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Aviation History
2003
2003 - 2054.PDF
BUSINESS AVIATION ASSEMBLY CHRISTINA MACKENZIE / BORDEAUX Dassault opens Falcon 7X facility Company now able to assemble four long-range business trijets a month, but will start with two, pending market recovery Dassault Aviation has inaugurated its €35 million ($40 million) 19,340m2 (210,000ft2) assembly facility for the Falcon 7X long- range trijet for which over 30 orders have been received. The first aircraft is scheduled for delivery in 2006. "We can assemble four aircraft a month in this new building," says Dassault Aviation chief executive Charles Edelstenne, "but as the market is still depressed, we will start with two." Edelstenne says Dassault is not expecting new orders this year for the Falcon 7X as it cannot deliver the aircraft before mid-2008. There are signs the second-hand market is "waking up", he suggests, which "based on past experience" should kickstart sales of new jets. The USA is the main market for Dassault, accounting for 40% of the high-end business jet market, but Edelstenne warns: "If the dollar con tinues to be weak against the euro we will get hurt". Political tensions between France and the USA have hampered business, he adds, saying: "Some customers had threatened to cancel orders and US-built compo nents are taking longer to arrive". Dassault says flexibility is key to surviving the cyclical dips and rises of the aviation sector. Contrary to its competitors, no full-time staff have been laid off, although some sub-contracting work has returned in-house. "We are very careful not to damage our partners at any level, because we know that when the upswing begins we will need them," Edelstenne says. Jean-Francois Georges, senior vice president civil aircraft, says half-year turnover targets should be met and that its mix of 60% civilian and 40% military is "ideal". Dassault has sold 20 Falcons this year, half the figure for the same period last year. He says the company's overall performance depends on the Falcon 900EX EASy cockpit gaining its US and European certification before year-end. "If so, we can deliver the six aircraft worth $35 million each, if not, we lose $210 million." If delivery goes ahead, consolidated sales will be on a par with 2002 at €3.44 billion, Georges says. Certifi cation is being held up by software problems with the EASy cockpit developed with Honeywell, which Dassault blames for the delay. EVALUATION Raytheon Plans 'opeval' For Horizon Raytheon plans to conduct a pseudo-military style "operational test and evaluation" (OT&E) pre-ser- vice entry phase for the Hawker Horizon super mid-size business jet in the run-up to delivering it to the first operators in late 2004. Having been hit by delays already, the Horizon team is now focusing on service readiness rather than certification, which it expects to achieve by the start of the third quarter in 2004. The company planned to certificate the aircraft in 2001 but slipped the target date to 2003 and late 2004. Raytheon prod uct development and engineering vice president David Riemersays: "The OT&E will work out all the kinks, not only in the aircraft but also in our supplier system. If there are no improvements needed we will deliver the first two aircraft in November and December 2004." The company is near the halfway mark in the test effort and has amassed over 670h on the three test aircraft based at Wichita. The test fleet includes RC-1, which has performed the bulk of the flying qualities and basic aerodynamic test work; RC-2, the lead systems certifi cation airframe, and RC-3, primarily dedicated to avionics testing. DELIVERY Return to flight for Learjet 45 Bombardier says the new horizontal stabiliser actuator assemblies for all 235 Learjet 45 superlight business jets have been delivered and many affected aircraft have re-entered ser vice after their grounding last month by the US Federal Aviation Adminis tration. Component supplier MPC Products of Skokie, Illinois, changed the process for hardening certain actuator parts, because the FAA alleged the original process caused excessive brittleness. AVIONICS Rockwell Collins gets IFIS go-ahead Rockwell Collins has received certi fication of its integrated flight information system (IFIS), an extension to its Pro Line 21 avion ics suite that brings electronic charts, graphical weather and enhanced maps into the cockpit. The IFIS has been approved first in a Bombardier Challenger 601 upgraded with Pro Line 21 Continuum avionics. Certification in the similarly upgraded Dassault Falcon 20 and 50 is expected early next year. IFIS uses the file server unit (FSU) developed for Pro Line 21, which can store 2GB of data (with growth to 16 GB) and communicates via Ethernet with the large-format liq uid-crystal displays. The FSU is standard on Cessna's Citation CJ3, which will be certifi cated in mid-2004, and optional on the Gulfstream G150, which will be approved early in 2006. IFIS will provide enhanced maps in the CJ3, with charts and graphical weather optional. IFIS is designed to increase crew situation awareness and reduce cockpit workload. Electronic charts including approaches, departures and airport maps are tied into the flight plan and, where geo-ref- erenced charts are available, aircraft position is shown. The aircraft symbol overlaid on airport maps will provide taxi guidance, for example. Graphical weather is also avail able via either WSI broadcast, Universal Weather request/reply datalink, or XM Satellite Radio XM WX service. Enhanced map over lays include geo-political bound aries, controlled and restricted air space and airways. A dual-FSU installation will be certificated in October that will, with operational approval, allow a paperless cockpit, Collins says. 20 23-29 SEPTEMBER 2003 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.flightinternational.com
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