chief pilot and master A&P, conducted a comprehensive ground school for me at Global Aviation Hillsboro, in- cluding plenty of time in the aircraft on ground power in the hangar, so that I could learn all about this aircraft’s highly customized flight deck and upgraded systems. Belting into the seats, it’s clear that serial number 408’s flight deck combines vintage 1960s-era knobs, switches, levers, buttons, and dials with early 1990s-tech glass dis- plays that generate copious heat, even with powerful avi- onics cooling fans. The APU makes the interior comfortably warm or cool before passengers board, and it provides electrical power for engine start that conserves the batteries. Checklists are long by current standards, but Dassault’s flight deck layout talks to your fingers as you flow through the pro- cedures. It takes some time to learn the unique display logic of the triple stack of Universal EICAS screens. The Collins Pro Line 4, though, fits as comfortably as an old gym shoe because it was widely used in light and midsize jets two or three decades ago. For all three flights I flew with Tvergyak, the aircraft was fueled with only 3,000 to 4,000 pounds of kero- sene. Takeoff weights were between 22,000 and 23,000
pounds, and OATs at Hillsboro were 15 to 20 degrees Cel- sius. Using slats and flaps 10 degrees, takeoff V speeds were in the teens (plus 100), and takeoff field length was 3,400 to 3,500 feet. Once cleared for takeoff on Runway 31L, we completed the well-known Falcon FATS—flaps (and slats), air brakes (stowed), trims (set three ways), (V) speeds (set). Pushing the power levers to the stops, acceleration was sporty at such light takeoff weights. The left-side tiller is used for nose-wheel steering up to 80 kias, as there is no nose-wheel steering through the rudder pedals. At 80 kias, we cross-checked our airspeed, released the steer- ing tiller, and moved to the yoke. The rudder alone is used to control yaw above 80 knots. Rotating at 117 kias, the feeling in my fingers made me smile. This grande dame, the first honor graduate of Dassault’s famous finishing school for business jets, has an ideal blend of crisp pitch-and-roll response with just enough artificial feel heft to prevent jostling the passen- gers. I wasn’t about to share flight time with the autopi- lot. During the first flight, we flew from Hillsboro south to Eugene, Oregon (KEUG), for multiple instrument ap-
Kaady’s Falcon 20-F5 features a full glass instrument panel with Collins Pro Line 4 displays and radios and a triple stack of Universal Avionics EICAS screens, plus twin UNS-1 FMSs.
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