Rolls-Royce’s Pearl 10X engine—selected by Dassault for the forthcoming Falcon 10X—has now passed the 2,000-hour milestone in ground-testing. Rated at more than 18,000 pounds of thrust, the engine met its thrust objectives on its first run and testing has run smoothly to date.
The first flight trials engine has been delivered from Rolls-Royce's Dahlewitz factory near Berlin to L3Harris in Waco, Texas, for installation on the company’s Boeing 747 testbed, with a first flight expected before the end of the year. Flight trials will be conducted at Rolls-Royce's test site in Tucson, Arizona.
Delivery of the first engines to the customer, Dassault, is scheduled to coincide with the formal opening next year of the production support plant at La Haillan, close to the Bordeaux-Mérignac final assembly line for the Falcon 10X. It will support production and flight test activities.
Additionally, Rolls-Royce said the engine—and the Pearl 15 that powers the Global 5500/6500—will be able to run on 100 percent sustainable aviation fuel.