Falcon 2000LX Earns EASA/FAA Approval
Fred George fgeorge@san.rr.com
Dassault Falcon Jet announced that Seattle-based Aviation Partners Inc received Supplemental Type Certification on April 30 for installation of API winglets on Falcon 2000LX aircraft, an upgrade claimed to give the aircraft an NBAA-IFR range of 4,000 nm at .80 Mach with six passengers aboard.
This represents a 5.4 percent increase in range for the Falcon 2000LX compared with the Falcon 2000EX that doesn't have winglets. API previously received EASA STC approval for the winglets on April 23, 2009.
Dassault Falcon Jet officials claim Falcon 2000LX is the most fuel efficient aircraft in the large cabin class, burning up to 60 percent less fuel than some competitive aircraft with a corresponding reduction in carbon footprint. Falcon 2000LX's five-plus percent in efficiency results from substantially improved time-to-climb performance as well as incrementally better specific range performance at high speed cruise. Falcon 2000LX can climb directly to FL 410 in 19 minutes, a prime reason the winglet-equipped aircraft will burn about 800 lb less fuel on most missions compared with a Falcon 2000EX.
Installing winglets on Falcon 2000LX involves far more than bolting them on to the wingtips of Falcon 2000EX airplanes. Dassault and API developed a comprehensive structural beef-up kit that includes installing an upper reinforcing strap ahead of the aft wing spar, modifying wing ribs and installing an additional lower wing access panel, along with installing a new wing rib at the tip for attaching the 5.5 ft winglets. The entire package adds 275 lb to empty weight, enabling typically equipped Falcon 2000LX aircraft to carry seven passengers with full fuel, according to the 2008 Business & Commercial Aviation Purchase Plannning Handbook. The package is priced at $565,000 as a factory option for newly delivered aircraft.
API expects to have FAA PMA certification for the retrofit kit by early May 2009. Initial retrofit installations are expected to take 20 working days, but API officials believe they can shave five days off the schedule as installers gain experience with the modification."
Image: Dassault
