04/30/2010. Remarks by Johan Visschedijk: "The idea for a light twin executive jet occurred to Marcel Dassault upon his return from holidays in 1957. By October of the same year, plans for the prototype had already been made by the Bordeaux-Merignac engineering department. Named Méditerranée it carried two Bristol-Siddeley Viper turbojet engines suspended from the wings in pods. Prototype construction was initiated in April 1958, but two months later the project was shelved owing to the heavy workloads on various military programs.

In October 1961 the project was revived and development was undertaken jointly with Sud-Aviation. Redesigned to carry a 3,300 lb (1,497 kg) Pratt & Whitney JT12-A-8 on each side of the rear fuselage, the type was redesignated Mystère XX, and first construction began in January 1962. The fuselage of the prototype was built by Dassault and the wings and tail unit by Sud-Aviation, Dassault were responsible for final assembly.

Dassault Mystère 20 (F-WLKB) (Ray Watkins Collection)

Registered F-WLKB, the prototype flew for the first time on May 4, 1963, with Rene Bigand at the controls, by this time the designation had changed to Mystère 20.

In August 1963 the Business Jets Division of Pan American World Airways ordered 54 aircraft, with an option on 106 more. From the start, these aircraft were marketed by Pan American under the name Fan Jet Falcon, which name was eventually used for all aircraft sold to the USA by the time the first production aircraft flew on January 1, 1965. Later it was abbreviated to Falcon, then it became the Falcon 20, while the name Mystère became disused. For production aircraft, Dassault built the wings and tail units, and Sud-Aviation the fuselages, the latter eventually assumed 53% of production on the aircraft.

One of seven ordered for the RCAF on July 4, 1966, the following year the pictured aircraft was delivered to No. 412 Squadron at RCAF Station Uplands, Ontario, while on May 26, 1970 it was reserialed 117507. In the late 1970s it was converted to ECM training, while on November 15, 1989 it was struck off charge and subsequently sold to Flight Refuelling in the UK, where it was registered as G-FRAW."