Thierry Dubois is a freelance writer specializing in helicopters, business aviation and aerospace technology. He earned a degree in fluid dynamics from an engineering school in Toulouse, France in the mid-1990s. At an unexpected crossroads, he found his first job in journalism. In 1997, he started working for French aerospace weekly Air &amp; Cosmos in Paris. This lasted until 2000, when he moved south to Lyons. He then became a freelancer, working for various aerospace publications and has been part of the AIN team since late 2000. In addition to writing about business aviation, Thierry shares responsibility for the rotorcraft section. He also is a regular on-site writer for AIN’s daily editions at international airshows such as the Paris, Farnborough, Dubai and Singapore shows, as well as at EBACE in Geneva.
In 2007, he won the Honeywell award for “Best systems or technology submission” at the Aerospace journalist of the year awards. In 2013, he won an Aerospace Media Award for the "Best Safety, Training &amp; Simulation Submission."
In other activities, Thierry moderates international conferences on aviation technology topics. Thierry is married and has three children, who seem to begin enjoying the mountains–as their parents do.

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Thierry Dubois

AIN has learned that Dassault has reduced the size of the Falcon 7X-dedicated facility extension the company plans to build at its Bordeaux-Mérignac plant. In September, Dassault announced plans for an 18-position assembly hall. The plant was to be built in two phases for a total area of 290,000 sq ft (excluding offices).
Some company officials previously told AIN that no change had been made to these plans. However, according to Gérald Maria, a senior executive at the plant, the facility will be 237,000 sq ft (excluding offices) and the construction will take place in a single phase. This will make a 14-position facility. Completion is pegged for July next year.
This reduction in the size of the facility has nothing to do with Dassault’s hopes in terms of sales, according to Maria. “We will shorten manufacturing cycles to keep the production rate we have planned,” he said. The reason for the downsizing is that “we had to keep the cost of the facility extension in our budget envelope,” he added.
In other news at the company, Dassault and China’s Chengdu Aircraft have signed an industrial cooperation agreement on the Falcon 2000EX. Under the contract (announced March 19) CAC will manufacture the central part of the fuselage. The lower section of this structural element has been made slightly wider on the EX variant of the Falcon 2000 to accommodate more fuel. Dassault said that Catia, the CAD/CAM software developed by Dassault Systems, was instrumental in making this cooperation possible.
According to a Dassault spokesman in France, the agreement is a major step toward opening the Chinese market to Falcons. During the 1990s a major fighter-aircraft sale to Taiwan had severely damaged the relationship between the French aviation industry and China. Now the French aircraft manufacturer will “be able to start the certification process with Chinese aviation authorities.” Dassault expects “an important market for Falcon in China.” U.S.-based subsidiary Dassault Falcon Jet is in charge of marketing Falcons in China.

Dassault downsizes Falcon 7X facility, awards Falcon 2000EX work to China

AIN has learned that Dassault has reduced the size of the Falcon 7X-dedicated facility extension the company plans to build at its Bordeau

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