Dassault Falcon 5X Delayed By Two Years The Snecma Silvercrest engine is at the center of a delay that Dassault Falcon says puts the Falcon 5X program back by two years. The hotly anticipated Dassault Falcon 5X is one of two executive jets the company unveiled in the last two or three years; the other being the 8X model. The 5X was supposed to have made its maiden flight in the latter-half of 2015 but issues with this particular engine started to emerge. The first test jet was rolled out in June of 2015 but now that aircraft is not expected to fly perhaps until sometime in 2017. This means that customers who were in the top of the order pack for the 5X won't be possibly seeing their jets until maybe 2020.
This is not good news for Dassault Falcon as they are coming off a relatively poor performance in 2015 with just a reported 55 business jets delivered. The problem with the Silvercrest engines apparently has to do with longevity in operation. Extension of the operational life of the engine is critical and in order to pursue this the engine manufacturer suggests that new parts will have to be made. This then pushes the certification of the engine back as well. Snecma suggests that over 500-hours of flight tests and 3,500 hours of ground tests have confirmed that the Silvercrest type has "good operational performance". For more information: Dassault Falcon Jet Corporation Teterboro Airport 200 Riser Road Little Ferry, NJ 07643 www.dassaultfalcon.com ***
