Today, the Dassault Falcon 20 is remembered for a lot of things. Primarily, it is known for being one of the first business jets, whilst also being one of Dassault’s most successful business jets yet!
Between 1965 and 1991, Dassault would produce a total of 512 Falcon 20s. Whilst many went on to become the private jets of the rich and famous, many more were used as military jets, or even as cargo aircraft…
Development
In the late 1950’s, the USAF launched the UTX program, which aimed to create a small, VIP jet transport. Although the USAF would later cancel the project, most companies would continue to privately fund development.
Within a few years, the US had a number of early business jet designs, many of which were progressing towards the prototype phase. Among these jets were what would become the North American Sabreliner and Lockheed JetStar.
Not wanting to be eclipsed, the French government similarly wanted their own, French-made, small, jet-powered VIP transport. To do this, they tasked Dassault to do it.
By early-to-mid 1963, Dassault had not only designed a feasible jet, but also had a working prototype. This would first be flown on May 4 1963. The French Navy would receive the first Falcon 20s in June 1965.
However, Dassault also wanted to market it as a business jet. To do this, the Falcon 20 was sent to airshows the world over, including the famed NBAA in Las Vegas. Whilst popular in France, the jet was unpopular abroad.
This was mostly due to its French name, as Dassault originally marketed it as the Mystère 20 (an homage to the Dassault Mystère fighters that Dassault had become famous for!)
Eventually, Dassault changed the English name to Falcon 20, where Pan Am became interested in it. Everything seemed set for Pan Am to become the first civil operator of the jet, before they backed out.
Nevertheless, Pan Am’s interest in the jet had secured a number of civil bids, both in France and in other European countries.
Service History
When Dassault first envisaged the Falcon 20, it was supposed to be a business jet. However, as many other early business jets, it was soon used in a number of different roles too!
Military
Following the French Navy’s example, a number of other militaries would acquire the jet. From here, they’d be used in quite literally every role imaginable…
For the vast majority of military Dassault Falcon 20s out there, their role is/was simple: Executive transport. In this capacity, they’d be used to transport VIPs to and from locations, whilst serving in an official capacity.
Most commonly, these are presidential transports. Here, they mostly perform short-to-medium range flights, that can’t be done by train or motorcade, or even by more discreet aircraft, such as turboprops.
On top of performing its duties as a presidential transport aircraft, many of these jets also double as military transports too. With this, they most commonly transport(ed) high-ranking military officers from all branches of the military!
Another common role of the Falcon 20 is as a maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft. Here, these jets are often flown to perform recon on a ship that is straying close to national waters, before sending in fighters, if necessary.
With this, many of these jets have been painted in salt corrosion-proof paint. Many more have enlarged windows and more advanced radio systems, which makes their patrol and surveillance duties much easier…
Civilian
Whilst the first operators of the Falcon 20 were French military and subsequently other military operators, the overwhelming majority of the Falcon 20s ever produced were used a private jets for the world’s richest 1%.
To begin with, the Dassault Falcon 20 was marketed by the company as a corporate jet. Here, it was a low-cost alternative to transporting celebrity businessmen and executives, compared to flying them first class.
In this regard, the flights would mostly be made up of the passengers working. On these flights, these executives would often discuss the future of the company, or simply begin working on work they need to complete.
Over time, however, a number of private operators of the jet also began to appear. Here, they operated the jet as their own private jet, transporting themselves and their families, often on business and on pleasure!
However, the introduction of newer, cheaper jets, has seen many original operators of the type retire the jet. Usually, these jets have been sold to other operators, many of whom continue to operate the jet today…
Despite the newest Falcon 20s being over 30 years old, they have remained surprisingly popular. As a result, they have been bought by luxury air charter companies, where they often serve on short-to-medium haul routes.
Cargo
However, in the early days, the Falcon 20 didn’t sell particularly well in the US. Mostly, this was mostly down to the Recession of 1969/1970, which affected the aviation industry particularly harshly.
This time coincided with the founding of Federal Express, what’s now called FedEx. Whilst most famous for its fleets of vans, FedEx actually started out using aircraft. The Dassault Falcon 20, to be exact.
