Dassault has delivered the first UK-registered Falcon 2000 business jet, but has been forced to equip the aircraft with a "stick-shaker" stall-warning device to meet the UK Civil Aviation Authority's "additional requirements for import". These come despite the Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA) declaring that such a device is unnecessary.
The CAA says that its requirement for the stick-shaker "-is consistent with equipment fitted to other UK-registered Falcons", and that it is a "useful safety aid". Although its views apparently differ from those of the Europe-wide JAA, it says it has a "different interpretation of requirements".
David Antrobus, the chairman of the UK's General Aviation Manufacturers and Traders Association's air-transport committee, is leading the opposition to the principle of the CAA adding requirements over and above those of the JAA. "The CAA is in the JAA 'club' and in principle it should not introduce any modifications not required by the JAA, unless an accident or incident highlights a specific requirement," he says.
In the 1980s, Dassault was forced to develop a stick-shaker for the tri-jet Falcon 900 to meet UK CAA requirements. In July 1995, however, the authority announced that aircraft types with proven safety records would now require significantly fewer modifications for the UK register. As a result, the stick-shaker was no longer required on the Falcon 900.
Dassault actively promotes the twin-engined Falcon 2000 as not requiring a stick-shaker, as neither the JAA or the Federal Aviation Administration requires one. The CAA says that because the 2000 is a new aircraft, it does not yet have adequate in-service experience to prove that a stick-shaker is not necessary. The requirement may be deleted once experience has been accumulated, however.
The first UK customer for the Falcon 2000 is long-time Raytheon Hawker (and British Aerospace 125) operator J C Bamford. The company says that the Falcon was selected to replace its Hawker 1000 because it needed a larger aircraft, but adds that "-we had always 'bought British', and the sale of the 125 family to Raytheon influenced our selection".
Source: Flight International
