Dassault joins central fuselage of new Falcon 5X

Dassault Aviation has joined the main center fuselage subassemblies of the Falcon 5X, a key milestone in the production program for this innovative new large cabin twinjet. The center fuselage subassemblies – the front and rear lower subassemblies and the upper subassembly – are part of the main center section, which includes the cabin and baggage hold. They arrived in March at Dassault’s Biarritz plant in southwestern France and were joined there to the wing center section in mid-April. In June, the main center section will be joined to the forward section, comprising the cockpit, entryway and galley, and the rear section, which carries the empennage and power plant, forming the complete fuselage. Once fully assembled and pressure tested, the fuselage will be ready for shipment to the Mérignac plant, near Bordeaux, for aircraft final assembly. Fuselage delivery is expected in the summer. Meanwhile, automated wing assembly is well advanced at the Martignas plant, near Mérignac, and work on equipping the first wing has begun. The wings are due to arrive at Mérignac at the same time as the fuselage. First aircraft equipment and systems have been delivered, including the Héroux-Devtek landing gear. The Snecma (Safran) Silvercrest engines will soon start podding operations and are due to arrive later this summer. Landing gear tests have been completed and tests on other systems have begun, including avionics, fuel and air conditioning systems.