Tag Archives: Dassault

Please Bring the Falcon 900 My Way

While spending a little time at Boeing Field waiting to see what would be on the move, a Falcon 900 powered up over at the FBO. Most bizjets can taxi from that ramp down to the threshold but there is a limit on the size of aircraft than can use that taxiway to the end. Larger jets have to cross over to our side of the runway and use the taxiway that is close to the parking lot. I hoped that the Falcon 900 was in the class of jets that needed to do that and that they wouldn’t just do an intersection departure instead.

I got lucky and they came my way. I prefer the look of the cockpits on the newer generation Falcons with the multi window configuration dating back to the Falcon 20 looking a little outdated but, putting that aside, the Falcon 900 is a nice looking plane.

Falcon 50s Are Getting Rarer

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Dassault’s Falcon family has been getting larger both in the number of types and physically. Now there are long range and wide bodied corporate jets available in their catalog. Before the jets got wider, their first effort at a longer range version was the Falcon 50. It introduced the three engine configuration which made it well suited to longer range missions in the days before twin operations over long distances were widespread.

The 50 is now rather long in the tooth so you don’t see them around so often. That makes it all the better when one shows up. I was heading home one evening from an event south of the city and the lovely evening light made me stop off at Boeing Field to see if I could get any shots. Sadly, a cloud bank rolled in just before this Falcon 50 showed up. Still, it was great to see one in action. I was back the next day having taken a day off work and it happened to depart while I was there. Certainly more light but a bit harsh in the middle of the day.

Patrouille de France Takeoff Configurations

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I was working through some RIAT photos of the Patrouille de France display. I had some tight shots of the first four jets as they took off and, as I looked closer at them, I was confused as to why two of the jets had a more nose high attitude than the other two. Since they are taking off on formation, I figured that they should look the same.

A closer look at the images and it seems that the flap settings of the jets vary. The nose high aircraft seem to have less flap – hence their need for a higher angle of attack – than the other two jets. I have been trying the think why they would adopt this approach. With all jets accelerating together and climbing together, I had imagined that they would all be in the same configuration. I wonder whether there is something to do with the outwash from the nearby jets that requires a different configuration but I haven’t come up with anything conclusive. I throw it out to the aero engineers that read this to propose your ideas as to why. If any of you know anyone in the PdF, feel free to ask them instead!

Concorde Formations Flypast

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RIAT is known for putting together formations of different types to celebrate certain events. The fiftieth anniversary of the first flight of Concorde resulted in two display teams getting together. Concorde was an Anglo-French collaboration and so was the celebration in this case. The Red Arrows and the Patrouille de France both fly formations to represent Concorde so, for this joint effort, both teams got airborne and flew their two Concorde formations in line astern. They made passes in each direction with the national anthems of each country playing – one on the first pass and the other on the second. It was a simple demonstration but an impressive one all the same.

Alpha Jet Action

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The Alpha Jet has attracted the attention of a few owners in the Pacific Northwest. This example is pretty cool because, rather than being painted in some new scheme, it is still in the colors it wore when operated by the Luftwaffe. It flew a few passes during Skyfair so we were able to see it in action. I have seen lots of the French style Alpha Jets with the spinning nose but my exposure to the German style of jets over the years has been a lot less. The pointy nose has a slightly more purposeful look to me.

Great Scot!

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Dassault make some very elegant looking jets. The Falcon 7X is a particularly good looking one in my opinion with perhaps the only issue being the extension of the fin below the tailplane which looks a bit like a fix for something. This example was at Boeing Field heading out. I don’t know where it lives because it has a Manx registration which means it could be from almost anywhere. I did like the rest of the registration, though. I hope they are Scottish rather than just someone called Scott!

Union Pacific’s Falcon 2000

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Union Pacific is one of the large freight railroads in the US. Their fleet of locomotives is commonly seen across the US west of Chicago. They are painted yellow and carry a large American flag on the side. However, trains are not the only way that staff of UP get around. They also own a Dassault Falcon 2000 and I saw it come in to Boeing Field. While it isn’t painted like a loco, it certainly shares a few design cues with them and it looks a bit more interesting than the average all white scheme.

Patrouille de France Show Up Late

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I am catching up on some things that happened quite a while ago. The visit of the Patrouille de France to Mather for a display as part of their US Tour was a combination of fun and frustration. I was covering the visit for GAR and had arranged to be there for the arrival, the practice and the show itself. They were supposed to show up relatively early but they had some serviceability issues and, when they finally showed up, the sun was setting.

There was still some light when the first jets flew into the pattern. As they taxied in, the light on them was rather nice. By the time the last jets (of the day) showed up, it was dark. The crews were very cheerful despite their difficult day and they spent a lot of time with some local kids for a French school. They didn’t all make it though. Two jets had diverted with problems and they would show up until late the following day. The A400M didn’t arrive until after I had left and it headed straight out the following morning to go and fix the two stragglers. The second day practice and flyby over the Golden Gate were scrubbed as a result with the flyby being achieved after the display rather than before.

It was a few days with a mix of good flying and disappointment but such is the way with aviation.

The French Government Comes to Town

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Catching a cool bizjet is nice but coming across one that is a bit special is even better. I almost missed this one. I was focused on something else when I looked up and saw something on the approach. At first I thought it was a parallel approach but I lifted the camera up to my eye and saw it was a colorful fun that was getting my attention. It was a Dassault Falcon 7X. It was in French government colors. The fin was the French tricolor. This was a cool thing to catch and quite a surprise.

Rafale A Demonstrator

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The Dassault Rafale is a fantastic looking aircraft. Gradually being built in reasonable numbers, it has broken into the export market and has customers in Egypt and Qatar and probably India although exports to India are always hard to pin down! The French air force and navy will no longer be the sole operators. The Rafale B is a two seat version and the C is the Air Force’s single seat version. However, there was the Rafale A. One of them was built in the mid 1980s as a demonstrator. It looks almost identical to the production version but was actually slightly larger. Painted in Dassault’s house colors, it made a number of air show appearances. At the time, it was competing for attention with BAe’s EAP demonstrator. I didn’t get to see EAP until I got to Warton where I wasn’t able to photograph it!

Here are some shots of the Rafale A. It was originally powered by GE F404 engines although later one was swapped for the M88 that would power the production Rafale. The first Rafale C was rolled out in an all black paint scheme which made it look very cool. The size difference is not immediately obvious but a number of detail design changes were incorporated too including lots of sensors required for an operational type rather than the demonstrator. The wing planform was also altered slightly based on the experience gained with the demonstrator. I understand that, when the aircraft was retired, it went to the Museum at le Bourget in Paris.