the number of Falcon 10/100s though is getting smaller and smaller..lots of them retired..

maybe approx 130 out of 226 built still in service…(according to Dassault's tracking numbers..)

there still are some excellent outfits to be found in the US but also in Europe, where you find mechanics with that special Falcon 10 know how..but it is not that easy anymore..

no parts or support problem with Dassault…they still have lots of good parts and basically, contrary to the past, give them away at very reasonable prices nowadays..

but on the avionics front, quite a number of birds would need some decent updates..and considering that a full avionics upgrade on a Falcon 10/100 may well cost 3 - 4 times, or even more of what the market value of the whole airplane is..

it is always a pleasure for me when I see a nice F10/100 on a ramp..it is a piece of aviation history one could say..but that also is very true for the Falcon 20...

Sadly (well it's all relative), between the need to update the avionics, and deal with the noise requirements in Europe, it will cost way more than the value of the plane.

On the other hand, it's working well for the Falcon 50ex and the "newer" refurbished upgraded version, which I find more beautiful than the 5/7/8x. I'm still mad they redesigned the lateral cockpit windows, so iconic. At least we still have the horizontal stabilizer, and that jetfighter wing..

yes the 50s will be around for quite some time…and except 3 maybe, all of the 352 50/50EX built still in service..great plane…if someone does not need a wide-body cabin..super plane..

could well be the most perfect globe trotting magic carpet for a wealthy owner / pilot..so reliable it's actually boring…the mechanics of Falcon 50 operators usually run around with their hands in their pockets..nothing much to do…and now that the A-Check intervall is changed from 6 - 12 months on the 50..they are getting less costly by the year in regards to maintenance..DFJ really got the parts prices down, I mean really down....contrary to Wichita and Montreal were the parts prices still go up every year..

well the windshields of the new ones..guess marketing said, "we've got to make that concession to the market, the market wants it..it's fashionable" but at least they work surprisingly well on the 7Xs..well, curved windshields have been around awhile now, and have matured..

but I'd agree the "old" straight cockpit windows of the 20/50/900/2000 are excelllent, hardly a problem, and if very seldom one had to change one, cheap and easy to change....and, yes they have been /are the "Falcon face"..like a brand...

I was fortunate to get to fly a 900B a couple of times. My problem would be remembering to start that third one.

That would be difficult to do without a blocker/defuser doors on the engine nacelles as the the engines would experience compressor stalls (reverse thrust drag equivalent) as the the airplane became supersonic.

yes, sure..

but seems, from the GE CF 700 inlet on the F20 on through to the 731 powered 50s and 900s..and seems also the 2000s etc..those inlets seem to be stable up to M1.2 or so, at least , let me put it that way, that has been heard through the grapevine at the Falcon winery in Bordeaux..all those years..

and it's not like some Mach busts did not happen also with other bizjet manufactuers…

in the 90's near the beautfiful town of Savannah..during the final cert testing with FAA pilots one of those very nice big birds on the way back from high altitude in the test area pointing its noise back from the ocean towards land, they did some high speed tests on the way down, et voila she slipped through M1.0, actually quite a bit, like a sharp knife through butter, no problems whatsoever..

and she laid some really heavy booms over Savannah during happy hour on that day...

well, as neither the USAF nor the USN had supersonic ops that day in that area, they could not be blamed, those were usually the ones the homowners could address for the bills for broken windows, some of these home repairs had to be included in the certification costs..

seems that pilot in that thread case had some history of doing things his own way…

http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2016-06-02/man-indicted-flying-bizjets-without-authorization

not that such things cannot happen in Europe either..

several years ago we had a case of a German registered Lear 24, that was operated SP against the rules by a guy who was not even typed..until a tragic fatal accident ended his career..

and that Lear 24 was flown by that guy for several years ("in the system") without anybody noticing..that something had to be wrong in that picture…

stuff happens..

The same happens in the U.S. and likely elsewhere. One of my instructors had a Lear student who had flown SP and acted quite amazed when he was told he needed to have an copilot with a sign off.

How about Thomas Salme, 13years without a licence, caught flying a 737...

big Falcon operator at Bournemouth EGHH in the UK. Very cool seeing these dark blue painted Falcons fly in and out, mostly government / military contracts (Cobham ex FRA) target towing etc

more info these Falcon 20 here
http://golfcharlie232.blogspot.co.uk/20 ... 0.html?m=1