In the early 1950’s, Juan Terry Trippe of Pan American noticed that many executives of major corporations had begun to travel by private airplanes (just as he did in a converted B-23 bomber).  He reasoned that these men (and it really was almost singularly men in that age) would not be flying on his aircraft and inside his route system.

The Business Jets Division of Pan American was formed and they wrote specifications for a new jet and contacted Dassault, a French Aviation Company, about building such a jet.  This new jet would be comfortably furnished, have dual wheel landing gear (to ensure that larger margin of safety) and be powered by new turbo-fan jets instead of turbo jets.  It was originally called the Mystere 20 and later renamed the Dassault Falcon.

Pan American marketed this new service as an alternative to flying their commercial aircraft and routes when it was inconvenient.  If you couldn’t fly their schedules, you could still fly their jets and use their airport facilities.

Variations of this aircraft exist today and, coincidentally enough, are a mainstay of today’s business jet companies such as NetJets.  The Dassault Falcon 50, 900 and 2000 are sold and operated today but all derive their heritage from that original airplane conceived of by Juan Trippe and Pan American Airways.

Filed under: Trivia by ajax
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