Amongst a clutch of recent notices, Dassault has announced pending Cat III certification for the Falcon 900EX with the Flight Dynamics HGS-2850 head-up system, and disclosed the first Falcon 2000 operator to be approved for Cat III operations. It also announced the completion of the 100th Falcon 2000, the scheduled delivery of 200 new Falcons between 1999 and 2001 and the introduction of composite horizontal tailplanes for Falcon 2000 and 900s.\rApprovals have already been granted for Falcon 900EX operators to fly Cat I approaches manually using the HGS head-up system for guidance and Cat II approaches coupled with the autopilot. Dassault is now awaiting certification of Cat III capability for the 900EX for 50 ft decision height and a runway visual range as low as 600 ft. Falcon pilots have flown 1,000 approaches on the flight simulator at FlightSafety's Teterboro Airport facility and Dassault expects approvals before the end of 1999. \rSNAM, an Italian company, will soon become the world's first corporate flight department to be approved for Cat III manual operations. SNAM recently bought an HGS equipped Falcon 2000, which it flies regularly from Rome to Turin, Milan and Venice, where the ceiling and visibility often fall below normal Cat I and II operating minima. Subject to operational approvals, SNAM's Falcon 2000 will soon be licensed to land in Cat III conditions. \r"Often this can mean the difference between routinely completing our mission and staying at home," said SNAM's chief pilot, Aldo Servi. "Several years ago, we sensed very strongly that Cat III would be the next frontier, a key to making business flying even more productive. Dassault invited SNAM and other operators to participate on a Cat III advisory committee."\rDassault earned JAA and FAA certification for the Falcon 2000 to fly Cat III operations in 1997 and 1998 respectively. However, the manu-facturer's equipment certification is only the first step towards operational approval. Individual operators must also obtain letters of authorisation from their national airworthiness authorities which may impose special training and administrative stipulations. SNAM is qualifying two pilots at a time in simulators at the Falcon training centre at Le Bourget, Paris.\rDassault's 100th Falcon 2000 left the final assembly plant at Merignac on September 27 for completion at Jet Aviation, Basel. The aircraft will be delivered in February to a major European car manufacturer. Total orders for the Falcon 2000 exceed 160 aircraft to date; some 54 of these will serve in NetJet's fractional ownership programmes in Europe, the US and the Middle East. \rDassault says it is on track to deliver more than 200 new Falcon business jets in the years 1999, 2000 and 2001. Broken down by aircraft type, 40 per cent of these deliveries are projected to be Falcon 2000s, 40 per cent Falcon 900s and 20 per cent Falcon 50EXs. Among this number will be the 250th Falcon 900 and the 300th Falcon 50, which will both be delivered in the year 2000. \rIn total, 1,331 Falcons have been delivered since their debut in 1963. According to Dassault, 20 per cent of these are in military or government service, not only as vip transports, but also as air ambulances, weapons system trainers, aerial photography and mapping platforms and maritime surveillance aircraft. \rFinally, Dassault has begun manufacturing a new carbon fibre horizontal stabiliser for the Falcon 2000 and 900 series. It expects the design to be fully certified and in service by the end of the year. This new technology simplifies the manufacturing process and is said to hold benefits for Falcon customers. The parts count for the new tail is 60, compared to 240 for the metal tail. It also reduces the number of required fasteners from 11,784 to 3,800, and saves 30 lb in weight. Dassault is phasing in the new tail and will offer it commencing with Falcon 900C s/n 186, Falcon 900EX s/n 74, and Falcon 2000 s/n 125.