You see, Dassault was eager to sell the Falcon 20 to an American operator. It hoped that by doing this, it would encourage other Americans to buy the jet too!
Seeing this, FedEx founder Frederick W. Smith contacted Dassault in late 1970. He wanted to purchase a total of 14 built, but unfinished aircraft, all of which needed to be reconfigured for cargo use. Dassault would oblige…
The first cargo-configured FedEx Dassault Falcon 20s would be delivered in 1973, with Smith using his fleet of 14 jets to serve a total of 25 major US cities. Due to the Falcon’s size, however, they’d solely fly small packages and documents.
Over the course of the 1970’s, FedEx would continue to acquire more unfinished Falcon 20s. At its height, FedEx were the largest operator of the jet, operating 33 Falcon 20s.
FedEx’s Dassault Falcon 20s were gradually phased out, over the course of the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, in favor of much larger Boeing 727-100s, which were being retired from service.
US Coast Guard
In the mid-to-late 1970’s, the US Coast Guard became interested in acquiring a multipurpose jet. After studying a number of jets, the USCG chose to acquire the Dassault Falcon 20, which was designated as the HU-25 Guardian.
The USCG would place the order on January 1 1977, receiving their first HU-25s in 1982, before acquiring a total of 41 HU-25s at its height!
Originally, the USCG operated the jet solely as a replacement for the Grumman HU-16E Albatross – a high-speed spotter aircraft for downed aircraft and/or the survivors of shipwrecked vessels.
Whilst it performed this job fine, the USCG’s authority was expanded over the course of the 1980’s and 1990’s to encompass more roles, primarily, preventing the flow of illegal drugs into the US by sea and by air.
To do this, the aircraft patrols the coast around major drug import zones such as Miami, as well as much of the western coast of California. Whilst the Guardian doesn’t stop the ships/aircraft itself, it identifies them.
If it’s a ship, the Coast Guard’s ships will detain and search it. If it’s an aircraft, it will be order to land at a US airbase, usually with a fighter escort, either from the air force of from the navy.
A number of other militaries – primarily the French Navy – would also use the Falcon 20 in a similar regard. However, these jets would mostly focus on the search and rescue element of it.
Testbed
Surprisingly, the Falcon 20 wasn’t just a popular jet for militaries and businessmen. It was also a favorite among aeronautical engineers, due in part to its fighter jet-style aerodynamics!
The Falcon 20’s advanced systems and fighter jet-style aerodynamics allow the jet to be highly modified, without the need for additional weight or systems to be added, making it perfect as a testbed…
The first organization to utilize the Dassault Falcon 20 as a testbed was the US Coast Guard, who removed the Falcon’s turbofan engines, replacing them with afterburners.
This was done as a part of a much larger design effort, looking to give certain business jets afterburners. However, to do this, the jet had to be modified extensively, and whilst the test was successful, it became financially unviable.
As a result, the HU-25 with an afterburner only flew once, and hasn’t flown again since!
Over time NASA would acquire the jet, equipping it with cutting-edge lidar technology, to help collect data on the Arctic’s surface topography.
Similarly, the National Research Council of Canada have also acquired the jet. The NRC’s jet would make history, as it became the first civil jet to fly solely on biofuel alone!
Features
If you’re familiar with Dassault jets, perhaps the most prominent feature of the Falcon 20 is its twinjet design. Unlike subsequent Dassault jets, which were trijets, the Dassault Falcon 20 is one of only three Falcon jets that isn’t a trijet.
You see, Dassault is famous for producing trijet business jets, all of which either directly or indirectly derived from the Falcon 20’s design. However, the Falcon 10, 20 and 2000 are all twinjets, which makes them rather unique!
Surprisingly, the Falcon 20 is one of the few business jets that doesn’t have winglets. Whilst pioneered in the 1980’s and 1990’s, many old business jets have been retrofitted with them. The Falcon 20, however, has not.
Instead, it has been upgraded in other ways. Primarily, this has been with modern engines, with many 50 year-old jets sporting newer engines as to comply with newer noise regulations.
