Matt Thurber, editor-in-chief at AIN Media Group, has been flying since 1975 and writing about aviation since 1978 and now has the best job in the world, running editorial operations for Aviation International News, Business Jet Traveler, and FutureFlight.aero. In addition to working as an A&amp;P mechanic on everything from Piper Cubs to turboprops, Matt taught flying at his father’s flight school in Plymouth, Mass., in the early 1980s, flew for an aircraft owner/pilot, and for two summer seasons hunted swordfish near the George’s Banks off the East Coast from a Piper Super Cub. An ATP certificated fixed-wing pilot and CFII and commercial helicopter pilot, Matt is type-rated in the Citation 500 and Gulfstream V/550. Based in the Pacific Northwest, Matt and his team cover the entire aviation scene including business aircraft, helicopters, avionics, safety, manufacturing, charter, fractionals, technology, air transport, advanced air mobility, defense, and other subjects of interest to AIN, BJT, and FutureFlight readers.

Editor-in-Chief

Matt Thurber

Dassault Aviation is the manufacturer of some of the largest business jets on display at the 17th edition of LABACE. The French company’s exhibit at Congonhas Airport in São Paulo will include a three-engine Falcon 8X and twin-engine Falcon 2000LXS.

 


More than 550 of the Falcon 2000LXS have been delivered since the jet entered service in 1995. Capable of carrying six passengers 4,000 nm at Mach .80, the 2000LXS’s cabin measures 7 foot 8 inches wide and 6 feet 2 inches tall. Maximum operating speed is Mach .85, and it can take off at sea level at maximum takeoff weight (42,800 pounds) in 4,675 feet.

 


The Mach .90 Falcon 8X offers nearly 20 feet more cabin length with the same width and height. With a maximum takeoff weight of 73,000 pounds, the 8X has a takeoff length of 5,880 feet and can carry eight passengers and three crew 6,450 nm.

 


Dassault’s FalconEye head-up display (HUD) is now approved for installation at both pilot stations in the Falcon 8X. Approved by both the FAA and EASA, FalconEye is the first HUD certified with combined vision, which places synthetic vision and infrared and low-light camera imagery on the HUD at the same time. The dual HUD will be an option on the 8X and 6X.

 


In July, Dassault took the first production 6X, serial number 004, with a full interior, on a six-week tour to test all systems, cabin equipment, and real-world performance. The 6X flew to 40 destinations and logged more than 150 flight hours in preparation for entry into service in mid-2023. The 6X is powered by two Pratt &amp; Whitney PW812D turbofans.

 


Avionics on the 6X are the new EASy IV flight deck, based on Honeywell’s Epic platform, and this will be standard on the 8X and retrofittable to already-delivered 8Xs and also the 7X. Key features include improved graphical navigation, 2D and 3D airport maps, ADS-B In airborne and ground traffic, SiriusXM satellite weather overlaid on the Inav moving-map display, and runway overrun awareness and alerting system.

 


The 7X retrofit of EASy IV includes these features plus the NG FMS, graphical controller-pilot datalink communications, autothrottle with one-engine inoperative, RNP-AR (authorization required) approach capability, and Honeywell’s RDR-7000 3D radar.

 


Further out in the flight test and certification plan is the 10X, which will be Dassault’s largest and longest-range jet when it enters service in late 2025. With a 9-foot, 1-inch-wide cabin, the 10X will fly up to 7,500 nm. Wind tunnel tests of the design are done, and Dassault technicians have started to produce parts that will make up the first fuselage. Engines are Rolls-Royce's Pearl 10X, and they will power the 10X to its maximum operating speed of Mach 0.925.

News and developments about airplanes, helicopters and unmanned air vehicles used in all varieties of operations, including airlines, military, business, commercial, general aviation and private.

Falcon 8X and 2000LXS Fly into LABACE

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News and issues relating to civil and military unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) of all kinds and sizes, including those used for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), combat (unmanned combat air vehicles, or UCAVs), law enforcement, research and other applications. Of particular focus is the FAA's planned integration of UAS into the U.S. national airspace system.

News and issues relating to the aerospace industry that are related to the science, engineering and business of flight in space involving civil, industrial and military applications, and similar topics related to flight in the atmosphere of the Earth that are not covered more directly by other AINonline subject channels. In other words, both astronautical and aeronautical subjects, except for those aeronautical topics that are specifically covered elsewhere on this website.

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