F-RSIN 1:144 Dassault Falcon 20 Pan Am

[Malair]

My latest build is part of a French Aviation Buddy build, over at the Dutch ModelBrouwers forum. The requirements are French build or operated aircraft, so my first entry is the Dassault Falcon 20 in Pan Am colours.

 

I only build commercial airliners with a minimum of 12 passengers in 1:144 scale. Business or private aviation is therefore normally excluded, unless the business aircraft has the colors of a commercial airliner. Since the Falcon 20 flew in the colors of Pan Am back in the day, it is allowed according to my own imposed rules. It is a very small model, measuring only 12 cm in length

 

The Falcon 20 started life as the Mystère 100, which eventually became the Mystère 20. This aircraft was designed as a business jet. Production approval was given in 1961 and Pratt & Whitney JT12 engines (which were also used by the Sabreliner and Lockheed JetStar) were chosen. In 1962, Dassault and Sud-Aviation decided to build a prototype together. Sud-Aviation made some essential parts and Dassault led the project and completed the final assembly.

 

The prototype first flew in 1963. Among the spectators was a delegation from Pan Am led by Charles Lindbergh (yes, that famous Charles Lindbergh!). Pan Am intended to set up a business jet division and was looking for a suitable aircraft. Legend has it that Charles Lindbergh said to Chairman Juan Trippe "I've found your bird!".

 

Under the influence of Pan Am, the aircraft received new General Electric CF700 engines and the aircraft also became larger. Initially, Pan Am ordered 40 aircraft, but would eventually order no fewer than 160. The first flight with Pan Am was in 1966. By this time the name had been permanently changed to Falcon 20.

 

Incidentally, Pan Am was not the only well-known name that ordered the aircraft. FedEx was founded in 1971 and also flew the Falcon 20 (33 in total)

 

The aircraft proved to be rather popular and production was only discontinued in 1988. About 512 of them were made.

 

Anyway, the kit is from F-RSIN. I have built models from F-RSIN before. They are not the easiest models, but with some patience they can be made into something. Decals are from Classic Airliner Decals (the cockpit windows are made by myself).

 

At any rate the pictures:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I still have three more French kits left on the shelf (the SNCASE SE.2010 Armagnac, the SNCASE SE.161 Languedoc and the Bréguet Br.761S Deux-Ponts, all from F-RSIN in 1:144), so I will be part of the French Buddy Build for a while longer. After this dwarf of a kit it's time for a giant, so the next one will be the SNCASE SE.2010 Armagnac.

 

Thanks for reading and see you next time!

[Wings unlevel]

That really is lovely.

[Paulaero]

Very nice work, really like the bis jets, now it would look really good with a company 747 taxing behind it......

[HOUSTON]

SUPERB way to show off a delightful looking model.

She is looking SPLENDID .

Great job on such a small scale.

NEAT and Flawless work on the windows.

AWESOME  model.

 

 

 

 

Look forward to your next one.

HOUSTON.

[Skodadriver]

That's a little beauty Martijn. I have the kit in my stash but I've never seen it built before - you have done an excellent job.

 

Thanks for sharing.

 

Dave G

 

 

[Vesa Jussila]

Nice little one. You have done this very well.

[David H]

That's beautiful, Martin!

I fly the -20's bigger offspring, the -50 and the -900. The 20/200s are very pretty though depending on the version they can be a touch underpowered.

 

However, they're built like tanks and they seem to last forever.

 

-d-

[Malair]

Many thanks for all your kind words!

 

13 hours ago, David H said:

That's beautiful, Martin!

I fly the -20's bigger offspring, the -50 and the -900. The 20/200s are very pretty though depending on the version they can be a touch underpowered.

 

However, they're built like tanks and they seem to last forever.

 

-d-

That's really cool that you fly the -50 and 900! I love that aircraft as well, especially since I'm a big fan of tri-jets. I would love to make a model one day, but I don’t think any big commercial airliner (such as Pan Am) flies with it, so I’m not sure which Livery is possible, but we’ll see.

[chrispisme]

Awesome!

[David H]

I know Pan Am was a launch customer for the -50, but i don't ever recall seeing a photo of a -50 in Pan Am markings. The -900 came along later. However, Falcon Jet was the company formed as a marketing organization between Pan American and Dassault Aviation.

 

-d-