Making its first flight in 1963, the Falcon 20 was Dassault Aviation’s debut business jet aircraft. A total of 473 Falcon 20s were built, with 35 modified Falcon 200s later produced. In 1970, Dassault launched the smaller Falcon 10 aircraft, a scaled down version of the successful Falcon 20. Only 226 aircraft were manufactured and only a handful remain flying in Europe today. Dassault Aviation will soon be delivering the first Falcon 2000S and 2000LXS aircraft, two new variants of the most popular selling Falcon in recent years. With two engines instead of the traditional three, the Falcon 2000 has superior economic performance compared to its three-engined brothers. Winglets are a design feature of all new Falcon aircraft, however up until recently the seventies-built Falcon 50 has been in operation without them. Aviation Partners Inc (API) have just completed flight testing and received FAA certification for their new blended winglets design, giving this old airframe a new lease of life. Blended winglets reduce vortex waves which are produced at the end of an aircraft’s wing tip. This reduction creates less drag on an aircraft and significantly improves fuel burn rates by up to 7%. Climb and cruise performance are also enhanced, allowing passengers to fly 18kts faster at the same rate of fuel burn. With a key role at the Advisory Council for Aeronautical Research in Europe ) ACRE, Dassault Aviation are committed to the European Union’s ‘Clean Sky Program’, seeking development of new technologies to reduce noxious emissions and jet engine noise levels over the next decade.
