Dassault is putting its new Falcon 8X through a final set of flight demonstrations ahead of its anticipated entry into service in the second half of 2016. The three-engine jet, registered as F-WWQC and fitted with a full production cabin interior, is due to fly around 55,000 nm over the course of four weeks and 65 flights.
The tour started with some short European flights from Dassault’s headquarters in France during the final week of March. Then on April 4, it crossed the Atlantic from Paris to the New York-area Teterboro Airport, giving Dassault chairman and CEO Eric Trappier his first flight in the 8X.
On April 5, the aircraft, which has a maximum range of 6,450 nm, flew nonstop to Abu Dhabi before heading even farther east to Shanghai for next week’s ABACE show. Then the 8X will make various stops across Southeast Asia before heading west again, flying nonstop from Singapore to London before recrossing the Atlantic to tour the U.S., including some high-altitude trials in Colorado. It will also be going to South America before returning to Paris sometime around the end of this month.
