Serial Number 408, with gleaming white paint, two-tone accent stripes and polished leading edges, was the A List superstar of our 60th Anniversary video.
proaches and pattern work, including three takeoffs and landings with some simulated, one-engine-inoperative exercises to get me requalified as second-in-command. The Falcon 20 was one of the first business jets with trailing link main landing gear, almost guaranteeing soft touchdowns. We returned to Hillsboro all too soon. I wanted to fly the aircraft until the tanks almost ran dry as it felt so sweet in my hands. V REF was only 105 knots at 20,000 pounds, owing to the full span slats and landing flaps. Landing distance was 3,400 feet. What a performer. The second day, we first flew several low-level circuits around Hillsboro Airport so that our video crew on the ramp could capture ground-to-air close-ups of the air- craft. In the afternoon we mounted cameras on the out- side of the aircraft and boarded the video crew to record Tvergyak and I up front as we flew through cumulus cloud tops. But a powerful Pacific storm with embedded thunderstorms moved into the Portland area, forcing a change of plans. We elected to fly low altitude and video
the aircraft around Astoria, Ilwaco, and the many islands near the mouth of the Columbia River. There was plenty of turbulence below the cumulo- nimbus. But the frisky weather showed off other positive traits of the aircraft. It’s quite stable in rough air, and its 68-pounds-per-square-foot wing loading softened the bumps for passengers. Back at Hillsboro, the weather had cleared. We landed, taxied back to Global Aviation’s ramp, and debriefed on camera to record what we learned about the aircraft and what it meant for Dassault’s future in business aviation. LASTING LEGACY Marcel Dassault’s nearly unilateral decision to devel- op the Falcon 20 paid off decisively for the future of the company. The ups and downs of defense contracting fre- quently have been countered by the ebbs and flows of the business jet market. The success of the Falcon 20 series spawned develop- ment of longer range, larger cabin, more capable Dassault
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