Bred For 6X?

Dassault’s re-engined “super-midsize” jet rights the boat

Standing in the expansive Dassault Falcon hangar at an unusually quiet Paris Le Bourget Airport, home every two years to the Paris Air Show, the sense of national pride among the assembled French aeronautical world was palpable as the airframer unveiled its latest jet, the Falcon 6X. That pride comes not just from the fact that 6X meets a large-cabin, long-range need in Dassault’s profile, but because it is a chance to regain some lost face after the ill-fated 5X.

With a top speed of Mach 0.9, a range-optimised speed of Mach 0.80 to reach 5,500nm, and length of nearly 26m to carry up to nineteen passengers, the 6X is slightly larger and more capable than the 5X it replaces in Dassault’s lineup. (See Australian Aviation, July 2015, for more on the 5X.)