Overview

The Dassault Falcon 20, originally the Mystère 20, and certificated by the FAA as the Fan Jet Falcon, is the aircraft that launched Dassault’s business-jet line and, in freighter form, launched Federal Express. First flown in 1963 and type-certificated in 1965, it is a French-built mid-size twinjet with aft-mounted engines, a low tail, and the area-ruled fuselage that became the visual signature of the Falcon family; more than 500 were built across the 20C, 20D, 20E, and 20F series. The dominant classic form carries two General Electric CF700 aft-fan turbofans, growing from the CF700-2C of the early Series C to the CF700-2D-2 of the Series E and F, which added high-lift slats and a 28,660 lb maximum takeoff weight. Maximum operating speed rises from 350 KIAS at sea level to 390 KIAS at altitude, with an MMO near Mach 0.88, a 42,000 ft ceiling, and cruise in the mid-430-knot range.

For a buyer, the Falcon 20 is the least expensive route into a twin-turbofan with a real stand-up cabin and a wide cargo door, and decades of depreciation have made flyable examples cheap to acquire. The catch lives in the engines: the CF700 has no hourly maintenance program, burns about 280 gallons an hour, and faces noise-rule limits at many airports unless hush-kitted, so much of what is saved at purchase returns as fuel and compliance cost. Against its own era, the North American Rockwell Sabre 40/60, the Falcon 20 offers a wider cabin; against a modern mid-size such as the Gulfstream G150, it trades integrated avionics and fuel efficiency for a fraction of the acquisition cost. Ownership pencils while the hours stay low and the cheap acquisition dominates the ledger; it stops pencilling once annual fuel and the compliance retrofits compound past what the low purchase price saved.

Key Features for GA Buyers

• Launch-customer pedigree and a proven airframe. The Falcon 20 carried the first FedEx overnight packages and served for decades in corporate, cargo, and special-mission roles. The structure is robust and the type is well understood.
• Wide cabin and large cargo door for the class. A broad fuselage cross-section and a generous door make the cabin workable for executive use and well suited to freight and conversion roles.
• Mid-size jet performance. An MMO near Mach 0.88, a 42,000 ft ceiling, and mid-430-knot cruise place it in mid-size rather than light-jet territory.
• Low acquisition cost. Decades of depreciation make a flyable Falcon 20 one of the cheaper ways into a twin-turbofan with a full cabin.
• Re-engine paths exist. TFE731 and Garrett ATF3 conversions, and the broader Falcon 20-5 / Falcon 200 family, change the fuel burn and noise profile for owners willing to invest.

Trade-offs

• Thirsty first-generation engines. The CF700 burns about 280 gallons an hour and carries no hourly engine program, so overhauls are funded out of pocket against a 5,000-hour TBO, the central reason CF700 examples are cheap to buy and dear to fly.
• Modest range. Practical range sits near 1,800 nm, short of modern mid-size jets, so longer trips become multi-leg trips.
• Noise and emissions compliance. Unconverted CF700 aircraft face noise-rule restrictions at many airports; staying current often means a hush kit or a re-engine.
• Age-driven maintenance and parts. As a mid-1960s design, supportability, corrosion, and avionics modernisation deserve close scrutiny on any specific airframe.
• Variant confusion. The 20-5, Falcon 200, and TFE731 conversions differ sharply from the CF700 classic in performance and operating cost; confirm exactly which engines and modifications a candidate carries before comparing numbers.

See Also

• Dassault Falcon/Mystère 10 – Smaller, faster light-jet sibling on the same design language. Compare
• Dassault Falcon/Mystère 50 – Larger trijet evolution with true intercontinental range. Compare
• North American Rockwell Sabre 40/60 – Contemporary first-generation mid-size business jet of the same era. Compare
• Raytheon/Beech Beechjet 400/T-1 Jayhawk – Later light-to-mid business jet offering more fuel-efficient operation. Compare
• Gulfstream G150 – Modern mid-size jet representing where the segment the Falcon 20 pioneered has moved. Compare