In terms of baggage area, the Dassault Falcon 20 is fairly average. It is neither grossly large or grossly small, it is simply as large as it needs to be, and that is it.
With that being said, newer models are beginning to skew this number upwards, meaning that many newer jets have far larger baggage areas than the Falcon 20 does!
Price
In the early 1980’s, the cost to acquire a brand new Falcon 20 from Dassault was listed at roughly $1.5 million. By comparison to other jets of the era, this was quite cheap, which helped to make it so successful.
Alas, by 1991, the Falcon 20 had been replaced by newer jets, including Dassault new line of trijets – the Falcon 50 and 900 respectively. As a result, Dassault would cease production of the jet that year.
Owing to this, the only way to acquire a Falcon 20, would be to do so on the secondary market. Thankfully, the market is often flush with the jet, both older variants and newer ones!
If you wanted to buy an older, 1960’s/early 1970’s variant of the jet, you’d have to fork over around $200,000. For a much “newer” jet from the late 1980’s/early 1990’s, you’d probably end up paying around $500,000 for one.
In terms of cost to operate, the Falcon 20 is actually fairly cheap to operate, for its time anyway. Assuming you flew the jet for 400 hours per year, you’d likely pay around $3,480 per hour.
However, compared to modern jets of a similar size (such as the Gulfstream G100 or Hawker 800) this is rather expensive, by about 33% more.
Assuming you wanted to charter a Falcon 20, it would likely cost you as much as $4,100 per hour. With that being said, it does depend largely on route and the time of year!
Variants
Since entering production in 1965, the Falcon 20 has proven to be one of the most versatile jets in history.
As a result, Dassault have been inundated with requests for new variants, as a result, there have been almost 20 variants of the Dassault Falcon 20, built.
For the purposes of this article, we will only focus on those that were put into mass-production, rather than those and the prototypes which were built once or twice…
Falcon 20C
The Falcon 20C was the first mass-produced variant of the Dassault Falcon 20 line. It mostly differed from the prototype due to the fact it was powered by more powerful CF700-2C engines, rather than the P&W JT12s.
Dassault would subsequently base every subsequent variant of the jet on the 20C, leading to it being the weakest member of the Dassault Falcon 20 family by far!
Falcon 20D
In order to stay ahead of the competition, who were constantly releasing more fuel efficient variants of the jet, Dassault was forced to modify the 20C in the mid-to-late 1960’s.
Primarily, Dassault gave the jet the more powerful CF700-2D engines, which were slightly more fuel efficient than the previous -2Cs. The jet was given larger fuel tanks too, which increased the aircraft’s range.
Falcon 20E
Within a few years, Dassault had to release yet another more fuel efficient variant of the Dassault Falcon 20. This was done to compete with more competitive variants of jets like the North American/Rockwell Sabreliner.
This variant, designated as the 20E was given a higher zero fuel weight as well as more fuel efficient CF700-2D-2 engines. These were mildly more fuel efficient than its predecessors, with this model selling fairly well.
Falcon 20F
A few years after that, Dassault was again forced to make alterations to the jet in order to remain competitive. Unlike previous updates, Dassault added more than just newer engines.
Instead, the wing was redesigned extensively, in order to accommodate all-new leading-edge droop flaps, as well as seeing an increasingly larger fuel tank added. This made the jet easier to handle and cheaper to operate.
As a result, the 20F became the bestselling Dassault Falcon 20 variant!
Falcon 200
In the early 1980’s, Dassault needed to create a seriously upgraded variant of the Dassault Falcon 20 once again. To do this, much of the aircraft was redesigned, with its designation, the Falcon 200, reflecting that.
Primarily, the Falcon 200 was given brand-new Garrett ATF3-6A-4C turbofans. On top of this, the Falcon 200’s internal fuel tank was completely redesigned to take up less room, whilst carrying more fuel.
Falcon 20DC
When Federal Express ordered the Falcon 20, they had to be converted from luxury private jets into cargo aircraft. This change was reflected in their name, going from Falcon 20Ds to Falcon 20DCs (with the “C” standing for “Cargo”).
These aircraft would be used by Federal Express until the early 1990’s. From here, they’d either be scrapped or stored, with the first FedEx Dassault Falcon 20DC having been placed on display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia.
