PARIS, France, June 21, 2001 (PRIMEZONE) -- Less than one week after Dassault's press conference announcing an all-new airplane, customers respond enthusiastically. "We have received over twenty deposits, since unveiling the Falcon FNX, the first in a new family of Falcons," said Charles Edelstenne, Chairman and CEO of Dassault Aviation. "The strong order response fully validates the key parameters of the airplane. Customers quickly recognized the exceptional value represented by this 5700 nm aircraft. Interest in the FNX is global, split almost evenly between the U.S. and the rest of the world. It demonstrates the confidence the Dassault name engenders in the business aviation industry. With the FNX, Dassault will provide its operators with unprecedented performance, comfort and versatility they expect from our family of aircraft."
Range, Speed and Value
With a non-stop range of 5700 nm, the FNX delivers the nonstop capabilities international companies need most. "When we analyzed major city pairs and ran them against corporate requirements, the decision was easy," explained John Rosanvallon, President of Dassault Falcon Jet. "Out of Paris, for example, 5700 nautical miles delivers the major U.S. west coast cities when going west, or Tokyo going east. From the U.S. West Coast, it gives you Tokyo going west and all of Europe going east."
Falcon FNX Mission Capability:
Paris eastbound: Tokyo, Beijing, Johannesburg
Paris westbound: Los Angeles, Mexico City, Sao Paolo
New York eastbound: All of Europe, Riyadh, and all of South
America
New York westbound: Honolulu, Petropavlovsk
San Francisco eastbound: Paris, Moscow, Buenos Aires
San Francisco westbound: Tokyo, Seoul
The FNX's new wing yields a double-digit improvement in L/D (lift-to-drag ratio) over present-day Falcon wings. Olivier Villa, Vice President of Falcon programs, described the new wing as an optimized high-transonic design. "In addition, the Falcon FNX's MMO will be an impressive .9 Mach," said Villa. "It's the highest in its class, enabling operators to conduct most day-to-day flights at Mach 0.85 and above."
Jean-Francois Georges, Senior Vice-President Civil Aircraft of Dassault Aviation, indicated Dassault's "design-to-build" concepts also managed to control labor and parts costs. "Equally significant, though, are the stringent specifications Dassault sets for all components and systems to reduce downtime and life cycle costs," he said. "From initial conception to development, we addressed price and cost-of-operation issues so that we could pass that savings on to our customers."
Falcon Versatility
Dassault's three-engine design is a hallmark of performance, versatility, safety and efficiency. The tri-jet FNX will continue in the Falcon tradition of allowing operators access to more demanding airfields, such as those at high altitudes on warm days. A shorter balanced field length requirement and net thrust vector closer to the centerline provide better low-speed control and an added dose of comfort for wider safety margins. An additional benefit of the three-engine design is flight unrestricted by ETOPS considerations over oceans. The FNX will also meet new, lower noise standards, even those anticipated for the next two decades.
Throughout the years, Falcon engineers have been dedicated to setting the highest standards in aviation design. With the FNX they managed to exceed even their most stringent expectations. Although the FNX will be larger and deliver 26% more range than the versatile Falcon 900EX, it will need even less runway for both take-off and landing. This will prove invaluable to operators seeking the convenience of smaller airports closer to their final destinations. With a low Vref speed (even lower than the 900EX), it also assures wide margins of safety in day-to-day operations.
First flight of the new Falcon FNX is scheduled for 2004.