Lear Jet

Lear Jet was a company which produced business jets for civilian and military use. It was founded in 1960 by William Powell Lear Jr. as Swiss American Aviation Corporation. The company was formed to manufacture an executive twin-engined high speed jet to be known as the Learjet 23 (SAAC-23). The tooling for this aircraft was originally done in Europe and moved to Wichita, Kansas, United States in 1962. In 1963 the company was renamed the Lear Jet Corporation.

Related Topics:
Business jet - William Powell Lear Jr. - Learjet 23 - Wichita - Kansas - United States

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The original Learjet 23 was a six to eight seater and first flew on October 7, 1963, with the first production model being delivered in October 1964. Several derived models followed, with the Learjet 24 and 25 first flying in 1966. In the same year the company was renamed Lear Jet Industries Inc.

Related Topics:
October 7 - 1963

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In 1967 all of Bill Lear's assets -- he held approximately 60% of the company -- were acquired by the Gates Rubber Company of Denver, Colorado, United States. However, he remained on the board until 1969. Later in 1969 the company was merged with Gates Aviation and in 1970 the company name was changed to Gates Learjet Corporation.

Related Topics:
Gates Rubber Company - Denver - Colorado - Gates Aviation

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In 1974 the worldwide Learjet fleet had exceeded the one million flight hours mark and in 1975 the company produced its 500th jet. In both instances they were the first manufacturer to do so. By late 1976 the company had increased the number of aircraft being produced each month to ten.

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In 1984 the Gates Learjet Corporation announced the start of their Aerospace Division, a high technology endeavour. However, by the end of the year the company had ceased production of its commercial jets in an effort to reduce inventories. This lasted until February 1986, when the company headquarters were transferred to Tucson, Arizona, United States, and production was restarted both in Wichita and Tucson.

Related Topics:
Tucson - Arizona

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In 1987 the Gates Learjet Corporation was acquired by Integrated Acquisition, Inc. and the next year the name was changed to Learjet Corporation. By January 1989 all production had been moved from the Tucson facility back to Wichita. Tucson is still the main centre for Learjet servicing. The next year, 1990, Bombardier Aerospace purchased the Learjet Corporation.

Related Topics:
Integrated Acquisition, Inc. - Bombardier Aerospace

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Later models of Learjet aircraft generally have a greater range and capacity and are produced by Bombardier and marketed as the "Bombardier Learjet Family". These have a swept back wing rather than the straighter wing with prominent fuel tanks on their extremities that characterised the early models, being reminiscent of the Lockheed T-33 military trainer. These later variants bear the model numbers 45 and upwards and are far quieter.

Related Topics:
Bombardier - Lockheed T-33

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The ICAO designators as used in flight plans are for the various models are as follows. The ICAO listing of the company name is in parenthesis:

Related Topics:
ICAO - Flight plan

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• Lear Jet 23 - LJ23 (Lear Jet)
• Lear Jet 24 - LJ24 (Lear Jet & Gates Learjet)
• Learjet 25 - LJ25 (Lear Jet & Gates Learjet)
• Lear Jet 28 - LJ28 (Gates Learjet)
• Lear Jet 29 - LJ28 (Gates Learjet)
• Lear Jet 31 - LJ31 Lear Jet & Gates Learjet)
• Lear Jet 35 - LJ35 (Learjet, Gates Learjet & Shin Meiwa)
• Lear Jet 36 - LJ35 (Gates Learjet)
• Lear Jet 40 - LJ40 (Learjet)
• Lear Jet 45 - LJ45 (Learjet)
• Lear Jet 55 - LJ55 (Gates Learjet)
• Learjet 60 - LJ60 (Learjet)
• C-21 Learjet - LJ35 (Gates Learjet)
• LearStar 600 became the Bombardier Challenger - CL30
 
Lear Jet: Incidents and Accidents ►