Dassault Falcon 50

Falcon 50
French Air Force Falcon 50
Role Business jet
Manufacturer Dassault Aviation
First flight 7 November 1976
Status Production ended; in active use
Primary users Armee de l'Air
South African Air Force
Portuguese Air Force
Italian Air Force
Produced 1976–2008[1]
Number built 352
Unit cost
$US21.15 million (2006)[2]
Developed from Dassault Falcon 20
Developed into Dassault Falcon 900

The Dassault Falcon 50 is a French super-midsized, long-range business jet, featuring a trijet layout with an S-duct air intake for the central engine. It has the same fuselage cross-section and similar capacity as the earlier twin-engined Falcon 20, but is a completely new design that is area ruled and includes a more advanced wing design.[3]

Design and development

The first prototype flew on 7 November 1976, with French airworthiness certification on 27 February 1979, followed by U.S. Federal Aviation Administration certification on 7 March 1979.[3] Dassault developed a maritime surveillance and environmental protection version as the Gardian 50.[4]

The Falcon 50 was later updated as the Falcon 50EX, the first of which flew in 1996,[5] and the last of which was delivered in 2008.[1] The Falcon 50EX features improved engines and other enhancements to give further range improvements to an already long-range jet. The Falcon 50EX designation applies to serial numbers 253–352, which marks the end of the production line for the Falcon 50/50EX.

The last Falcon 50EX was built in late 2007 and delivered in early 2008.

Successors to the Falcon 50 are the Falcon 7X[6] and the Falcon 900 featuring a larger fuselage and the same three-engine arrangement. Dassault announced in January 2008 what is essentially a replacement aircraft for the Falcon 50, codenamed the "SMS" (Super Mid Size). The basic design process, including engine selection, was supposed to be completed by early 2009. However, in a June 2009 press conference, CEO Charles Edelstenne said that all design choices had been reopened and the goal was extended to the end of the year.

Dassault and Aviation Partners Inc. have announced that High Mach blended winglets were being developed for the Falcon 50 as a retrofit kit.

Variants

Falcon 50 of the Iranian government landing at Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran
Maltese-registered Falcon 50EX on approach to Geneva in Switzerland
Yugoslav government Falcon 50 in 1984
Falcon 50
Basic initial variant with Honeywell TFE 731-3-1C engines and optional auxiliary power unit (APU); 252 manufactured, with one serving as a prototype for the Falcon 50EX.[7][8]
Falcon 50EX
Marketing name for Falcon 50 with TFE 731-40 engines; an APU installed as standard equipment; changes to the rudder control system; updated avionics; and other improvements; 100 manufactured, plus one modified Falcon 50[7][8]

Operators

France
  • French Navy operate eight Falcon 50M for maritime surveillance.
Iran
Italy
  • The Italian Air Force operated four Falcon 50s from 1985 until 2005, when two aircraft were retired.[9]
Morocco
Portugal
Serbia
South Africa
Venezuela
Bolivia

Former operators

Benin
Bulgaria
Burundi
Djibouti
Egypt
Iraq
Jordan
Libya
Rwanda
Spain
Sudan
Switzerland

Accidents and incidents

  • USS_Stark_Incident: May 17, 1987 USS Stark was part of the Middle East Task Force assigned to patrol off the Saudi Arabian coast near the Iran–Iraq War exclusion boundary. An Iraqi pilot attacked USS Stark in a Dassault Falcon 50 modified business jet armed with two Exocet missiles.[1] American Intelligence was convinced the attack was made with a Dassault Mirage F1, even though the Mirage did not have the capability at the time.[2]
  • Assassination of Juvénal Habyarimana and Cyprien Ntaryamira: Rwandan President Juvénal Habyarimana, Burundian President Cyprien Ntaryamira, the Chief of Staff of the Rwandan military, two Burundian ministers, and seven others were killed when Habyarimana's Dassault Falcon 50 was shot down over Kigali airport and crashed on the grounds of the Rwandan presidential residence on 6 April 1994. The assassination of Habyarimana triggered the Rwandan genocide.[10][11]
  • 2014 Falcon 50 Vnukovo ground collision: on 20 October 2014 at 2357 Local Time, Falcon 50EX F-GLSA was departing from Moscow's Vnukovo International Airport on a flight to Paris when it hit a snow removal vehicle. After the impact the aircraft rolled upside down, crashed and was destroyed by fire. All four people on board – the CEO of Total S.A. oil and gas company Christophe de Margerie and the three crew members – were killed.[12]
  • On September 27, 2018, Falcon 50 N114TD overran runway 19 at the Greenville Downtown Airport (KGMU) , resulting in fatal injuries to two of the four on board.

