Dassault Aviation’s new 5,500 nm Falcon 6X ultra widebody twinjet has completed its preliminary design and entered the detailed design phase. Production of initial long-cycle structural parts has begun and the development tests of Pratt & Whitney Canada’s PW812D power plant are progressing well. Aircraft architecture has been frozen and contracts with all major Falcon 6X programme partners have been signed.

Chairman and CEO Eric Trappier says: “The development schedule is unusually tight for a programme such as this. However, there is a good level of embedded maturity in the aircraft and component design and we are very confident of achieving a first flight in 2021.”

Manufacture of the aft fuselage began during the summer and production of the mid fuselage section will soon follow. Design activities for the nacelles (inlet, fan cowls, thrust reverser and engine build-up system), supplied by new Dassault partner UTC Aerospace Systems, are also underway.

The PW812D engines are performing bench and flight tests with more engines in preparation as the programme evolves. To date, the PW800 engine family, from which it is derived, already has more than 23,700 hours of evaluation including over 1,935 flights and over 12,200 flight test hours.

Dassault and its programme partners have also commenced a number of other important development activities including stress computation, maintainability analysis and manufacturing validation.

The Falcon 6X will incorporate a string of innovative features, including an ultra-efficient wing with advanced structural architecture and curved trailing edge to increase buffet margin and increase lift/drag, reducing the impact of turbulence. Flaperons will be integrated into the next-generation Digital Flight Control System; these active high speed deflection control surfaces can increase lift as flaps and improve roll control as ailerons. And its new onboard integrated maintenance system FalconScan is capable of monitoring more than 100,000 parameters for real-time system self-diagnosis.

Dassault’s FalconEye Combined Vision System, recently certified for approaches with 100 ft minimums on the 8X, will be included in a comprehensive options package offered with the first 6X aircraft. FalconEye is a head-up display that blends synthetic, database-driven terrain imaging and actual thermal and low-light camera images into a single view.

The cockpit provides more headroom than any other business aviation aircraft, Dassault says, and 30 per cent more window space, affording greater situational awareness in the air and on the ground. The extra-wide 8 ft 6 in cabin has individual seating for 12-16 passengers in three separate lounge areas and a number of layout options, including a large entryway, a crew rest area and a spacious rear lounge. Its 30 extra-large windows are designed to provide abundant natural light, with nearly 5,300 sq in of glass and the highest percentage of window area of any aircraft in its class. The 6X also features an industry-first skylight in the normally dim galley area.