Dassault's Business Tri-Jet Gains New Flight Deck

Of the 7,500 aircraft Dassault has delivered since it re-formed after the Second World War, 1,500 are executive jets. The company's Falcon 20 twin was one of the earliest of the type on the marketplace, and having been in the bizjet business almost from the beginning, the company is now one of the leading players.

Representing the genre at the Show this week is the Falcon 900, one of two variants (including the smaller Falcon 50EX) employing the unusual three-jet layout which Dassault has made its own. The aircraft in the static park is a 900EX extended range version, which has stopped by on its delivery flight to a customer in Australia.

Dassault has produced almost 300 Falcon 900s, including 97 of the 900EX variant. Aircraft No. 97, which conducted its maiden flight at Bordeaux last Thursday (February 21st), is the first to be fitted with the 'EASy' electronic flight deck adapted from technology developed for future Falcons.

Unaccountably, this particular machine is marked as a "9EX" on the fin, rather in the style of the next-generation Falcon 7X, now on the drawing board and scheduled to fly in 2005. There will eventually be a Falcon 9X (as well as a 5X and, possibly, a 3X), but this new project will not be launched for several years.

Also available, but not on show here, is the Falcon 2000 twin, which is proving to be the most popular of the family among Asian buyers.

In the long term, Dassault will build a supersonic business jet. The project floated a couple of years ago has not been abandoned, as sometimes reported, merely put on hold until the questions of sonic boom and engine availability can be resolved. By limiting maximum speed to Mach 1.8 and optimizing airframe shape, Dassault expects to produce an acceptable aircraft, but the more difficult matter is to find an engine manufacturer who will commit to design and low-volume production of a suitable power plant. In that respect, even Dassault is at the mercy of others.

By Paul Jackson