Dassault Aviation’s all-new Falcon 10X has made its maiden flight, marking the start of the flight test campaign for the manufacturer’s ultra-long-range flagship.
Test pilot Sébastien Dupont de Dinechin and copilot Fabrice Dougnac took off from runway 23 at Bordeaux-Mérignac at 11:10am for a flight lasting two hours and 30 minutes. The aircraft operated under the call-sign MEDOC01.
The pilots evaluated handling qualities and systems at 15,000ft (4,572m), then retracted the landing gear and all movable surfaces before climbing to 40,000ft (12,192m), where they accelerated to Mach 0.82. They returned to Bordeaux-Mérignac for a landing at 1:40pm.
“This inaugural flight is another milestone for Dassault,” said chairman and CEO Eric Trappier. “It is a reflection of the dedication and high skill of our engineering, production, and flight teams, and also the quality of our global network of partners. All of us are excited to see this day as we launch into a new phase for the 10X.”
The Falcon 10X has been in development since 2021 and is scheduled to enter service in late 2027. It is powered by two Rolls-Royce Pearl 10X engines and offers a range of 8,632 miles (13,900km), according to Dassault.
“Today’s flight was the culmination of years of work by thousands of Dassault employees and partners,” said de Dinechin. “It paid off in a flight that went as planned and was a delight to fly”.
The first aircraft will soon be followed into the air by a second test aircraft nearing completion, and by a third that is being outfitted with a full interior and will be used mainly for systems and cabin functional and reliability testing.
The 10X will become Dassault’s flagship, succeeding the Falcon 6X, which entered service in late 2023. The clean-sheet design was revealed in 2021 as a competitor to the Bombardier Global 7500 and Gulfstream G700.
