Dassault pilots performed the first “simulated flight” of the Falcon 5X on November 13, providing insight into how the business jet will behave in flight. The Falcon “simulation bench” is closer to a flight simulator than an iron bird, according to Dassault.

It consists of a cockpit mock-up coupled to a simulator and panoramic visual system. The device is designed to help fine-tune and validate control laws before the actual airplane flies.

Last week’s virtual flight was intended to verify aircraft behavior in various configurations–including takeoff, cruise and landing–under conditions equivalent to those of an actual flight, and to perform an initial run-through of the flight envelope. At the controls were chief test pilot Philippe Deleume and test pilot Philippe Rebourg.

Meanwhile, the first subassemblies of the first 5X prototype, such as the upper nose section, are taking shape at Dassault’s factory in Argenteuil, near Paris. The company expects to fly the aircraft in the first quarter of 2015.