing speed of less than 200km / h.
Military technologies
Dassault finally capitalized on its dual positioning, both civilian and military, for inputting Mirage and Rafale fighters technologies on his new baby. As combat aircraft, the Falcon 5X enjoys a head-up display system, the eyes of the driver, which allows the crew to have all relevant information without lowering the gaze to the instruments.
This system, unique in the business aviation and developed by Israel’s Elbit Systems, combines infrared vision and synthetic vision of the environment. It allows perfect even in degraded weather visibility, the pilot clearly seeing the environment modeled before his eyes (hills, runway …). If it does not look like a Rafale, the Falcon 5X certainly remains a Dassault aircraft. “Given the strong customer enthusiasm with regard to the new aircraft, we expect it to become quickly as popular as 7X the fastest-selling model in the Falcon range,” assured June 2 Dassault Aviation’s boss, Eric Trappier.
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