Falcon 10X: a generation ahead
Without a doubt, 2021 will be a milestone year for the cloverleaf brand. After the inaugural flight of its long-awaited Falcon 6X, Dassault Aviation unveiled its future flagship, the Falcon 10X, on Thursday, May 6, 2021. With this very high-end jet, Dassault intends to conquer new market shares from its two main competitors, Bombardier and Gulfstream.
Dassault Aviation has put an end to several years of expectations and speculation by unveiling its new flagship Falcon 10X. The new aircraft is a reflection of the Saint Cloud-based manufacturer’s ambitions
and, in addition to being the largest Falcon ever produced by the company, it will undoubtedly reshuffle the deck in the long-range, high-end aircraft sector. Despite the release of the Falcon 8X in May 2014 as a response to the release of the Gulfstream G650, Dassault has never been able to truly compete with the Savannah-based aircraft manufacturer’s flagship nor Bombardier’s Global 7500, also unveiled in 2014.
With this new jet, as well as with the Falcon 6X, which is expected to enter service in 2022, Dassault is beginning its transformation and undoubtedly a recapture of the market long held by North American
manufacturers
The world within reach
The Falcon 10X is the result of a long study that, according to Carlos Brana, Executive Vice President of Civil Aircraft for Dassault Aviation, «should give Dassault the ability to enter the high-speed, very long-range aircraft market segment and, beyond that, to respond significantly to the many requests from our customers for such an aircraft to enter the Falcon range. «In fact, the 10X is the Falcon of
all superlatives. For proof, we need only look at its performance. With 12 people on board, the twin-engine jet will be able to fly a distance of 7,500 nm (12,000 km) at a maximum cruising speed of Mach 0.925. This will allow it to serve most of the world from Paris, Hong Kong, Los Angeles and even London City, as the aircraft manufacturer has already planned to operate to and from this specific airport. The design office has obviously ensured that the Falcon range will remain flexible enough to operate on a vast majority of terrain that is sometimes inaccessible to its main competitors. And despite it’s imposing size, the Falcon 10X will be able to take off from runways below 6,000 ft (1,828 m) and land in less than 2,500 ft (762 m).
Huge cabin space of 2,637 ft3
For this Falcon 10X, the engineers started from scratch. The new flagship is entirely new, even if it’s style does not hide an affiliation with it’s predecessors. Despite it’s DNA, engineers have pushed ahead with the development of a latest generation wing made entirely of composite. This, in addition to performance, must bring more resistance and more flexibility during all phases of flights. Beyond that, the aircraft’s new profile shows a new design of the nose, which, not without style, gives it a look reminiscing that of Concorde. This minor external evolution essentially marks an internal revolution since
this new jet was especially conceived around a true living space. Even before being the largest Falcon ever produced, the Falcon 10X will be the business jet with the largest cabin volume in service. The manufacturer has announced a cabin space of 2,780 ft3 (78.72 m3), well above it’s main competitors, the Bombardier Global 7500 (2,637 ft3 - 74.67 m3) and the Gulfstream G700 (2,603 ft3 - 73.70 m3). Dassault has chosen to offer three different cabin configurations, each divided into six distinct spaces. These include a crew area, a club lounge, a dining area, a couch and an entertainment lounge, as well as a suite with ensuite bathroom with or without a shower depending on the chosen configuration. The interior design teams led by Agnes Gervais, Industrial manager, new program and innovation, have taken into account the flight time, which can last up to 15 hours. Furthermore, the cabin experience offered by Dassault is the result of numerous analyses carried out with a large panel of selected customers and their feedback as regular business aviation passengers. In fact, in this cabin with its particularly generous dimensions of 53ft 10 / 16.40m - and a width of 9ft1 / 2.77m, nothing has been left to chance. Before designing the interior, various elements were taken into account such as the pressurization of the aircraft, the noise level, the humidity level but also the freedom of movement between each piece of furniture.
Home sweet home
The cabin designers of the brand with the cloverleaf have focused on the interior finish in the image of fashion, mixing current and future trends, paying particular attention to details. It is therefore a cabin with pure inspirations that is offered to us and Dassault has capitalized on a real vintage touch that we find especially in the design of the club seats. The latter, with their all-encompassing design, a sort of nod to the egg chair by Danish designer Arne Jacobsen, an icon of the 1970s, imposes a hushed and reassuring atmosphere. The natural materials have been particularly emphasized from the rest crew to the bathroom located at the back of the unit. We find wood, leather and stone on the different elements composing the cabin. And the latter are particularly highlighted by the exceptional brightness of the cabin, which has no less than 19 windows on each side.
Thus, the manufacturer did not consider it essential to integrate the « skyview » concept over the cabin entrance, as it did previously on its Falcon 6X. Thanks to this natural light, the Agnès Gervais teams have played on simplicity without sacrificing comfort and practicality. The main galley is fully equipped with an imposing work surface, and has been designed for the comfort of both the passenger and the crew, who can easily live independently of the passengers. In this respect, Dassault has unveiled a concept based on the individual cabins equipped with a convertible seat proposed as a first in commercial aviation and which can be integrated into both the passenger and crew cabin. Each area has been given a special treatment, highlighting the optimization of space by the design teams to find an interior identical to that of a beautiful apartment. The modular dining room area allows guests to have enough space to move around without disturbing their neighbors. This feeling of space is well perceived in the «Master Suite» which offers the possibility of having a Queen Size bed. Of course, despite the apparent technological simplicity, the cabin design incorporates the latest in terms of external and internal connectivity, with the Ka Band Wi-Fi network and the control of the various elements via a dedicated application. The latter allows you to adjust the light, sound and air conditioning. To take full advantage of the interior, Dassault has focused on soundproofing, just like the Falcon 8X, which remains one of the quietest aircraft in the segment, as well as on one of the lowest cabin pressures on the market, equivalent to 3,000ft (914m) at FL410. In addition to the cabin space, there is also a large luggage compartment. The latter, accessible in flight, has a volume of 200ft3 / 5.6 m3 and a door that opens and closes electrically. In addition, Dassault has provided an additional cargo area of 8.1 ft3 / 0.23 m3 located below the baggage compartment access hatch.
By Fred Vergneres - ©Dassault