One Wednesday afternoon not long ago a Dassault Falcon2000 pulled up on the ramp at Clay Lacy Aviation VNY (VanNuys CA). This was the aircraft I was to flightcheck the fol-

lowing morning and I had some time to admire its lines in anticipa-tion of the next day’s flights. Marcel Dassault always used to saythat if an airplane looks great it will fly great. I’m sure he was rightand I was looking forward to flying this popular widebody FalconJet.

Early the next morning I met up with Dassault Falcon Jet ChiefPilot Ops Dave DeAngelis, Capt Bill Magnus, Regional SalesManager Dwight Reimer and my good friend Dassault Falcon Jet

114 PROFESSIONAL PILOT / March 2000

FLIGHTCHECK DA2000

Flying the DassaultFalcon 2000

By Clay LacyATP/CFII/Helo/Sea. Gulfstream II/III/IV, Learjet series, HS125, Boeing 727/747 and 25 misc type ratings

This CFE738-powered twin can carry 2 pilots +8 pax 3000 nm at M.8 and with Flight DynamicsHGS can handle Cat IIIa approaches.

Director of CommunicationsJohn House. House had broughtwith him an extensive collectionof material on the Falcon 2000program—everything you couldwant to know about the airplaneand its competitive positioning.DeAngelis, who I would be fly-ing with, had worked with PanAm’s Falcon Jet business aircraftdivision back in the early 70s.He joined Dassault Falcon Jetwhen it acquired the program in1974, and he probably knows asmuch about flying Falcons asanyone in the world.

Dassault started thinking aboutwhat was referred to as theFalcon X in the late 1980s. Atthe Paris Air Show of 1989 theFalcon 2000 was announced.

First flight was in early 1993and FAA certification wasachieved in early 1995. Sincethen over 150 aircraft have beensold and the 100th Falcon 2000was delivered late last year.

The 2000 has achieved a num-ber of firsts. It was the first bizjetto be JAA certified from scratchand in 1996 the Falcon 2000won the distinction of being thelargest business jet approved tooperate in and out of LCY(London City, England) whichrequires a 5.5° glideslope. Lastyear the 2000 became the firstbusiness jet to be involved infractional ownership programsin 3 continents—US, Europe andthe Middle East. It’s beenextremely successful in fraction-

al ownership applications.Falcon 2000 fractional ordersnow total 60, with 35 of these inthe US NetJets program, 13 inNetJets Europe and 12 inNational Air Services MiddleEast program which is operatedby NetJets.

Transcon optimized

House explained that the 2000was created mainly around theNorth American transcontinentalmission. With 3100 nm range atMach .75 longrange cruise, and3000 nm at Mach .80, it’s anhonest transcontinental aircraft.It will take 8 pax from Miami FLto Vancouver, or Portland ME toSan Diego CA, against 99%

PROFESSIONAL PILOT / March 2000 115

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Flightcheck Author Clay Lacy departs Rwy 16 at VNY (Van Nuys CA) for FL410.

probability winds in a largecomfortable cabin.

The 2000 is an offshoot of theFalcon 900, which is itself anoffshoot of the Falcon 50. Inconceiving the Falcon 2000,Dassault was aiming for a lon-grange, widebody replacementfor the Falcon 20—an aircraft thatwould fly higher, faster and fartherwith a really large cabin. It discov-ered that by putting the Falcon 50’swings on the wider fuselage itwould increase span and aspectratio by exactly the right amount tomeet these goals. The end result isan airplane with essentially thesame wing as the Falcon 50 and thesame cross section as the 900EX.While the 26 ft 2 in cabin of the2000 is 6 ft shorter than the 900EXit’s 92 in wide, which is 8 in greaterthan a Gulfstream V and only 6 innarrower than a BombardierChallenger CL-604.

