Who Killed the LEARJET? - Rise and Fall of the First Private Jet 

I am a Flight Paramedic for Air Ambulance Worldwide in Clearwater, FL. We have 3 Lear 35’s and 1 Lear 55. They are little Rockets and I love them.

I was a corporate pilot for 31 years and got to fly various jets for 25 of those years. In the late 1990s, I transitioned from Challenger 600s to the Learjet 60s. It was like going from a limo to a Corvette. Because of its performance, it was the most challenging and fun airplane to fly. Its climb rate was insane; the FAA's altitude reporting couldn't keep up and their radar would drop our altitude readout. We could cruise climb to 41,000 in 12 minutes. For our missions, FL410-450 were ideal and this usually got us above most Midwest thunderstorms. I'm sorry to see the brand disappear but there are better airplanes out there now for the money.

Flew the Lear 23, 24d, and 35 in my early years, retired 15 years ago but always remember those days as the best!

The Learjet was the landscape of my entire career from 1969-2005, what a blessing it was. RIP Bill Lear and all that were involved with it.

How could I EVER forget the first time I flew a Lear, back in '78 (model 24, N44PA, Paul Anka's plane). In a word... I was SO FAR behind that airplane, if I'd crashed... I wouldn't have been involved in the accident!

Flew the Lear 24, 35 and 36 early in my career. Now I’m retired. Tells you how long Learjet has been around.

Growing up this was my favorite jet. Sorry to see it go once and for all. Same with the Beechcraft C90.

Very good thumb nail sketch of Lear Jet history. Short and concise with a positive viewpoint.

I grew up in Wichita, KS. in the 1960's. I remember seeing Learjets in the sky all the time when I was a kid.

Here’s a fun fact; I was there for the very first Lear test flight. Wichita resident of course. 😎

As a 41 year Learjet employee I thank you for a nice tribute, but you did leave out the 31 model. The combination of the 35 fuselage on a 60 model wing was dynamic.

FYI - Bill Lear invented the Autopilot. He received the Collier Trophy in 1949 for developing the F-5 autopilot with a control for landing aircraft in “zero-zero” weather.

My cousin, George Zook, used to work for Lear. He was a mechanic. I'm sure he is gone by now. I haven't spoken to him since 1981. For he was, at least, twenty years older than me. I'm 60 now. He was not a pilot. Just an aircraft mechanic. But what a hell of a good job. He had a very nice house in Illinois. So, I guess Lear did him good.

I have flown in a Lear several times and all I can say as a passenger and as a working F/A they are an awesome way to get somewhere fast, and on takeoff you know it !!!! I even experienced an intentional barrel roll at 45,000, and that memory will be in my head forever .

AS I recall, Bill Lear said he was going to make a private jet and that it would sell for a cool million: and did it!

I had a model of the Learjet in 1964. I still remember the problems we had putting in the windscreen. We got glue on everything.😢

We had a lear jet when I was in my 20's and my brothers and I referred to it as "the coffin." My mother asked, "why do you call it the coffin?" Almost in unison "you can't stand up in a coffin either." We got a Gulfstream.

Got to take a trip on one in Japan 1974 . Assigned to Commander 5th Air Force at the time.Was a huge thrill I still recall.

I’ve always wondered what happened to the Learjet 23 and 24, now I know. Some corporate pilot use to call Learjets the flying dart.

I worked at the completion center paint in Tucson from 1980-1985.BEST JOB EVER. we painted (buffed leading edges, windshield retainers) some 25 mostly 35's, 36's 55's and an occasional 28 and 29. Bermar (Bib) Still well Australian Ford Dealer and Learjet distributor for South Asia was hired by Charlie Gates to run completion center in 1980. Charlie was based in Denver along with Harry Combs (Combs/Gates FBO) Bib deceided to start a 28 or 29 in production line unbeknownst to Charlie. Maybe late '83 or '84 to sell to the CIA. Not a whole lot got past Charlie from wing assembly to final flight.He knew. The pilots from CIA came to Tucson, flight tested "Very Nice Airplane"and left. Oh yeah I went on a production stall flight stalled the 35 4 times dropped 200 feet. I was watching altimeter go backwards.Last time we stalled for 2000 feet.

