Falcon 900: specifications, range, cabin

The Falcon 900 has been in production since 1984 and is still being built: more than 500 aircraft have been delivered, and seven versions stand on the market under the one name, from the original 900 to the current 900LX. Here are the book figures and how they behave in service: what the third engine in the tail gives you, what leg the aircraft holds without a stop, where the generations part company, and what to look at on a particular aircraft.

Principal specifications

Prices here and below are to my knowledge, from the open marketplaces. The figures for a particular aircraft come from its flight manual: specification and modifications change the weights, and with them the range.

Full specifications and sourcing are on the model page.

Three engines in the tail

Three Honeywell TFE731 engines are a design feature of the whole family, carried over from the Falcon 50. The arrangement gives two things.

Thrust in reserve. Losing one engine takes away a third of the thrust. In practice that means a higher drift-down level and easier take-off limits in heat and at elevation. Hence the reputation of the type on ocean routes and at airfields that twins of this class accept only with a weight penalty.

Short and high-elevation runways. What works here is the combination of three engines with the wing and with a comparatively modest take-off weight: composites are used widely in the airframe, and for a large jet seating 14 the aircraft came out light. It reaches more airfields without cutting payload than its neighbours by cabin size do.

The other side of it is counted in the budget. Engine work runs across three units: three plans, three sets of remaining life, three lines in the first-year estimate. The money is the second part of the pair on this type, and it follows as the next article.

The cabin: a cross-section shared by three families

Dassault uses the same fuselage cross-section on the Falcon 900, the Falcon 2000 and the Falcon 7X. One cross-section across three families means a recognisable geometry: on the Falcon 900 and the Falcon 2000 an owner gets a cabin of the same width and height, and the types part company on fuselage length, engine count and range.

The layout on the 900 is usually three zones: a club section, a conference section and a rest area with a divan. Seating is up to 14. Completions are individual, and VIP and government interiors run as a separate line.

Range: what sits behind 4 750 miles

The spread inside the type is wide. The original 900 and the 900B went shorter: the 900B got more powerful TFE731-5BR engines and a gain in range, the long-range version became the 900EX with its 4 500 nautical miles, and the 900LX with winglets gives 4 750 miles, that is 8 800 km. The generation decides whether the aircraft crosses the Atlantic without a stop or with one.

The book figure is calculated at a notional payload and with standard reserves. Three things reduce it: passengers above the notional number take fuel with them, a headwind on east–west routes eats part of the leg, and a short runway or heat at departure limits the take-off weight.

A working rule: a leg longer than 85 per cent of book range is planned with a technical stop or with a reduced load. For the 900LX that line falls at about 7 500 km. Transatlantic routes out of Moscow sit close to that line for this type, so they are planned with an eye on wind and payload. The early versions fly the same leg with a stop.

Seven versions under one name

The practical conclusion for a buyer: the name of the type in a listing says nothing about the aircraft. Between a 900 of 1985 and a 900LX of 2020 the difference in range, avionics and cost of ownership is larger than between some neighbouring classes. The first question on a listing is the version letter and the year, the second is whether it has the EASy flight deck.

Government aircraft and special missions

Private owners and corporations are one part of the picture for the Falcon 900. The type works as a government VIP transport in France, Italy, Australia, Japan and other countries, and as a special-missions aircraft for maritime patrol and medical evacuation.

On the pre-owned market that is a separate line at inspection. A government aircraft flew a different pattern from a corporate one, and its hours accumulated differently: short legs, many cycles, long periods on the ground. Airframe cycles are read separately from hours.

What to check on the particular aircraft

• The version and year of build, and the avionics fit: the EASy flight deck or the pre-EASy generation.
• Airframe time in hours and in cycles, separately.
• Time on each of the three engines and what remains to removal — each unit has its own.
• The status of hourly-payment programmes on the engines and the APU: it affects the price and the first-year estimate alike.
• Calendar checks and how close the heavy work is.
• Retrofits to current communication and surveillance requirements on early aircraft.
• The year of the last cabin refurbishment.
• Operating history: corporate, government or special missions.

Who it suits

The Falcon 900 covers the task where a large-class cabin for fourteen is needed along with a confident approach to short and high-elevation airfields. The three engines add margin on ocean legs and a third set of work to the maintenance plan.

For an owner with routes inside Europe, the Middle East and Asia the type gives a margin on runways that nothing else in this class matches. Regular transatlantic legs point to the 900LX; the early versions fly that route with a stop.

I cover the neighbours by size in the articles on the Falcon 7X and the Gulfstream G550.

The figures in this article are reference benchmarks for the type. Specifics are calculated for the individual aircraft: from its records, its time flown and its specification.

Alexander Filimonov — business aviation: sourcing, acquisition and entry into service of aircraft.

A buyer's checklist, 29 checks before the deal — what I work through myself on an inspection: https://grok.flights/en/checklist.html