Operation of the Dassault Falcon 7X business jet at London City airport has been approved by the UK Civil Aviation Authority, paving the way for the ultra-long-range aircraft to arrive and depart from the heart of the UK's financial centre along with its stablemates the Falcon 900, 50 and 10 series.
"Flying into London City was a goal from the early development of the Falcon 7X programme," says John Rosanvallon, chief executive of Dassault Falcon, which adds that the 7X "offers the most range and cabin size of any business jet permitted to fly into and out of London City".
Dassault says the operational process for London City approval began in April last year when the 7X was granted steep approach approval from the European Aviation Safety Agency. Approval flights at the airport began six months later. The downtown airport's instrument landing system has a 5.5° glideslope - compared with the normal 3° - for noise abatement reasons, and this would cause most jet aircraft to arrive over the runway too fast to land.
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"Flying into City requires precision and stability in the handling and speed of the aircraft," says Dassault's chief test pilot Philippe Deleume, "The digital flight control system on the 7X helps to ensure those requirements are met while landing and departing from one of the world's most challenging airports."
A pilot training curriculum was developed in conjunction with CAE and is offered at its UK facility in Burgess Hill, Sussex. A similar programme will made available "shortly" at CAE's Morristown, New Jersey facility in the USA. The curriculum focuses on general airport knowledge, steep approach landings and noise abatement departures in CAE's full motion simulators.
Source: Flight International