Specifications (50EX)

Dassault Falcon 50 cabin interior

Data from Flight International[13]

General characteristics

  • Crew: two
  • Capacity: eight to nine passengers
  • Length: 18.52 m (60 ft 9 in)
  • Wingspan: 18.86 m (61 ft 10 in)
  • Height: 6.98 m (22 ft 11 in)
  • Wing area: 46.83 m² (504.1 ft²[14])
  • Empty weight: 9889 kg (21800 lbs)
  • Useful load: 8,119 kg (17,900 lbs)
  • Max. takeoff weight: 18,008 kg (39,700 lbs)
  • Max Landing Weight: 16,200kg / 35,715lbs
  • Payload with full fuel: 1,080kg / 2,380lbs
  • Fuel Capacity: 7039 kg / 15520 lbs
  • Cabin Length: 23’ 5” / 7.14m
  • Cabin Width: Max: 6’ 1” / 1.86m Floor: 5' 2" / 1.57m
  • Cabin Height: 5’ 9” / 1.75m
  • Powerplant: 3 × Honeywell TFE 731-40 turbofan engines, 16.46kN each (3,700 lbf) each

Performance

Avionics
Collins ProLine4

See also

Related development

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

Related lists

References

  1. 1 2 "News Channel - Homepage - flightglobal.com". Flightglobal.com. Archived from the original on 28 August 2008. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
  2. ↑ "Purchase Planning Handbook" (PDF). Business & Commercial Aviation. Aviation Week. May 2006. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2017-03-09.
  3. 1 2 Taylor 1988, p.75.
  4. ↑ Taylor 1993, p.928
  5. ↑ "News Channel - Homepage - flightglobal.com". Flightglobal.com. Archived from the original on 6 June 2009. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
  6. ↑ "News Channel - Homepage - flightglobal.com". Flightglobal.com. Archived from the original on 6 June 2009. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
  7. 1 2 Type Certificate Data Sheet A46EU, p. 4
  8. 1 2 Type Certificate Data Sheet A46EU, p. 16
  9. ↑ "Official website Aeronautica Militare". difesa.it. Archived from the original on 15 December 2014. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
  10. ↑ Raymond Bonner (November 12, 1994). "Unsolved Rwanda Mystery: The President's Plane Crash". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-01-01.
  11. ↑ "ASN Aircraft accident Dassault Falcon 50 9XR-NN Kigali Archived 2012-05-26 at the Wayback Machine.". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 15 December 2008.
  12. ↑ Accident description for ASN Aircraft accident 20-OCT-2014 Dassault Falcon 50EX F-GLSA at the Aviation Safety Network
  13. ↑ "Super Mid-Size Jets". Flight International. Archived from the original on 2016-12-01.
  14. ↑ Taylor 1988, pp.75–76.

Bibliography

  • Federal Aviation Administration Type Certificate Data Sheet No. A46EU, Revision 18: Dassault Aviation Mystere-Falcon 50, Mystere-Falcon 900, Falcon 900EX; August 17, 2016
  • Taylor, Michael J. H. (1993). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions.
  • Taylor, John W. R. (editor). Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1988–89. Coulsdon, Surrey, UK: Jane's Information Group. ISBN 0-7106-0867-5.
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