Dassault Aviation has flown a second Falcon 6X flight test aircraft, completing another important milestone in the development programme for the new widebody, long-range twinjet. Flight test aircraft no. 2 made a two-hour flight on 30 April, climbing to FL400 and accelerating to a cruise speed of Mach 0.85.

“We are very pleased with the progress of the Falcon 6X test programme and remain confident of meeting its target 2022 certification date,” says Dassault chairman and CEO Eric Trappier. “We now have two aircraft in the air. Each is performing as expected and showing a high level of systems maturity for this phase of the programme. Several of our test pilots have flown the Falcon 6X. All are extremely satisfied with its performance and handling characteristics.”

A third aircraft with a finished interior will enter the test programme by summer. Test article no. 3 will serve to test the cabin systems and amenities, galley equipment, flight entertainment systems and options including high-speed Ka-band Internet capability.

Later, the first production aircraft, aircraft no. 4, will be completed to a typical customer configuration and will embark on a global tour intended to demonstrate the use of the complete aircraft, from airframe to systems and cabin amenities, and ensure it is fully mature when the Falcon 6X enters service.

The very first Falcon 6X flight took place on 10 March 2021.