The airplane we were to fly, msn87, was a well-equipped demon-strator with all the extras includingdual TCAS II, Airshow and a FlightDynamics heads-up-guidance sys-tem (HGS). A standard configura-tion Falcon 2000 comes very nicelyequipped at a $21.27 million pricetag,or about $23 million for a fullyloaded airplane. I found it interest-ingly that almost half of non-frac-tional ownership buyers are specingout their aircraft with FlightDynamics HGS. This $483,200option gives operators Cat III capa-bility as well as benefits throughoutall phases of flight.

Preflight

DeAngelis and I headed out to theramp for a walkaround. Typical of allFalcons, you can’t help noticing the

fine workmanship on the skin sur-faces and riveting. DeAngelis point-ed out Dassault’s fairly extensive useof Kevlar and composites in variouspanels and non-structural applica-tions, which helps keep the weightof the airplane down. Landing gearis the same as the 900EX except thatthe 2000 has 2 independenthydraulic antiskid brake systemswhich work in unison.

The 5918 lb thrust Allied-Signal/General Electric CFE738-1-1B turbofans are positioned close tothe centerline as a result of aggres-sive area ruling techniques whichDassault achieved using CATIAdesign processes. The thrustreversers, built by Alenia, are a DeeHoward target-type design. AnAlliedSignal APU, which is requiredfor pneumatic engine start, is up inthe aft tailcone and easily accessi-

ble for servicing. I was impressed with the external

baggage capacity on this airplane.The main baggage compartment,which is pressurized and accessi-ble from the cabin, is 134 cu ft and1600 lbs capable. The aft servicebay is clean and well organizedmaking it easy to check accumula-tor and air bottle pressures. A nicefeature here is that you can stowskis, golf clubs and engine coversin this spacious, 150 lbs capable,service bay. Both of these compart-ments have built-in integral steps,which is a great feature.

The air stairs are nice and com-fortable, the entry door is adequateand leads you into an expanse offine cabinetry work in the forwardgalley. With 18 well-positionedwindows the passenger cabin isflooded with light. Our demonstra-

116 PROFESSIONAL PILOT / March 2000

(L) Lacy and Dassault Falcon Jet Chief Pilot Dave DeAngelis engage in preflight discussion.(Middle) DeAngelis points out the carbon-fiber construction of a wheel well cover. (R) Lacy andDeAngelis inspect the Falcon 2000’s aft service bay.

Takeoff balanced field length

338

36

34

32

30

28

26

24

22

20

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

4 5 6

Field length (x 1000 ft)

temperature

Altitude = 1000 ft

Tak

eoff

wei

gh

t (x

100

0 lb

s)

7 8 9 10

1 -40° F2 -4° F3 32° F4 59° F5 86° F6 95° F7 104° F8 113° F9 122° F

Out of shorter runways the Falcon 2000 excels.

tor aircraft had a low-density 8-seatconfiguration with a settee facingthe dining/conference table. Thegalley was large, the lav was roomyand the interior was done in a high-quality Gaboon veneer, from Carl FBooth & Company, with a 4-waygrain match. Dassault does anexcellent job in producing squawk-free interior completions out of itsLittle Rock AR facility.

Dassault prefers to control thecompletion process internally andhas made large investments atLit t le Rock over recent years.House explained that from 650employees and 285,000 sq ft offacility in 1993 the operation hasnow grown to 1700 people and495,000 sq ft. Last year Dassaultcompleted a record 70 Falcon Jets,

60 out of Lit t le Rock and theremaining 10 under subcontractwith Jet Aviation Basel andDassault Falcon Service at LBG (LeBourget/Paris France). All interiors,whether done out of Little Rock ora subcontract facility, are warran-teed by Dassault Aviation.

I found the flightdeck of theFalcon 2000 to be very comfort-able, well laid out and very similarto the 900EX. Flightdeck windowsare a nice design, very smooth andquiet in flight, and I like the direct-vision opening window which is afeature of all Falcons. Flight dis-plays and FMSs are all Collins, andour aircraft was fitted with a FlightDynamics HGS with a controllerpanel at the base of the pedestal.

