{"id":25729,"date":"2023-06-02T13:06:38","date_gmt":"2023-06-02T13:06:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/saj.pachecostudios.com?p=25729"},"modified":"2023-06-02T13:13:37","modified_gmt":"2023-06-02T13:13:37","slug":"dassault-celebrates-60-years-of-falcon-business-jets-as-advanced-new-models-prepare-to-take-the-stage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/international-news\/dassault-celebrates-60-years-of-falcon-business-jets-as-advanced-new-models-prepare-to-take-the-stage\/%20","title":{"rendered":"Dassault Celebrates 60 Years of Falcon Business Jets, As Advanced New Models Prepare to Take the Stage"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Photo above – First Flight in 1963 of the Mystere 20. <\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor an aircraft to fly well, it must be beautiful,\u201d Marcel\nDassault famously said. Already well known for the sleek Mirage fighters,\nDassault\u2014the man and the company\u2014proved the adage once again on May 4, 1963,\nwith the first flight of the Myst\u00c3\u00a8re 20, the company\u2019s first business jet. With\nan eye toward the sizable American market, the Myst\u00c3\u00a8re 20 would soon be rebranded\nthe Falcon 20.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sixty years and more than 2,700 business jets later,\nDassault Aviation continues the tradition of building beautiful,\nadvanced-technology aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe formula has not changed,\u201d said Dassault Aviation\u2019s\nChairman and CEO Eric Trappier. \u201cEvery Dassault aircraft must have superb\nhandling, beautiful lines, and rugged construction. And, of course, it has to\nprovide state-of-the-art comfort.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Charles Lindbergh’s visit, May 4, 1963.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The Falcon 20 wowed some of the top aviation leaders of the\ntime, including Charles Lindbergh, Pan Am chief executive Juan Trippe, and\nFedEx founder Fred Smith. It went on to spawn 27 different model types that\nfound eager buyers among entrepreneurs, government agencies, and several\nnations\u2019 armed forces. Its pioneering safety features, including the use of\nrugged fighter structures and systems, set the standard for countless future\nsafety improvements, from head-up cockpit displays to digital flight\ncontrols\u2014technology that subsequently became widespread across the industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, Dassault\u2019s strong corporate values, design ethos, and relentless focus on elegant lines, inside and out are embodied in two brand new models, the 5,500 nm Falcon 6X and the 7,500 nm Falcon 10X. These aircraft feature the largest cabin cross\nsections in business aviation, setting a new standard for long-range passenger\ncomfort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each has been recognized by the design community with\nprestigious interior design awards. The 6X, which enters service this year, is\nequipped with Dassault\u2019s most advanced digital flight control system to date.\nThe 10X, which is in the early stages of assembly, will come with even more\nadvanced systems and safety features.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first Dassault business jet takes off.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Rene’ Bigand<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

A little after 5 pm on May 4, 1963, test pilots Ren\u00e9 Bigand\nand Jean Dilliare \u201cgave it the gas,\u201d as one historical account recalls, taking\nthe Falcon 20 for an inaugural one-hour flight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The flight occurred late in the day because of the visit of\nCharles Lindbergh, who dropped by to inspect the new business jet on behalf of\nPan Am. It was only after he had departed Dassault\u2019s M\u00e9rignac final assembly\nplant, near Bordeaux, that the flight team readied the aircraft for flight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lindbergh reportedly wired Pan Am CEO Juan Trippe: \u201cI\u2019ve\nfound our bird.\u201d The airline promptly ordered 40 units with an option for 120\nmore and established Pan Am Business Jets to run its executive jet operations.\nThe new entity later evolved into Dassault Falcon Jet (DFJ), a fully owned\nDassault Aviation affiliate. Headquartered in Teterboro, New Jersey, DFJ is\nresponsible for representing and supporting Falcons in the U.S. and elsewhere\nin the Western Hemisphere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More orders<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1973, Fred Smith launched FedEx with a fleet of 33 Falcon\n20s modified with a large cargo door, helping set that company on the road to\nsuccess. In the 1980s, the U.S. Coast Guard ordered 41 Falcon 20\u2019s (designated\nthe HU-25) modified for search and rescue. In all, Dassault went on to build\nnearly 500 20-series aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A history of continuous advances<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the years following, the company introduced a series of\naircraft models widely considered by pilots to be among the best business jets\nto fly. Currently, more than 2,100 Falcons are operating in over 90 countries\naround the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Falcon 2000LXS<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The best-selling model has been the Falcon 2000, a highly\neconomical, super-efficient twin that has been continuously updated to remain\nat the top of its class. Nearly 700 have been delivered so far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second-best seller has been the workhorse Falcon 900,\nwhich has also gone through numerous iterations. To date more than 550 of these\naircraft have been delivered, including two that were recently handed over to\nthe Royal Air Force for VIP transportation service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Falcon 8X<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Also popular has been the fly-by-wire Falcon 7X\/8X line.\nSome 400 of these ultra-efficient, versatile, very long-range models have come\noff the assembly line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThrough these different models, we have built up a strong\nlegacy and a solid base of technological know-how that makes us confident in\nour ability to continue developing new products that fully meet customer expectations,\u201d\nsaid Trappier. \u201cSixty years on, Falcons are still completely distinctive in the\nbusiness jet world: beautiful, delightful to fly, and always on the leading\nedge of technology, bringing safety, comfort and productivity benefits to\noperators around the globe.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photo above – First Flight in 1963 of the Mystere 20. \u201cFor an aircraft to fly well, it must be beautiful,\u201d Marcel Dassault famously said. Already well known for the sleek Mirage fighters, Dassault\u2014the man and the company\u2014proved the adage once again on May 4, 1963, with the first flight of the Myst\u00c3\u00a8re 20, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":25732,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[116,114],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-front-page-slider","category-international-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/07-Mystere-20-First-Flight-1963-edit.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25729"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25729\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25742,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25729\/revisions\/25742"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25732"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}