At a ceremony Friday in Bordeaux-Mérignac, France, Dassault Aviation received type certification for the Falcon 7X from the EASA and the FAA. Pilot training began the same day at the new CAE facility in Morristown, N.J. The trijet is expected to enter service before the end of next month, about a year later than targeted when the aircraft was unveiled in October 2001. The 5,950-nm Falcon 7X accomplished many firsts, according to Dassault. “It is the first airplane ever designed and built in an entirely virtual environment using product lifecycle management philosophy,” the company said. “The time required to manufacture and complete the first flight-test ready 7X was reduced by as much as 50 percent compared to previous Falcons.” The 7X is also the first purpose-built business jet to be flown with fly-by-wire technology. More than 160 aircraft have been sold, said the company. Preparation for completions in Little Rock, Ark., has been under way for some time, with seven aircraft already undergoing completion work. The development fleet of four aircraft logged 1,600 hours in 590 flights.