Engine start was easy and auto-mated. The Falcon 2000 has dualfull authority digital engine controls(FADEC), 1 active and 1 standby,and this is a great power manage-ment tool. Steering is excellent—however, the 2000 does not haverudder pedal steering. The brakeson the 2000 require considerablepressure but I like them, and they’revery effective. As we taxied fortakeoff on runway 16 at VNY ourweight was 29,600 lbs (about 83%of the 35,800 lbs MTOW), with5800 lbs of fuel and 2 passengers,giving us a V1 of 113 kts and a V2of 116 kts.

Flying the 2000

Our climb profile to FL410 was250 kts to 10,000 ft then 260 kts toMach .75. We had leveloffs at6000, 17,000 and 34,000 ft and, atour relatively light weight, we werestill climbing at better than 1000fpm as we approached FL410.Leveling off at FL410, we went toMach .80 to confirm fuel burn. Onenice feature on the 2000, whichI’ve never seen before on an air-craft, is a Mach hold button. If youpunch it at Mach .80 the FADECwill vary power levels to hold youat the selected speed. This featureworked very well. As we stabilizedat Mach .80 total fuel burn was1500 lbs, slightly better than thebook figure of 1540 lbs at our27,000 lb weight.

DeAngelis suggested that I trysome steep turns. I started out witha 50° bank to the right at Mach .80,then rolled the other way, addingpower as speed had dropped toMach .75 indicated. We were up toas much as a 60° bank for a periodof time with no buffet.

We then made a modified emer-gency descent to FL240 at flight idlewith airbrakes out. With speeds upto Mach .90, and a pronouncednose-down attitude, we weredescending in excess of 13,000fpm. The airplane is stable and con-trollable and the spoilers causedvery little buffet. DeAngelis told methat in an emergency situation the2000 will get down from FL450 toFL200 in about 2.5 min.

Leveling at 17,000 ft, we can-celed IFR and headed toward MHV(Mojave CA) to do a few touch-and-gos on Rwy 08 before comingaround for a full stop. The 2000lands very nicely but you’ve got tobe on the numbers or you’ll float.The thrust reversers are beefy, wellengineered and they work great.Although you can deploy reverserbuckets on landing you can’tadvance power past idle until thenosewheel is on the ground.

On our second takeoff from MHVDeAngelis pulled power on the leftengine. While I had to push rightrudder all the way in it was easy tomaintain directional control and wewere climbing single-engine at1500 fpm. Departing Rwy 08 weturned right to VNY and climbed to12,500 ft. I flew a low pass over

118 PROFESSIONAL PILOT / March 2000

Range/cruise speed

0.75 0.80 0.85

3500

3000

2500

Indicated Mach

Range (nm)

Built to fly fast, the Falcon 2000’s max range at Mach .80 is only slightly less than at Mach .75.

Lacy found the Flight Dynamics HGS easy toadapt to. He used it on approach and land-ing at MHV (Mojave CA) and VNY (VanNuys CA).

VNY for photo purposes followedby a full stop landing. Again, Inoticed that this airplane reallylands smoothly and slowly with lotsof ground effect. For most landings,it would be easy to turn off at the2000 ft point.

We landed at VNY with 1600 lbsof fuel after our 1 hr 40 min flight,giving us a total fuel burn of just4200 lbs. Not bad consideringwe were below FL180 for all but20 min of the flight and we

made 4 landings and circuits.The Falcon 2000 is truly a miseron fuel!

I used the Flight DynamicsHGS quite a bit in the air and Ireally liked it. This same FlightDynamics system has beenproven by years of operation onAlaska Airlines, it’s standardequipment on the BBJ and it’s areally great feature. With HGSyou can hand fly Cat IIIapproaches down to 600 ft RVR

and a 50 ft decision height.I felt the overall handling

characteristics of the Falcon2000 were excellent. The air-plane has very responsive con-trols which are balanced nicely.Controls are somewhat moresensitive compared to most cor-porate jets and you don’t wantto manhandle this airplane. Thisis an airplane you need to flywith your fingertips and notwith a heavy grip. With its full-

120 PROFESSIONAL PILOT / March 2000

(Top) The 2000 offers a Collins Pro Line 4 panel. (Left) A FlightDynamics HGS is a popular option at $483,200. (Right) A spacious8-pax configuration was featured on this aircraft. (Insert ) There wasplenty of headroom even for Lacy.

time yaw damper the only timeI had to use rudder was on thesimulated engine out.

