Aviation business aircraft. In keeping with its low-risk, evolutionary military aircraft development programs, many of the company’s subsequent Falcon jets were ad- aptations of older models. Case in point: The 1977 3,300 nm range Falcon 50, Dassault’s first transcontinental U.S. range jet, started development as the Falcon 20-3, a trijet version of the Falcon 20 twin. It retained the Falcon 20’s 700-foot cab- in, but it incorporated updated systems, more fuel, and a supercritical airfoil to slash drag at transonic cruise speeds—a first for a production business jet. When customers asked for a Falcon with a larger cabin and trans-Atlantic range, Dassault morphed the Falcon 50 into the Falcon 900 in 1984. In the mid-1990s, Dassault created the transcontinen- tal U.S. range Falcon 2000 by shortening the Falcon 900 by 7 feet and equipping it with a new tail section fitted with two engines. Subsequent versions of Falcon 2000 helped sustain market demand with total deliveries near 700 units. Adapting technology Dassault developed for the Mirage III, the Falcon 2000 became the first business jet to feature a heads-up display (HUD). Not all Falcons are derivatives. The early 1970s Falcon 10, for instance, was a clean-sheet design. It flew like a Mystère clothed in a business suit. It was the fastest, most sophisticated, and arguably the sleekest-looking light jet of the era. But it also was the most expensive to purchase and maintain, essentially being a flying Ferrari in a market segment dominated
by fluttering Fords and Fiats. So after a 226-unit run, Dassault ceased production. Dassault’s next clean-sheet design was considerably more successful. In 2007, the Falcon 7X, known as the first business jet to be fitted with digital fly-by-wire flight controls, entered service, borrowing heavily from digital flight control technologies Dassault developed for its Mach 2 class Rafale. The Falcon 8X, a stretched, more structurally efficient and longer- range derivative of Falcon 7X, made its debut in 2016 and is gradually replacing its sibling. The recently certified Falcon 6X was the first business jet to use flaperons, trailing edge flight controls that combine flap and aileron functions, and a well-proven design feature of its military aircraft. The Falcon 10X will be the first civil aircraft to use heads-up displays as primary flight references, also adapted from the Rafale. And it will be the first business jet to have an all-composite wing, as well as being the first civil aircraft to use HUD as the primary flight displays. The next 60 years of Dassault business aircraft proved that Falcon 20 wasn’t just a new jet. It was a strategic change of course for a firm that otherwise would have been mainly a defense contractor. Had it not been for the foresight and fortitude of Marcel Dassault, business aviation never would have enjoyed six decades of Falcon jets and all the advanced technologies they brought with them. [
M. Dassault would be so proud of Falcon 2000LXS. It’s the ultimate descendant of Mystère-Falcon 20, having nearly half again the cabin volume, close to triple the range and 50% better fuel efficiency. It also uses much shorter runways.
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