EBACE: Dassault unveils the 8X - the new Falcon flagship

Dassault unveiled a new flagship aircraft that will take the Falcon family further than ever before.
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At EBACE today the French manufacturer took the wraps off the ultra-long range Falcon 8X, its longest range and largest cabin Falcon.

The unveiling of the 19-seat tri-jet comes just seven months after the French airframer took the wraps of its all-new and widest cabin Falcon, the 5X.
The new aircraft is a stretched version of the successful 7X programme which entered service in 2007 and has already manufacturer more than 250 of the type.

“The Falcon 8X will be our new flagship and a great complement to our product line,” said Dassault Aviation chairman, Eric Trappier in Geneva this morning. “It builds on Dassault expertise in aerodynamics, in precision design and manufacturing, and in advanced digital flight controls. It embodies the best of Falcons that have come before with the most capability of any Falcon ever.”
“With two new aircraft in development, Dassault will now be able to offer a family of six [twin and tri-engined] jets designed to meet the widest possible range of operator needs at the upper end of the business jet spectrum [starting with the 3,350nm (6,200km) super midsize 2000S at the foot of its product line,” he added.

The 8X will be pitched against Gulfstream’s G550, G650 and Bombardier’s in-development Global 7000 and 8000.

With a range of 6,450nm (11,950 km) – 500nm more than the 7X – it will offer a more extensive list of one-leg missions than its stablemate, such as Beijing to New York, Hong Kong to Seattle, Paris to Singapore and Sao Paulo to Moscow.

To give the 8X this extra range, Dassault has introduced a number of refinements and enhancements to the aircraft’s design.

These include an extra fuel tank within the centre fuselage section, which enables the 8X to carry up to 15,800kg (34,900lb) fuel – compared with 14,500kg carried by the 7X. The 8X will also feature a redesigned ultra-efficient wing derived from the Falcon 7X. “The wing structure has been redesigned to minimise the overall aircraft drag during cruise while achieving 600lb weight saving,” says Olivier Villa, senior vice president, civil aircraft. “It will also feature an optimised leading edge profile and winglets. These improvements are expected to increase significantly the lift to drag ratio,” says Dassault.

The 8X will be equipped with three Pratt & Whitney Canada PW307D engines, each delivering 6,720lb (30kN) of thrust – a 5% increase compared to the PW307As that power the Falcon 7X. These engines will offer a new full authority digital engine control system, as well as a significant reduction in fuel consumption, noise and nitrogen oxide emissions, says Dassault. The 8X has the same cabin cross-section as the 7X, but is around 1.1m longer bringing the total cabin length to 13m. “This extra space has enabled us to offer the most diverse selection of cabin layouts on the market,” says Dassault. “More than 30 configurations will be available and three galley sizes, two with a crew-rest options,” it continues. The 8X cabin also features up to 33 windows, depending on the configuration, compared with a maximum of 29 windows on the 7X.

Priced at around $57 million, the 8X will be equipped with a totally redesigned cockpit modelled on the 5X. It will feature a new generation of the EASy flight deck - based on Honeywell Primus Epic avionics – featuring a head-up display (HUD) that combines synthetic and enhanced vision and offer a dual HUD capability.

First flight is expected in early 2015 with certification in the middle of 2016 and initial deliveries before the end of the year.