Systems

One of the secrets behind theFalcon 2000, and every one ofthe 1300 Falcons built to date,is Dassault’s great experience indesigning high-performancemilitary aircraft. The Falcon2000 wing is a doubleswept

supercritical design for low-drag and high-Mach configura-tion with 29° of sweep inboardand 24° outboard. The thrustreversers have been carefullyengineered to add virtually nodrag in cruise. A Collins ProLine 4 integrated avionics suite,featuring dual FMS and 4 large-screen LCD displays, is stan-dard. This digital system is cer-tified for Cat II landings. Whenequipped with the optional

Flight Dynamics HGS, the 2000can land in Cat IIIa conditions.

The CFE738 turbofans powerthe Falcon 2000 with plenty ofreserves. Each engine is con-trolled by 2 FADECs and, in theflightdeck, 3 engine instrumentelectronic displays (EIEDs) per-mit continuous monitoring of allengine and system parameters.

The flight control system of theFalcon 2000 is remarkable in itssimplicity and its high degree of

PROFESSIONAL PILOT / March 2000 121

Dassault Falcon 2000 Specifications

Price Basic equipped ($MIL US) $22.0

Powerplant (2) CFE738-1-1BMax thrust @ SL/30°C 5,918 lbs

Dimensions

Wingspan (ft) 63.5 Length 66.4Height 23.2Cabin length 26.3Width 7.7 Height 6.2Baggage (cu ft) 134.0Normal seating crew/pax 2/8

Weights and loading Wing loading (lb/sq ft) 67.9MTOW (lb) 36,000Zero fuel weight 28,660Basic operating weight 21,450Max payload 2,360Max fuel (lb) 12,154

PerformanceT/O SL/ISA @MTOW

(BFL in ft) 5,440 Max rate climb (fpm) all engines MTOW 3,000 one engine out MTOW 600

Cruise ceiling@MTOW (ft) 47,000Pressurization Delta P 9.4Typical cruise (KTAS) 459

@ altitude 410Range (nm) NBAA IFR 3,120 Fuel flow (total pph) 1,295Mmo .87Vsl (KIAS) 93Vmo 370

Figures supplied by Dassault

(L) The airstair and entry door of the 2000 are very comfortable. Apair of CFE 738-1-1Bs feature dual FADEC control. (Bottom) Amplebaggage storage is available in the 2 aft compartments, each withbuilt-in steps.

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precision. Primary flight controlsare hydraulically assisted withartificial feel unit (AFU) servo-controls designed to return toneutral and to provide feedbackto the pilot. The airplane has 2leading edge slats and 4 trailingedge double-slotted Fowler flapsplus 6 airbrake panels.

The Falcon 2000 operates with2 main independent and simulta-neous hydraulic systems. Anauxiliary hydraulic power supplyis also provided, consisting of anelectrical stand-by pump whichcan be operated automatically assoon as a pressure drop is detectedin hydraulic system nbr 2.

A 28-volt DC power system ispowered by 2 rectifier-alternatorsdriven by the engines and a startergenerator driven by the APU.Emergency batteries are providedfor operation of the stand-by hori-zon and inertial reference system(IRS).

The fuel system consists of tanksin each wing and in a center wingbox. Total useable fuel is 12,154 lbsand each engine draws from itsrespective tank. A crossfeed inter-connect is available and fuel tanksare pressurized with engine bleedair. Normal refueling is through apressure system with an over-the-wing system also. Air conditioning isobtained from air bled from 1 lowpressure port on each engine or

from the APU. Three modes areavailable on the cabin pressuriza-tion system—automatic, manual orrapid depressurization. A pro-grammed pressurization scheduleensures a max cabin altitude of8000 ft at FL470 with a 9 psi differ-ential. The cabin can be rapidlydepressurized, at up to 2500 ft/min,by pressing the dump push button.

