Aircraft

Dassault Falcon 6X widebody business jet makes first flight

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Falcon 6X in flight
Dassault Aviation
Artist's rendering of the Falcon 6X
Dassault Aviation
The Falcon 6X is a widebody business jet with intercontinental range
Dassault Aviation
Falcon 6X with test pilots
Dassault Aviation
Falcon 6X flight deck
Dassault Aviation
Falcon 6X taking off
Dassault Aviation
Falcon 6X in flight
Dassault Aviation
Falcon 6X as seen from the chase plane
Dassault Aviation
Falcon 6X cabin
Dassault Aviation
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Dassault's Falcon 6X widebody business jet has made its first flight. With test pilots Bruno Ferry and Fabrice Valette at the controls, the two and a half hour flight in the skies over Dassault Aviation’s Mérignac plant near Bordeaux on March 10 saw the 6X s/n 01 aircraft reach an altitude of 40,000 feet (12,000 m) and a speed of Mach 0.8 (609 mph, 980 km/h).

Based on the Dassault Falcon 5X, the 6X is billed as the first ultra-widebody purpose-built business jet and boasts the tallest and widest cabin on the market. Carrying a crew of two and up to 16 passengers, its paired Pratt & Whitney PW812D turbofan engines gives it a range of 5,500 nautical miles (10,200 km) – far enough to fly from London to Hong Kong nonstop.

In addition to its performance, the Falcon 6X has an advanced digital flight control system and the company's FalconEye combined vision system for better situational awareness and to aid in making landing approaches in the dark or foul weather. The aircraft is also equipped with the FalconScan diagnostics system that monitors 100,000 maintenance parameters.

Falcon 6X flight deck
Dassault Aviation

Wednesday's test flight was the first in the aircraft's certification process. Its purpose was to demonstrate how mature the technology is, as well as the 6X's handling, engine response, and key systems. The prototype will now fly to the Dassault flight test center at Istres, near Marseille for more tests. Meanwhile, Falcon 6X s/n 02 and 03 will be made ready for flight later this year.

Source: Dassault

View gallery - 8 images
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7 comments
Primdahl
Verry nice looking Aircraft.
How do you define "widebody"? - I think a general understanding is an aircraft with two passenger aisles.
Cheers - Ole
clay
"the 6X is billed as the first ultra-widebody purpose-built business jet"

Waaaaaah....??

It looks like yet another Gulfstream clone. And I've got no complaints with that, but wow, the Dassault marketing budget has been shifted over to a Fiverr top earner's boilerplate portfolio! :-)
Karmudjun
Great! For those of us "Tallest and widest" of human specimens, what exactly does "Tallest and widest" mean in dimensions for Corporate aircraft?
WB
first wide body? I don't know what they are smoking over there in the marketing department in France...but I'd love to have some of that.
They just try to catch up to Gulfstream and still fail.
Nizzlund
"Ultrawidebody! is somewhat misleading, with a width that is smaller than a DC9...
Christina Saint Marche
Great article David. Images are nice as well. On to my comment:

"Well, its French! Its Hot! Need I say more? Dassault has a track record for innovation and standing behind its product line. Environmental impact is also a concern of the company here in France. Jet owners are becoming more and more sensitive to carbon footprint causation in their usage. Love the look and looking forward to the rollout of this aircraft to the masses."

Christina Saint Marche'
Peter S
Mach 0.8 at 40 000 feet is about 850 km/h, not 980 km/h, since the speed of sound is lower at altitude than at sea level.