The Falcon 20 and 200 families remains Dassault's most successful business jet program thus far, with more than 500 built. Charles Lindbergh discovered the original Falcon 20 prototype on one of his visits to Dassault in the early 1960s. He knew that Juan Trippe, Chairman of Pan Am, was looking for a business jet to market in the U.S. Working with Pan Am engineers, Dassault mounted brand new GE CF700 fanjet engines that produced 4,150 pounds of thrust. These were the first fan jet engines on a business jet and the prototype was called the Falcon 20C. The company built 177 of these aircraft. The first GE-powered 20 flew on New Year's Day 1965.
Normal seating is for nine passengers, with four seats in a club arrangement forward and five seats aft with three on a side-facing divan. There is a full-size galley, with a separate full-size lavatory in the aft section.
The Falcon 20F is the fourth version of the original Falcon 20. It has full span leading edge high-lift devices on the wings, a little more fuel, 4,500 pound thrust CF-700 engines, and a higher gross weight.
In 1989, Garrett Aviation, working in cooperation with Dassault Aviation, earned an STC to re-engine the Falcon 20 series with modern, fuel-efficient Honeywell TFE-731-5 power plants. The new engines greatly improved overall performance and increased range by 50 percent. This version was now known as the Falcon 20F-5B.