The Falcon 2000 is equippedwith 2 anti-icing systems. Hotbleed air protects the wing leadingedges, engine air intake and venti-lation duct air intake. An electricalsystem protects the fl ightdeckwindshields as well as variousprobes and sensors.

Dassault provides training for 2pilots and 1 mechanic, and the ini-tial pilot course at FlightSafety runs3.5 weeks. For any pilot who’s pre-viously flown a Falcon this shouldbe an easy transition as the flight-deck layout, flight controls andoverhead panels are similar on allFalcons. The 5 years or 5000 flight-hr Falcon 2000 warranty coversstructure, avionics and standardequipment. The primary airframestructure is prorated through years6–10 and the CFE engines carry a 5year or 2000 flight hour warranty.Typical of all Falcons, this airplanedoes not have any life limited air-frame parts. Availability of FalconJet parts is good these days withsupplies out of France, Teterboro

and Little Rock. With 33 authorizedservice centers around the world,and a spares depot in Singapore,operators can get parts much fasterthan they could in the old days.

Dassault offers an optimized con-tinuous inspection program (OCIP)on all currently production models.This allows you to split up inspec-tion tasks and it’s helpful for theoperator with only 1 or 2 mechan-ics on staff. A CFE engine-by-the-hour maintenance program is avail-able and this seems to be popularwith Falcon operators.Summary

Dassault has come up with aunique and attractive combinationof cabin size, range and speed withthe Falcon 2000. In many ways it’stoday’s cultural equivalent of theFalcon 20. With its widebody com-fort and improved performance, it’sa wonderful airplane for operatorswhose missions are primarily withinNorth America. It will do the vastmajority of what’s required withinthe continent with a fuel burn atMach .80 that’s only about 8%greater than the much smallerFalcon 10. If you want to fly farther,this airplane has the range capabili-ty and the cabin to take you any-where in the world.

More and more business jet buy-ers these days are looking for com-fortable walk-around cabins andthis part of the market has reallytaken off in recent years. A lot ofwealth has been generated recentlyby start-up companies and high-tech ventures, particularly out west.These guys have the money toafford a corporate airplane, andmany are looking for a fast transportwith a comfortable cabin for prima-ry operations within North Americaor Europe. House explained that thecenter of gravity for his market hasbeen shifting westward. There’s alotof new wealth out here and manybuyers are stepping right into a

Falcon 2000 orFalcon 900EX classof airplane. Iexpect to see moreFalcon 2000s and900EXs based hereat VNY in comingyears.

Falcons are such great flying air-craft that I feel most pilots wouldenjoy flying a Falcon for their entire

122 PROFESSIONAL PILOT / March 2000

Performance analysis

3000 nm

A

B

45,000 ft

200 nm

Z= 5000 ftT= ISA + 20 = 25°CL= 7500 ftDownhill slope = 2%

Z= Sea levelT= ISA + 15 = 30°CL= 4400 ftHeadwind = +10 kt

Holding30 min - 5000 ft

Assumptions

NBAA IFR Reserves

Multistop missions without refueling are a specialty of the Falcon 2000. The widebodyDassault product has a surprisingly low fuel burn.

career without worrying aboutmoving up to a new aircraft. Withits superb control system, nice quietmodern flightdeck and high qualityengineering throughout, the Falcon2000 is as nice an aircraft as anypilot could want to fly.

Clay Lacy has more than 48,000 hrs asa pilot flying everything from DC3s to747-400s and nearly every corporatejet. His VNY-based Clay Lacy Aviationis home for Lacy’s popular charter fleet,which consists of Learjet 24s, 25s, 35s,55s, Challengers, Gulfstreams IISPs, IIIs,IVs and a B727.

PROFESSIONAL PILOT / March 2000 123