Dassault’s Falcon 2000EX EASy received certification by both the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the FAA last month.

Dassault contracted with Honeywell for development of the airplane’s advanced avionics system in September 1999, and the 2000EX EASy first flew in January last year. The EASy cockpit uses Honeywell’s Primus Epic as the avionics system platform. By the end of April, the program had logged 350 hours over 133 flights.

According to 2000EX EASy program manager Eric Henry de Villeneuve, last month’s approval is the first of three steps toward full certification. Initial certification will include most standard functions, among them TCAS, TAWS, the interactive electronic checklist, Cat 1 and autothrottle. Also part of the initial approval are such options as third VDR (VHF data radio), third IRS, HGS Cat I, Airshow and stand-alone satcom.

In the third quarter of next year, certification is expected for Selcal, as well as such options as a third FMS, AFIS and Jeppesen charts (depending on final certification regulations for the charts).

The final certification step will include “auto-sense” function of the electronic checklist, secondary flight plan, HSI flight plan, vertical flight plan, wind-shear escape guidance from the flight director, FMS speed management and dispatch through-status page (the ability of the installed avionics to tell the crew directly whether or not they can depart with a faulty system). Final approval options will include HGS Cat III, MCS 7000 satcom integrated with EASy (cockpit voice/sat ATC), AFIS weather uplink, video interface for up to eight cameras on the multifunction display units and lightning sensor.

Villeneuve said EASy system retrofits for certain customer aircraft will be performed through on-the-wing software, with the exception of the radio system. VDR Mode A/AFIS will require replacement of the radio units, Selcal will require replacement of the audio panel and HUD Cat III will require new navigation radio units. Initial retrofits will be performed by Dassault Service Centers at Little Rock, Ark., Wilmington, Del., and Paris Le Bourget. Retrofits will be performed at no cost to customers.