Pan Am BJD actually inked 54 orders before receiving its first demonstrator. First flight of the production ver- sion occurred in July 1964 at Sud Aviation at Melun-Vil- laroche, France, according to The New York Times . First deliveries began in 1965 with the aircraft initially priced at $995,000. This opened more customers’ eyes to the Falcon 20’s potential. In 1973, Federal Express launched its over- night package delivery service with 14 Falcon 20 jets, modified with 74.5-inch-wide forward cargo doors. The French Navy and U.S. Coast Guard placed orders for special mission models. NASA and Draken Europe (née Draken International) operate heavily modified Falcon 20s. Freighter versions remain in service today with small overnight cargo companies. Dassault went on to deliver 515 production configura- tion Mystère-Falcon 20 series jets from 1965 to 1988 in nine different variants, starting with the original Falcon 20 standard and culminating with the Falcon 200. LET’S GO FLYING Considering the Mystère-Falcon 20’s intriguing history and fighter jet DNA, I leaped at the chance to fly one again, something I’d not done in nearly three decades. The goal of the 2023 project was to create a 60th anniversary celebration promotional video for the Dassault Falcon Jet to commemorate the first flight of the Mystère 20 prototype. The biggest challenge was finding a suitable Falcon 20 owned by a third party who would allow me to fly it because both Dassault Aviation in France and Dassault Falcon Jet in Teterboro, New Jersey, haven’t operated the model in decades.
AN OPPORTUNITY FOR MYSTÈRE 20 When Pan Am requested that Hawker Siddeley make upgrades to the HS.125 to boost its range from 1,400 to 1,500 nm, the Brits balked because it would delay the cer- tification program. Marcel Dassault, in contrast, jumped at the opportunity to team with Pan Am to create a pro- duction model evolved from the Mystère 20 that was cus- tom tailored to the U.S. market. On May 4, 1963, Lindbergh meticulously examined the Mystère 20 prototype for several hours at Mérignac. Not long after he wired Trippe, “I found our bird!” M. Dassault quickly agreed to alter the Mystère 20 to meet Pan Am’s requirements, swapping out the JT12 tur- bojets for 4,125-pound thrust GE CF700-2Cs, business aviation’s first turbofan engines, increasing wingspan and boosting internal fuel capacity to extend range to 1,500 nm, and fitting the undercarriage with dual wheels. Dassault’s engineers and market research team dou- bled down on their resistance to the Pan Am version of the Mystère 20. However, the fate of the Mystère 20 would not be decided by committee. M. Dassault vetoed all the nay votes, pressing ahead with the production ver- sion, and carried the day. Trippe placed a firm order for 40 aircraft with 120 options. With the Pan Am contract in hand, Dassault had the financial wherewithal to launch the program. The name Mystère seemed a bit too mysterious for the North American market, so James B. Taylor, Pan Am Business Jet Division (BJD) vice president and gener- al manager, relabeled it Fan Jet Falcon, later changing it simply to Falcon 20. The French clung to the original name, so Mystère-Falcon 20 is the model designation you’ll find on the type certificates.
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