Falcon 20

The Dassault Falcon 20 is a French twin-jet business aircraft designed and built by Dassault Aviation, also produced in military versions for liaison, systems training and maritime patrol. The company's first business jet, it flew on 4 May 1963 and entered service on 3 June 1965. It gave rise to the Falcon 10 and the Falcon 50, and served as the launch aircraft of Federal Express as well as the HU-25 Guardian of the US Coast Guard.

Development

The programme arose from a French government requirement for a combined liaison and training aircraft with twin turbojets. In December 1961, Marcel Dassault launched development of an eight- to ten-seat aircraft designated Dassault-Breguet Mystère 20, a low-wing monoplane drawing on the aerodynamics of the Mystère IV and powered by two 14.68 kN Pratt & Whitney JT12A-8s. The prototype F-WLKB made its first flight on 4 May 1963 from Bordeaux-Mérignac. Dassault entrusted distribution in the Western Hemisphere to Pan Am, which ordered 40 aircraft with 120 options and required re-engining with the General Electric CF700, tested on 10 July 1964. The first production aircraft flew on 1 January 1965 and French and American certification was obtained in June 1965; on 10 June 1965, Jacqueline Auriol set the women's speed record at 859 km/h over 1,000 km with the prototype. Marketed as the Fan Jet Falcon in the United States, firm orders were raised to 160 by Pan Am Business Jets in 1967. The Falcon 200, with Garrett ATF3-6A-4C engines, flew on 30 April 1980. Production ended in 1988 after 473 Falcon 20s and 35 Falcon 200s.

Design

The flight controls are mechanical, rod-actuated with hydraulic assistance and an artificial feel system; the aircraft remains controllable without assistance in the event of total hydraulic failure, and no stick pusher is required. The wing is highly swept and fitted with automatically deploying leading-edge slats whose inboard section retracts as the stall is approached. Conventional thrust reversers being incompatible with the rear-fuselage engine installation, rotating doors attached to the outer cowling deflect the flow upwards and forwards. Besides the CF700, the aircraft has received Garrett TFE731 (-5 suffix) and ATF3 engines. FAA supplemental type certificate SA5858SW authorises the installation of underwing pylons, used on special-mission aircraft carrying external stores; cargo versions receive a hydraulic cargo door.

Operational History

Federal Express put its Falcon 20DCs into service in April 1973 from Memphis, operating up to 33 aircraft before their replacement by Boeing 727-100s. The US Coast Guard received its first HU-25 in 1982 and 41 in total by December 1983, employed in search and rescue, counter-narcotics and during the 1991 Gulf War; the last was retired on 26 September 2014. Military operators have included the French Navy, Iran, Pakistan, Egypt, Syria, Australia (three aircraft, 1967-1989), Canada (CC-117), Belgium and Norway (retired in September 2022). NASA operates a former HU-25C for Operation IceBridge. In November 2012, a Falcon 20 became the first civil aircraft to fly on 100% biofuel.

Variants

• Mystère/Falcon 20C: first production version, lengthened fuselage, 10 to 12 seats, 19 kN CF700-2B engines.
• Falcon 20F: full-span leading-edge slats and increased fuel capacity.
• Falcon 20G: maritime patrol and surveillance version with Garrett ATF3-6-2C engines.
• HU-25 Guardian: US Coast Guard version of the Falcon 20G, 41 examples, produced as the HU-25B (SLAR), HU-25C/C+ (APG-66, FLIR WF-360) and HU-25D (APS-143B(V)3).
• Falcon 200: improved version with ATF3-6A-4C engines, reprofiled wing and a 28 cubic foot baggage compartment in the tail cone.