Making its first flight in 1963, the Dassault Falcon 20 proved to be a popular business jet that would have a production run until 1988. On the heels of the Falcon 20’s success, in the late 1960s Dassault embarked on design studies for a family of variants developed from the Falcon 20. Two of these designs went into production- the smaller Falcon 10 and the trijet Falcon 50. Little known is the aircraft pictured here, the Falcon 30. The program was launched in 1967 with two variants- a business jet version and an airliner version seating 30 passengers. The Falcon 30, powered by Lycoming ALF502 engines, made its first flight on 11 May 1973 and debuted later that year at the Paris Air Show. At that point, the business jet version was shelved and the program was expanded to encompass two versions- the Falcon 30 for 30 passengers and the Falcon 40 with 40 passengers developed in cooperation with Aerospatiale. A single Falcon 30 prototype was built but the Falcon 40 never progressed beyond the mock up stage. The ALF502 was a geared turbofan design that was also used on the BAe-146. Compared to the Falcon 20, the Falcon 30 was larger with four-abreast seating and a prominent ventral fin. To remain economical, the Falcon 40 would have a different wing than the Falcon 30. A bigger fuselage and heavier engines with Falcon 20 wings would have made the Falcon 30 an interim type as the Falcon 40 with its newer wings and larger capacity would likely have been more attractive to prospective customers. Although orders were taken at the 1973 Paris Air Show for ten examples by Air Inter for what could readily be considered one of the progenitors of today’s regional jets, the program was terminated in 1975 in the wake of the oil crisis following the 1973 Yom Kippur War in the Middle East. #Dassault #Falcon30 #instagramaviation #splendid_transport #instaaviation #aviationlovers #aviationphotography #flight #AvGeeksAero #AvgeekSchoolofKnowledge #AvGeekNation https://www.instagram.com/p/CWv4_yWl7cx/?utm_medium=tumblr
