French design and American engines keep a classic alive
When they were introduced in 1965, the Falcon 20 series of mid-size business jets plowed a lot of new ground. They kicked off French manufacturer Avions Marcel Dassault-Breguet's Falcon line of civilian airplanes; before that time, Dassault made only fighters. The Falcons were the first of the large-cabin business jets, with cabin volumes greater than many of the latter-day Hawkers, Cessna Citations, and Israeli Aircraft Industries Westwinds. The Falcon 20's speed (around 450 kts) and range (approximately 1,200 nm) weren't shabby, either, and the airplane's reputation for stability and good handling characteristics set the benchmark for the trijet Falcons, which debuted in 1979 with the Falcon 50.
But the Falcon 20's most appealing characteristic is its sexy good looks. The airplane simply has no bad angles, and it has a unity of design elements and shapes that couldn't be found in other business jets of the day. Depending on your viewing angle, a Falcon 20's clean, flowing lines can make the airplane look at once big, then small — but never unseemly or cluttered in appearance
History at a glance
The first U.S.-certified Falcon 20s were called 20Cs and given the DA20 (the "DA" is for Dassault) type designator. They are powered by two General Electric CF700 engines of 4,125 pounds static thrust.In the 1960s, the first Falcons were sold in the United States through Pan American World Airways' newly formed Business Jets Division. Pan Am chose the Falcon with the help of none other than the legendary Charles A. Lindbergh, who was commissioned to check out the Mystère 20 at the 1963 Paris Air Show. After looking over the Mystère 20, Lindbergh wired Pan Am President and CEO Juan Trippe with the message, "We have our plane." Pan Am ordered 40 Falcon 20s and took options for 120 more.
Dassault called the original Falcon 20 the Mystère 20, but American marketing executives disliked the name, fearing that customers would: confuse this airplane with Dassault's Mystère series of fighters, and laughingly mispronounce the name as "Mister 20" — or worse. According to James B. Taylor, then the Pan Am marketing guru in charge of selling Falcons, the airplane got its name through unusual circumstances. After months of fruitless labor with an advertising agency, Trippe had lunch with Henry Ford. Trippe came back endorsing Ford's recommendation to name the airplane after — of all things — the Ford Falcon, a then-new compact car.
In 1969 and 1970, the Falcon 20D models were manufactured. These came with more powerful CF700 engines (of 4,250 lbst), higher-capacity fuel tanks, slightly bigger wheels, and multi-disc brakes.
Falcon 20Fs — the last of the Falcon 20 series — were built between 1970 and 1983, when production of the 20-series ended. The Fs came with 4,500-lbst CF700s and full-span wing leading edge slats, which Dassault calls DLEs (drooped leading edges, colloquially known as "droops"). Previous models have outboard slats as the only lift-enhancing leading edge devices. The extra power and the ability to lower a full set of droops give the F models shorter balanced field lengths than those of its predecessors and helped to boost the airplane's maximum takeoff weight to 28,660 pounds — up from earlier models' 26,455 pounds.
Beginning in 1974, thrust reversers were offered as optional equipment on 20Fs. Thrust reverser retrofits can be installed on 1970 to 1973 20Fs.
The first Falcon 20Cs typically sold for $1.6 million; D models went for about $1.7 million; and F models ranged from $1.9 million for a 1970 model all the way to the 1983 model year's $6.5 million. Dassault Falcon Jet, the company that now manufactures successor Falcon designs (the Falcons 50EX, 900EX, 900C, and 2000) says that a total of 516 Falcon 20s were sold. The U.S. Coast Guard accounted for 41 of those sales, and in its fledgling years in the early 1970s, Federal Express operated a fleet of Falcon 20Fs.
The 731 Falcon retrofit
By the late 1980s, Falcon 20s were getting long in the tooth. The old GE engines were gas-guzzlers and loud, to boot. There was no way the 20-plus-year-old CF700s could ever meet Stage 3 noise requirements, so many operators faced being denied access to noise-sensitive airports.
Enter AlliedSignal Aerospace's 731 Falcon 20 retrofit program. This lets owners swap their old CF700s for a pair of brand-new AlliedSignal TFE 731 turbofans of 4,750 lbst. First offered in 1987, the initial retrofit program used the same TFE 731-5AR engines as those introduced on the Falcon 900 trijet. In 1991, TFE 731-5BR engines — the same type used in Falcon 900Bs — were offered in the current 731 Falcon 20B retrofit program.
