AEROMEDIA
The Italian Aerospace Information Web
by Aeromedia - corso Giambone 46/18 - 10135 Torino (Italy)

The Dassault Falcon 6X at Turin

Since entry into service in December 2023, the company demonstrator of the new Dassult Falcon 6X started a demanding promotion tour visiting 49 airports in 15 countries in Europe, USA and South America. Up to four flights per day were effected without any malfunctions. In February 2024 the elegant aircraft was in Italy and made a stop at Turin/Caselle after departing from Rome/Ciampino.
A recent positioning flight (with crew only) demonstrated the beyond-book performance of the Falcon 6X as it flew Paris to São Paulo in 12 hours 43 minutes against stronger-than-forecast headwinds. It cruised mainly at 43,000 feet at its long-range cruise setting, Mach 0.80. The 6X flew 5,646 air miles versus a published range of 5,500 nm, landing with more than the required fuel reserves.
The origin of the Falcon 6X, the latest descendant of the Falcon dynasty, is somewhat particular. In December 2017 the French manufacturer gave up further developments of the Falcon 5X due to problems related to the Safran Silvercraft turbofans. As a substitute Dassault launched the 6X programme with the same cabin cross-section but powered by two reliable Pratt & Whitney PW812D engines, each delivering 58-62 kN. The new Falcon was designed to compete in the ultra-wide-body business jet range such as the Bombardier Global 7500 and the Gulfstream G650ER offering a wider cabin and natural illumination from 29 extra-large windows. The first flight of the 6X took place on March 10, 2021 and the EASA/FAA certification was achieved in August 2023. The aircraft is on the market, ready for service, at an initial price of 53.8 million US dollars.
In 1961 Avions Dassault met the military specification to replace the old MD 312 Dassault Flamant piston-engine liaison aircraft. At the same time the manufacturer clearly had an eye on the fast-rising business jet sector. On the drawing board, the Mystère XX took form as a fine executive jet with highly swept wing and tail unit. The first prototype F-WLKB (now at the Paris' Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace), powered by two Pratt & Whitney JT12A-8 engines, flew for the first time at Bordeaux/Mérignac on May 4, 1963. Pan American Instantly sensed the potential of the new aircraft and placed an order for 40 items for the U.S. market. But the U.S. airline imposed drastic conditions: the adoption of the new General Electric CF700-2C turbofans and a significantly widened cabin cross-section. Dassault complied with this diktat and quickly developed the Americanized version. The resulting Falcon 20C prototype flew on July 10, 1964 while the first series aircraft flew on January 1, 1965. On June 10, 1965, on the same day of the definitive Mystère XX certification in France and United States, French aviatrix Jacqueline Auriol, at the controls of prototype F-WLKB, set the new world speed record over 1,000 km at an average speed of 859 km/h. In 1966 the first "raw" items arrived at the Burbank's cabin furnishing centre. In that period Pan Am, for the imported aircraft, replaced the bellicose Mystère XX name with Fan Jet Falcon later simplified as Falcon 20. In 1967 Pan American Business Jets Division was specifically set up which, as its first move, converted 120 signed options into firm orders. From 1971 the more powerful CF700-2D were installed on the new Falcon 20D. From January 1, 1971, after the fusion with Breguet, the complete name of the manufacturer became Avions Marcel Dassault-Breguet Aviation (AMD-BA) and in 1990 Dassault Aviation.

In the picture: the fourth Dassault Falcon 6X F-HSUP, used as demonstrator by the manufacturer, landing at Turin/Caselle Airport on February 4, 2024. (Aeromedia)

(Aeromedia, February 2024)