The Lear 75 was a dog of an aircraft that failed to meet almost all it's prospective performance benchmarks and can't compete in the midsize jet market. Bombardier should have stuck with making snow mobiles. The 45 and 40 were solid aircraft that should have continued production, and the 60 is fine but maintenance costs will kill you. In my mind Lear truly peaked at the 31A which took the venerable and popular 35A design and corrected most its problems with only its endurance being sacrificed, but who wants to fly a Lear for 5 hours? I've found the 31A handles beautifully, has excellent modern avionics and is efficient enough to not break the bank, equivalent in operating cost to a Citation II or Citation V. The freon air conditioning system makes the cabin comfortable and its size can make for a nice flight for up to four (though it does have 8 seats but that is cramped). My only complaints would be the delicate first-generation AHRS, the windshields that need to be replaced periodically at a cost of $50k a pop, and tearing up the interior (and my back) when loading baggage. These days you can pick up a fair 31A or an older 35A for almost the same price as a Chieftain, but it's not the purchase price that will murder you, it's the owning price. That said I hope someone picks up the old 35/31 series and starts producing them again with some modernization and changed. The world needs more light jet models.

I can't find it now, but I read that the first Learjets had very simple interiors. Lear was surprised and amused that his customers would spend a half-million dollars for the basic airplane and then spend another quarter-million to make it more comfortable. He thought that speed alone would be the main selling point.

In the 70s I worked for LearAvia and Wm.P. in Reno. It was a very interesting place..

It outlived its marketplace. Bigger, more economical aircraft with standup cabins came along. If you have ever flown in a Lear, you are painfully aware of just how LOUD its cabin is. The CJ610 powered Lears(23s, 24s, 25s, and 28s) were the worst but the 731 powered models weren’t much better. I routinely wore ear plugs on test flights after cable changes. Time passes as do aircraft models. Improvement in aerodynamics, engines, airframe structure construction and costs corporations are will to absorb cause obsolescence of specific airframes. Do you guys mourn the passing of the Piper Cheyenne? The Jetstar? The Hansa Jet? The Sabreliner? The Spey powered Gulfstreams? The Hawker? On-Mark Marksmen? Time passed all of the airframes by. They belong to a different era. The Lear is no different.

Good job LearBoy... now, here's your three extra credit questions: "Who is the person in the video at 5:12 on the left (N1965L) and what immensely significant role did he play in relation to LearJet? What was the "Go Fast Switch" and why was it so consequential? What was the MAIN reason the "Tip Tanks" were removed and replaced with "wing-lets" in later designs? Good luck.

Arnold Palmer set some records in a Lear jet. My favorite private jet growing up in the sixties they just looked cool.

My uncle was a corporate pilot. He flew one of the 1st Lear 23's off the line from 1964 through 1980. He took me on a cross country trip around 1978. It was a real thrill that can best be described as ride in a rocket. Phenomenal rate of climb.

Pedro your videos just keep getting better and better!

Thanks for the video. I worked for Cessna Citation for 33 years, was on the maintenance side.

I lived close to a small airport in FL and private jets were common . One day fishing about a decade ago I hear this _SCREAMING_ jet and look above me and at 1000'(?) is an old style Lear climbing out with polished tail pipes making 5x the noise of larger aircraft . Now I enjoy airshows which visited the airport yearly but that Lear was a bit ridiculous .

Really sad news. My all-time favorite private plane. Lear Jet was the reason for Gulfstream, Dassault, etc to exist and make their own versions of private planes. Unforgettable...especially the 25!

Very nice and informative video. Thanks!

The LearJet has always been one of my favorite airplanes. In the early 2000's, I contacted the company to request some promo items and they sent me three very nice posters. I had one of them nicely framed and it has been hanging on the wall next to my desk ever since. I remember when they first started marketing the LearJet to large agribusiness and oil companies in the San Joaquin Valley of California during the mid 1960's. The Lear will always be an iconic part of my aviation memories!

Dont forget John Denver who bought a 35 model in the 70s ..His father Dutch was also a test pilot at learjet wichita at that time and checked him out in the airplane

Everything “The Bomber” touches, dies.

VH-CMS was a fantastic machine! Great to see you used it in your presentation. It was a hot kite!

Flew the 25 and 35, both awesome birds. Such a pilots plane.

Very Sad Day Is Coming For Us 2022 1st Quarter, Learjets Are So Iconic, And Nothing Is Finer Or Better. I'm Going To Miss Working There..Viva Learjet

I remember when Lear started up when I was a kid. Bill was in the news a lot.

Good content, and nice shirt! I had a starship… and one of the few to be type rated to fly it single pilot.

First the C90 and now the Lear. Man they killed my 2 fav private jets.

The Lear Jet was the get way plane in the pilot episode S1 of Mission Impossible TV series in 1966 . Although in real life the Lear I think would be over loaded, (Lear 23 ?) with 6 passengers and 2 nuclear devices on board . 😮😉🤣😉👍

Bombardier had awful customer support back when I worked in aircraft management. They were all so arrogant dealing with them on the phone. I thought it was a French-English language barrier sort of thing but later when we acquired a Falcon dealing with Dassault was just as easy as dealing with American aircraft brands. Just a nitpick, Dassault is basically pronounced Dass-oh. French is strange.

