Singapore Air Show Briefs

Dassault Aviation new flagship, the Falcon 8X, featured at this year’s Singapore Airshow, the largest aerospace and defence show in the Asia Pacific region. It was the first appearance of the ultra-long range Falcon 8X at the six day event, which was on from February 6-11 at Changi Airport.

The 8X was presented alongside a Falcon 2000LXS twinjet. All Falcons, and in particular late generation models like the Falcon 8X and 2000LXS, draw on Dassault’s extensive experience with combat aircraft — a heritage unique among business jet manufacturers. Falcons and fighters are designed by the same engineering teams and built on the same production lines to the same exacting quality standards. Falcons also benefit from the advances in aerodynamics, structural design, digital flight control and the man-machine interface conceived for Rafale fighters, keeping them on the cutting edge of executive aircraft technology.

The exceptional flexibility, operating economy and comfort of Falcon business jets make them ideal for a region that is known for its many small hard to reach airfields. Currently, over 90 Falcons are based in the Asia Pacific region, half of them late generation models. The fleet includes all current production Falcons - the Falcon 8X, 7X, 900LX, 2000LXS and 2000S - as well as legacy models.

The first Falcon 8X was delivered to the Far East last fall and the 6,450 nm/ 11,945 km range trijet is now operating in all major business markets, including the US, Brazil, Europe, Russia and the Middle East. And thanks to the high level of maturity of its onboard systems, its market introduction has been incredibly smooth.

Operational capability has been further reinforced with recent approvals to fly in severe crosswind conditions and to operate at London City Airport, one of the world’s most restrictive airports. Feedback from operators has been extremely positive, in particular with regard to cabin comfort, flying stability and cabin sound level — the best in the industry.

The 8X is available with Dassault’s award winning FalconEye Combined Vision System, the first head-up display in the industry to combine synthetic and enhanced vision capabilities.

The Airshow also featured Dassault’s new Falcon Immersive Practical Training module, which uses 3D virtual reality technology to facilitate maintenance training for engineers and technicians. The module is intended as a complement for those undertaking certified practical training for Falcon business jets at the Dassault training centre.

Russian Helicopters and Datagate Signed Memorandum on Cooperation for Aftersales

Russian Helicopters and the Thai company Datagate Co. Ltd. signed a memorandum of intent on cooperation in organization of the maintenance service centre for Russian-made helicopters in the framework of the Airshow.

The document was signed by Deputy General Director on Aftersales of Russian Helicopters, Igor Chechikov and Director of Datagate Issary Benjarattanaporn.

Among the areas of cooperation identified in the memorandum is assistance in organization of the centre for servicing Russian-made helicopters in the Kingdom of Thailand. It is anticipated that the centre will be able to provide all kinds of maintenance and repair, troubleshooting and replacement of components.

Also, the parties identified an opportunity to supply spare parts and provide the repair of components of the civil helicopters under separate contracts. For instance, a contract for repair of components for Russian Mi helicopters was signed at the exhibition.

“This memorandum outlined the basic agenda and those items on which we intend to cooperate with our Thai partners. We agreed to explore all available prospects and opportunities and to develop a joint plan in the future,” said General Director of Russian Helicopters, Andrey Boginsky.

The memorandu