Falcon 20-5
Technically speaking, the Falcon 20-5 isn’t one variant, it’s actually four. Following the introduction of the Falcon 200, which had brand-new Garrett ATF3-6A-4C turbofans, Dassault began to offer an upgrade for pre-existing Falcon 20s.
However, as to not draw sales away from the Falcon 200, these Falcon 20Cs/Ds/Es/Fs, were fitted with TFE731 turbofans which were also produced by Garrett.
These modified jets were then redesignated by Dassault as the Falcon 20C-5/D-5/E-5/F-5, depending on which variant they were prior to the modifications taking place!
HU-25A Guardian
The HU-25A Guardian is the maritime patrol and surveillance variant of the Dassault Falcon 20, employed by the US Coast Guard (although it was retired in September 2014 in favor of the EADS HC-144 Ocean Sentry!)
It was subsequently upgraded by both Dassault and the USCG into a pollution control variant (HU-25B) and a drug interdiction variant (HU-25C/C+).
Specifications
| Specifications | Dassault Falcon 20F |
|---|---|
| Length | 17.15 m (56 ft 3 in) |
| Wingspan | 16.30 m (53 ft 6 in) |
| Height | 5.32 m (17 ft 5 in) |
| Crew | 2 |
| Passengers | 8 – 14 |
| Cruise Speed | 750 km/h (470 mph, 400 kn) |
| Range | 3,350 km (2,080 mi, 1,810 nmi) |
| Service Ceiling | 12,200 m (40,000 ft) |
| MTOW | 13,000 kg (28,660 lb) |
How Safe is The Dassault Falcon 20?
Whenever we look at the safest and/or most dangerous aircraft, we tend to focus on commercial jets. And this is for good reason, they’re something that we’re all familiar with, and can all fly on.
However, these articles never even touch on the safest/most dangerous private jets. This too, is for good reason – they’re something that, sadly, most people will never fly on, as well as their regulation being slightly different.
Regardless, for those looking to fly on the Dassault Falcon 20, we naturally want to know how safe and/or dangerous the Falcon 20 truly is…
Sadly, looking at the safety record of the Falcon 20 doesn’t paint a pretty picture. Of 512 Falcon 20s ever built, a total of 49 have been involved in an aviation-related incident of some kind.
To put this in perspective, almost ten percent of all Falcon 20s have been involved in an accident of some form, resulting in a total of 71 fatalities. However, this has been over the course of a 55 year period.
However, this doesn’t paint a complete picture. Most of these accidents have occurred in the last 20 years, as most jets have approached and/or surpassed, their 30th birthday.
Thankfully, most of these crashes have been the result of poor maintenance and pilot error. Luckily, these are both things that owners of the Falcon 20 can control, rather than it being an issue with the aircraft itself…
What’s it Like to Fly on The Dassault Falcon 20?
For the purposes of this article, I had the fortune of flying on several variants of the Falcon 20, both old and new. I also had the good fortune of flying on a former military Falcon 20 as well!
I have to confess something: When I went to fly on my first Falcon 20, an early model built in the late 1960’s, I can’t say I was that excited. For me, I was expecting to fly on a relic, something that was old and needed to be retired.
Surprisingly, I have never been more wrong in my life! Instead of a relic of an age now long-gone, I stepped into what looked like a modern business jet. A respectable jet I wouldn’t have minded flying in.
For the most part, I could do everything that I needed to during the flight. I could work, I could relax, I could read, all without any discomfort. This was reciprocated on the other, newer, Dassault Falcon 20s I flew on.
I was even surprised to see that many of them had WIFI, a rarity among business jets that age. After all, WIFI wasn’t used in the 1960’s, and has only been widely used in recent times, meaning it had to have been installed recently.
However, the flight wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. For me, I found that when I sat near the back (aft) portion of the aircraft, the cabin noise was almost unbearable. However, at the front of the cabin, it was tranquil!
What do you think of the Dassault Falcon 20? Have you ever flown on it? Tell me in the comments!
Featured image courtesy of Airwolfhound via Flickr.