Falcon 20 & 200

Falcon 20 & 200

The Mystère or Falcon 20 and 200 family remains Dassault's most successful business jet program thus far, with more than 500 built. 

Development of the original Mystère 20 traces back to a joint collaboration between Sud Aviation (which later merged into Aerospatiale) and Dassault in the late 1950s. Prototype construction began in January 1962, leading to a first flight on May 4 1963. This first prototype shared the production aircraft's overall configuration, but differed in the powerplant. The prototype was initially powered by 14.7kN (3300lb) Pratt & Whitney JT12A8 turbojets, whereas production Mystère 20s (or Falcon 20s outside France) were powered with General Electric CF700s. The first GE powered 20 flew on New Year's Day 1965. Throughout the type's production life Aerospatiale remained responsible for building the tail and rear fuselage. 

The Falcon 200 is a re-engined development of the 20 which Dassault first publicly announced at the 1979 Paris Airshow. A converted Falcon 20 served as the prototype, and first flew with the new Garrett ATF 3-6A-4C engines on April 30 1980. French DGAC certification was awarded in June 1981.

Apart from the Garrett engines, the Falcon 200 (initially the 20H) introduced greater fuel tankage and much longer range, redesigned wing root fairings and some systems and equipment changes. The 200 remained in production until 1988.

The Guardian is a maritime surveillance variant of the Falcon 200 sold the French navy (as the Gardian) and the US Coast Guard (HU-2J).

AlliedSignal offers a Falcon 20 re-engine program with its TFE731 turbofan. More than 100 Falcon 20s have now been re-engined with 21.1kN (4750lb) TFE731-5ARs or -5BRs.