The 20B retrofit costs $3.78 million, and optional Dee Howard thrust re-versers add another $370,000 to the price tag. That's a healthy investment for an aging business jet, but these engine upgrades have done wonders for the Falcon 20 in several respects:
- Higher cruise speeds and altitudes. Compared to a standard Falcon 20F, for example, a 731 20B conversion will boost maximum cruise speeds from 460 to 480 kt. Mach numbers rise to as much as Mach 0.80 in the FL370 to FL410 range, up from a standard airplane's typical Mach 0.74 speed in the low 30,000-foot levels.
- Reduced fuel consumption. This, in turn, increases maximum range and endurance. Old Falcon 20Cs can manage a tanks-full range of some 1,405 nm; with the 731 conversion, maximum range jumps to 2,090 nm. Converted F models see their ranges go from 1,500 to 2,450 nm. This makes retrofitted Falcon 20s coast-to-coast airplanes — going from west to east, that is.
- Increased maximum payloads. For the 20C, a 731 retrofit will increase maximum payload from 2,356 to 4,800 lbs. F models jump from 1,700 to 3,600 lbs.
- Lower direct operating costs. According to Conklin and de Decker, a renowned aircraft evaluator, the hourly operating cost for a retrofitted Falcon 20C is $1,202; the standard airplane costs $1,532 an hour. Retrofitted Falcon 20Fs cost $1,188 an hour to operate, down from the standard airplane's $1,502.
- Quieter. The TFE 731s meet Stage 3 noise requirements.
- Better resale value. The 731 program has added new life to the Falcon 20. Some might say that it saved the airplane from virtual extinction, because the CF700s are out of production and parts can be difficult to come by.
Systems
Falcon 20s are known for their excellent control feel and harmony. Their control surfaces, spoilers, and landing gear are hydraulically actuated, and there are two standby hydraulic systems for emergency backup. If those systems also fail, you can still hand-fly a Falcon 20, but it will take a lot of muscle.
There are no stick shakers or pushers. The airplane gives plenty of aerodynamic warning of an impending stall in the form of buffeting. Its directional stability is such that an inoperative yaw damper is not a no-go item.
Falcon 20s use engine bleed air to pressurize the fuel system and send fuel from the wing tanks to two feeder tanks in the airplane's empennage. Then fuel flows from the feeders to the engines. The 20C models can carry 1,104 gallons of Jet A in the wing tanks, and another 129 gallons in the feeders. Later-model Falcon 20s have larger feeder tanks, capable of carrying 219 gallons of fuel.
Engine bleed air also heats the wing leading edge anti-ice panels. Temperature of the leading edge panels can reach 1,500 degrees Celsius, which is great for ice protection, but not so great if outside air temperatures are above plus 10 Celsius or so, or if there's little air flowing over the wings. Under these conditions, the wings can heat up so much that they can warp. For this reason, wing anti-ice is turned off as part of the landing checklist. Though the horizontal stabilizer's leading edges have chrome panels, they're not supplied with bleed air or any other kind of ice protection. In flight tests, Dassault found that any ice accretions on the horizontal stabilizer had no adverse aerodynamic effects.
The 28-volt DC electrical system is powered by two starter generators, plus two batteries. Auxiliary power unit (APU)-equipped airplanes can use these mini-powerplants for electrical power in case of a failure of the normal system, provided that the airplane is within the prescribed altitude and airspeed envelope for APU operation.
Falcon 20s come with tailcone-mounted drag chutes, but these are seldom used. The airplane's brakes and thrust reversers (if so equipped) are more than up to the task of stopping the airplane within 4,500 feet at maximum landing weight, and under 3,500 feet with a more typical, four-passenger, partial-fuel load. Even so, the chute can be used in case of a brake or thrust reverser problem — as long as there's not too much of a crosswind component, or the runway is not slick.
All those service bulletins
There are about 700 service bulletins that apply to various models within the Falcon 20 series. That may sound bad, but there's no huge maintenance or safety problems with the series. Most of these bulletins are for modifications or upgrades. For example, it's possible to increase a stock 20C's fuel capacity by carrying out a service bulletin that sets out the procedures for installing an additional feeder tank. Or you could add an external baggage compartment by using some space in the tailcone's "hellhole." Or install another brake rotor on early models. And so on.
