On the Record With
John Rosanvallon, President & CEO, Dassault Falcon
Jet
Dassault Falcon comes to NBAA 2005 with two new airplanes:
the third flying Falcon 7X is on show at Orlando Executive, and the firm
disclosed plans here yesterday for the Falcon 2000DX.
The new 2000DX, with the EASy cockpit and twin PW308C engines
of the long-range 2000EX, is to replace the Falcon 2000.
"I don't want to brag too much," Dassault Falcon president
and CEO John Rosanvallon told Show News on the eve of Orlando, but he notes
that more than 230 Falcon 2000s will have entered service when deliveries cease
at the end of this year.
"We anticipate the same positive response," Rosanvallon
said, for the 2000DX. With a simplified fuel system, the new airplane will have
a range of 3,200 nmi or perhaps as much as 3,250 nmi, up from about 3,000 nmi
for the current Falcon 2000 (range of the 2000EX is stated at 3,800 nmi).
Deliveries of the 2000DX are expected to start in late 2007.
It's a game plan that may sound familiar, as Dassault Falcon
has already taken the cockpit and engines of the flagship 900EX and applied
them to the new 900DX, replacing the 900.
And while Rosanvallon may be loath to brag about the 2000,
his firm has been anything but modest about the 7X, described as "in a class by
itself," and said to "fly faster, farther and higher than any Falcon we have
ever built."
Falcon 7X S/N 03, the aircraft here in Orlando, took to the
air on September 20 at Bordeaux-Merignac, with pilots Dominique Chenevier and
Etienne Faurdessus at the controls. It was the 60th flight for the type, which
has now notched some 200 flight hours.
The top-of-the-line 7X is a 5,700-nmi widebody powered by
three PW307A engines. It has Falcon's EASy cockpit and is being built using
some of the most advanced and efficient manufacturing techniques yet devised.
With an all-new wing, it is expected to be the basis of new Falcons well into
the 21st century.
"From a market acceptance point of view, what we are seeing
is beyond our most optimistic expectations," Rosanvallon said. He won't talk
hard numbers, but orders are believed to stand at around 70 for the $39.4
million aircraft.
The Teterboro-based Falcon chief is also pleased with
overall sales. "We had a very poor 2003 and a nice recovery in 2004,"
Rosanvallon said. This year looks even better—far better: The company logged 62
sales of Falcon jets through June, as compared with just 40 in all of 2003 and
69 in 2004.
"The trend is up very significantly," Rosanvallon said, with
particular strength in Russia, Western Europe and Brazil. Historically, about
75% of the business jet market has been in North America, he said, while
Dassault Falcon's market has been about two-thirds in North America. "This year
we are close to a 50-50 trend," Rosanvallon said.
Dassault Falcon is expanding its completions center in Little
Rock, Ark., to accommodate the new 7X, with plans including a new hangar to
accommodate the jet—the 7X is nearly 10 feet longer and has a wingspan almost
19 feet greater than that of the current Falcon flagship, the 900EX. An $8.2
million paint hangar capable of handling the 7X was added at Little Rock last
year.
Completion of other types is sometimes farmed out to Jet Aviation
Basel, but for the 7X, "We do everything ourselves," Rosanvallon said.
Dassault plans to ramp up production to three per month in
2007 or 2008. Even so, "If you want to buy an airplane today you have a
four-year lead time," Rosanvallon said. Falcon 7X certification and first
deliveries are expected late next year.
