Dassault Aviation chief test pilot Philippe Deleume has become the first person to experience the flight characteristics of the Falcon 5X, which Dassault introduced at the National Business Aviation Association’s annual convention in October. Deleume took the controls of the newly developed Falcon 5X simulation bench at the company’s design office in St Cloud, France. The purpose of the first simulated flight was to evaluate the general flight characteristics of the fly-by-wire-controlled business jet.
The flight simulated takeoff, cruise and landing phases under normal flight conditions. “I was impressed by the simulated behavior of the aircraft, which was extremely sound and responsive,” said Deleume. The Falcon simulation bench will be used to test the 5X through and beyond the approved flight envelope at various weights, speeds and center-of-gravity locations.
Dassault says the Falcon 5X will be the first business jet to feature flaperons, control surfaces that can act as flaps, ailerons or speed brakes. While the 5X also has a newly designed wing, the eight-passenger jet will include enhanced versions of the Honeywell-designed EASy flight deck and the flight control system featured in the 7X, which the company entered into service in 2007. Dassault plans to take the first test aircraft to the skies in early 2015.
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