Dassault Falcon 50

The trijet Falcon 50 is a very substantial long range upgrade based on the earlier twinjet Mystère/Falcon 20 and 200 family. <p>The Dassault Falcon 50 was developed for long range trans Atlantic and transcontinental flight sectors, using the Falcon 20 as the design basis. However, to meet the 6440km (3475nm) range requirement significant changes mean that the Falcon 50 is for all intents and purposes an all new aircraft. Key new features include three 16.6kN (3700lb) Garrett TFE731 turbofans, in place of the Falcon 20's two General Electric CF700s, mounted on a new area ruled tail section, plus a new supercritical wing of greater area than that on the 20 and 200. Falcon 20 components retained include the nose and fuselage cross section. <p>The first flight of the prototype Falcon 50 occurred in November 1976, although it wasn't until March 7 1979 that FAA certification was granted. In the meantime the design had been changed to incorporate the supercritical wing, although the original wing's basic planform was retained. A second prototype first flew on February 18 1978, the first preproduction aircraft following on June 13 1978. First customer deliveries began in July 1979. <p>In April 1995 Dassault announced the long range Falcon 50EX with more fuel efficient TFE73140 turbofans, 740km (400nm) greater range (at Mach 0.80) than the base Falcon 50 and a new EFIS flightdeck based on the Falcon 2000's with Collins Pro Line 4 avionics. The 50EX also features as standard equipment items offered as options only on the standard Falcon 50. <p>The Falcon 50EX's maiden flight was on April 10 1996, with French and US certification in November and December 1996 respectively. First delivery (to Volkswagen) was in the following January. <p>The Surmar is a maritime patrol version of the 50 ordered by the French navy (fitted with a FLIR and search radar)

The backbone of this section is from the The International Directory of Civil Aircraft by Gerard Frawley and used with permission. To get your own copy of the book click here.