This can make comparing Falcon 20s a difficult task. A C model with upgrades can be considered a D or even an F model, depending on what modifications owners have performed. Those interested in buying a Falcon 20 should take the time to look at the airplane's mods and upgrades. Just because the data plate says it's a 20C doesn't necessarily mean that the airplane has the features and performance of a standard-equipped airplane. Or the value or asking price, either.
As for the 731 engine retrofit, airplanes with this upgrade are called Falcon 20-5s. All these service bulletins and upgrades can make Falcon 20 nomenclature a challenge. What do you call a completely fixed-up 20C with big fuel tanks and increased zero fuel and payload weights? It's really a C, but performs more like an F.
A Falcon at work
A 1970 Falcon 20D — N801SC — operated by the Syracuse-based Santaro Corporation and Fuccillo Auto Mall — gives us some insight into how these airplanes serve today's owners. Santaro's flight crew, Captain Ed Thomal and First Officer Jim Petosa, filled in AOPA Pilot while the photos accompanying this article were taken.
Let there be no doubt, the crew agreed, the owners bought the airplane mainly because of its looks. "It just looked good on the ramp, and together with the cabin size and the purchase price, it just seemed like a lot of airplane for the dollar," said Petosa.
The airplane flies about 350 hours per year, and most flights involve company officials flying to North Carolina and Canada, with three or so flights per year to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. The airplane can make it from Syracuse to Ft. Lauderdale in three hours and land with IFR fuel reserves.
Thomal and Petosa flight plan 801SC at a cruise speed of 440 kt, and typically cruise between 28,000 and 33,000 feet, where Mach numbers usually run around Mach 0.74. In the first hour of flight the airplane burns about 3,000 lbs of fuel, or about 447 gallons. In the second hour, fuel burn drops to 2,600 lbs, or 388 gallons. In the third hour, it's 2,400 lbs/358 gallons. Then it's time to land.
At lower landing weights, their Falcon is flown at a VREF of approximately 115 kt; with a full boat, reference landing speeds work out to 125 kt. "It's just a real stable airplane in all flight regimes," Petosa said. "And passengers love the cabin. It can handle up to nine passengers very comfortably, and most of the time passengers seem very happy to cluster around the three-place aft bench seat and chat."
This airplane has the CF700 engines, and the only difficulty the crew reported was the need to keep N1s (fan speeds) above 82 percent in descents in icing conditions. With the power set below that level, there's insufficient bleed air to keep the wing anti-ice panels hot enough. The answer is to keep the power up and descend with spoilers, because "this thing is clean, clean, clean, and will come down like a ton of bricks if you drop the nose too far," said Petosa.
Is there a 731 retrofit in 801SC's future? "I don't think so," said Petosa, "although I certainly wouldn't mind. The 731 makes the Falcon 20 into a completely different airplane. We'd climb faster — especially with the anti-ice on — get to a higher cruise altitude more quickly, burn less fuel, and fly farther. Who wouldn't want that?"
Today's market
According to Vref, an aircraft value reference guide, Falcon 20 sales prices are all over the place. As with all airplanes, it all depends on the airplane's condition and equipment. Average retail prices for Falcon 20Cs run from $1.5 to $1.77 million. D and E models are listed at the $1.9 million level. With the F models, prices take off. A 1971 20F can go for $2.57 million. A 1983 20F can cost you $4 million. And prices of all but the C-model, CF700-powered Falcon 20s are trending upward to the tune of $100,000 to $200,000 per quarter. If any of these airplanes has thrust reversers, APUs, or Electronic Flight Information Systems (EFIS) display tubes, expect $150,000, $150,000, and $750,000, respectively, to be tacked on to the asking price. Any of the other upgrades done per one or more of the service bulletins can also bump up prices.
If you're interested in a Falcon 20 with a 731 retrofit, EFIS, thrust reversers, and like-new paint and interior, then get ready for sticker shock. A retrofitted Falcon 20 can sell for anywhere from $5.2 million (for a 1966 20C) to $8.5 million (for a 1984 20F). So when it comes time to sell, the investment in the retrofit really pays off.
Falcon 20s have ageless, classic lines that appeal to every pilot and every passenger. Maintained properly, they'll keep their place near the very apex of desirability in the used jet market. Those with the retrofit can reasonably be expected to provide a strong alternative to much more expensive, newer business jets with almost identical performance specifications and cabin dimensions.
For further information on the Falcons, see the Web site ( www.falcon.com). Links to additional information on Falcons can be found on AOPA Online ( www.aopa.org/pilot/links/links9908.shtml). E-mail the author at [email protected].
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