282nd Review The Dassault Adventure: A First Century of Aviation- Luc Berger

282nd Review The Dassault Adventure: A First Century of Aviation- Luc Berger

The Dassault aircraft manufacturing company was started early in the twentieth century by Marcel Bloch, who changed his name to Marcel Dassault after WWII. Dassault’s iconic airplanes have received a stamp of approval from the aviation and aerospace sector of the world’s economy. Dassault builds recognizable military and commercial airplanes.  The company’s military aircraft include, the Ouragan, which is the first French jet fighter, Mystère, the lithe Étendard, Mirage, Mirage 2000 and Rafale. The commercial aviation component of Dassault aerospace is known for their top-of-the-line business jet division, which has truly blossomed in the last thirty years. The company launched the Falcon 6X in early 2021.

The creation of the Mystère 20 was Dassault’s great leap forward in the commercial aviation world. In mid-1963 Pam American Airlines purchased 40 Mystère 20, which the airline re-named Falcon 20 for the American commercial aviation market. A total of 478 Mystère 20 were built.  The agile Falcon series includes models 10, 20, the latter which served in the United States National Guard as Hu-25 Guardian from 1981 to 2014; 50, 900, 900EX, 7X, 5X, 8X and 2000.

A particularly striking aspect of the Falcon series is the creation of tri-motor airplanes. Not only are they reliable, long-range business jets, they are truly beautiful. Reminiscent of short versions of the Boeing 727, the tri-motor Falcons, such as the handsome 900EX, command a second look from aviation afficionados.

If there is a drawback to The Dassault Adventure: A First Century of Aviation, what is a truly elegant coffee-table aviation book, is that the book could have included more text. While professional and amateur aviation historians enjoy photographs of airplanes, they also cherish reading about the history and specs of airplanes.