The Falcon 20 was among the first generation bizjets. In the United States it was first known as the Fan Jet Falcon, whilst in the rest of the world it was marketed as Mystère 20. Later the now well-known name Falcon was adopted, and this marked the start of a whole family of business jets.

Like many bizjets the Falcon 20 has low mounted swept wings and engines attached to the rear fuselage. The disntinctive characteristics of the Falcon 20 are the seven flat cockpit windows, large oval cabin windows and the horizontal stabilizer in a V-shape, so with a significant dihedral, about halfway the vertical fin. Moreover, the Falcon 20 has double wheels on all legs.

The different versions of the Falcon 20 can be recognised by the following elements:

• the shape of the engine nacelles
• the shape of the dorsal fin
• the width of the leading edge slats
• the bottom of the fuselage
• the presence of a cargo door

The prototype of the corporate jet was called Mystère 20. This was powered by Pratt & Whitney JT12 engines, in narrow nacelles without specific characteristics.

The prototype was followed up by production versions C, D and E, all with two General Electric CF700 engines, which can be recognised by the ring in the air intakes, separating the core and fan flows. The nacelles also have a tab at the back. They also have leading edge slats outside the wing fences only. The C, D and E models differ only in exact engine type, fuel capacity, maximum take-off weights and a few small things. In addition, the Falcon 20E should have a different rudder, but the difference is apparently rather subtle...

The Canadian armed forces had the Falcon 20C in service as CC-117 and CE-117.

The Falcon 20 was the aircraft that helped Federal Express to grow in the early 1970. As Dassault had several unsold aircraft, the Falcons were delivered originally as passen­ger aircraft with windows. FedEx had them converted with a large cargo door and the windows replaced by metal plugs. Subse­quent orders were dealt with the same way. 

Later other Falcon 20s were converted to cargo planes as well, but they did not receive the Falcon 20DC designation.

In order to distinguish this version the slats need to be extended. On the Falcon 20F they cover the entire wing leading edge, while on the older versions they start just outside the wing fences.

Replace the General Electric CF700 engines by Garrett ATF3s and you get the Falcon 20G. These engines can be recognised by a large plug back of the engine.

Most of the Falcon 20Gs were delivered to the US Coast Guard as HU-25, described separately below.

The first and original version of the Guardian has the nearly same external appearance as the Falcon 20G. An additional feature is a large observation window in place of the first cabin window, on both sides.

The HU-25B was the pollution control version for the US Coast Guard. It was equipped with a side-looking airborne radar (SLAR) under the right forward fuselage. All were converted HU-25As.

HU-25B with a SLAR bar beside the forward fuselage. (photo: United States Coast Guard/WikiMedia)

To make room for a new search radar the nose had to be enlarged a bit. Therefore the HU‑25C has a slightly more pointed nose than the other HU-25 models. Also it has a FLIR pod under the forward fuselage. Behind it is a streamline body.

The HU-25C+ has an improved radar and FLIR, but we have not found any external differences compared to the HU-25C.

The final subtype, the HU-25D, has the same FLIR pod as the HU-25C+, but a normal nose shape around a new radar.

The CF700 engines produce quite some noise, so Dassault developed a re-engine programme. In the beginning, TFE731-5AR engines were used and the Falcon 20s that are equipped with this version received “-5” after the type designation. Later, and even now, the TFE731-5BR is utilised. Falcon 20s with -5BR engines are simply known as Falcon 20-5. In general, you can recognise Falcon 20s equipped with the new engines by the larger diameter engine nacelles, without the “tab” at the back and with a single exhaust at the end. Of course, in addition the previously mentioned differences apply. But a Falcon 20-5 cannot be distinguished from a Falcon 20C-5/D-5/E-5/F-5.

The Falcon 200 has ATF3 engines like the Falcon 20G, but also has a shorter dorsal fin with an air inlet. The original designation of the subtype was Falcon 20H.