John Denver owned and flew his own Learjet, along with his father (Hank "Dutch" John Deutschendorf, Denver's real name was Henry John Jr. ), who had been an Air Force test pilot. Very attractive plane painted in a Native American motif.

Learjet were so awesome, I can’t get over that.... another awesome plane no longer made is the Beechcraft premier 1 that plane is sweeet, it’s cockpit kinda has a mini baby Boeing feel, such amazing planes !

I think the Lear 75 flies higher and faster than any other model in the Bombardier fleet. Also, I did not know the Lears had such a sketchy safety record early on. Those wingtip tanks were massive and I can only imagine how flight dynamics might be a challenge if you forgot to switch tanks regularly or transfer fuel prior to landing.

As David Lee Roth once said, "yea, I'm lonely, I'm lonely in my Learjet."

Nice Job. Times are changing.

Nice video! Funny how you mention a band aid while I am wearing one.

"Money, get back I'm all right, Jack, keep your hands off of my stack. Money, it's a hit Don't give me that do goody good bullshit I'm in the high-fidelity first-class traveling set And I think I need a Learjet"

No more Learjet? What's next to go, the 8-track?

The last Learjet left for it's new home in Grand Rapids yesterday. 😢

The pilot in the '96 Christmas Eve crash was my friend, and a nice guy I went to high school with. My take: These airplanes are inherently dangerous. Only someone Navy-trained in fighters should even be allowed anywhere near one of these. Interesting too that Lear didn't go to engineering school, and also invented 8-Track tapes, a really bad listening experience in the years before cassettes, for those too youthful to recall.

thank you for the nice info and video.......couple questions.....at what point (year)/model were the hushkits not required anymore. Thanks again !

Well done

Made in Wichita KS, like Cessna Jets, Beachcraft, and fuselage of Boeing 737, 747, 767, 787

You may possibly be confusing mph with knots, since, as you mentioned, the first Learjets cruised at 535 mph TAS, (459 kts) when you mention the slightly uprated cruise speed, (03:90 on video).

I’ve driven the 30 & 40 series Lears, the 45 being my fav cause it’s got an APU and proper dunny😂

Pink Floyd's "Money" mention Learjet too (..."I think I need a Learjet"...)

old man Bill's own Jet setting on the ramp at bartow airport rotting it has the map in it where he flew around the world

I did not know until this very day that his middle name was Powell. No relation, but we both loved airplanes.

I used to fly in a Sabreliner 60, have only been in a Lear once!

As a little boy, my first airplane toy was an 8 seater plastic Learjet!

Ugh I disliked flying the Lear.i am a tall pilot (6'3") and just getting into the lear 55 was an ordeal. The windshield was pressing against the side of my face and in turbulence I got banged up often. Not my favorite plane

Thanks.

Feel sorry for Lear's swan dance. It's so COOL and so fast, seems perfect for both Monday executive air meeting and Sunday fly to Miami with kids olds and loved ones.

I always liked flying the 75, It handled like a sports car😉

At 1:35 was actually Frank Sinatra's jet, it has some interesting history on Google N175FS

I used to know a guy who owned a Learjet 25, and got to take several flights in it. I was very impressed. I fly a Cessna 172. Quite a difference. The sound on takeoff was unreal, and the rate of climb was unreal, at least compared to a Cessna 172. I don't really understand why they had to cancel the name. The Learjet name was used on 12 different aircraft. If the current model was unprofitable or did not sell well, why didn't they just use the name on another aircraft? Business jets aren't going out of business.

Learjet 60 really a very nice.

I'm in the high-fidelity first class travelling set I think I need a Lear jet - Money, Pink Floyd

N76CK is part of one if the company's I work for

Most iconic biz jet ever. And will always be.

Would it be possible to put new quiet engines on the Lear 23 and 24. ?

Damn. Now I have to find another jet!

Rest in peace, Payne Stewart.

Top of the World 1972 Carpenters. Darren

Ric Flair (WWE Wrestler) opined about "Learjet flyin'" Wooo! :D lol

No problem, The Cessna Citation will live on !!

That sucks i seen various lears when i was a kid from the noisy tip tanks to the slightly newer strake'd jets.

Had one just like her back in '63. Long and lean every airman's dream she turned evey head on the ramp.

Ouch! You skipped the Lear 31/31A/31AER grouping.... :-(

I nominate Bombardier Senior Management for the Darwin Aerospace Award of the Century.

Hopped in my Lear

Hi. We are moving to Mexico early next year with our 3 cats...and have gotten quotes on the Learjet 35A. Is this a safe and good choice? Also, we are trying to bring as much luggage as we can and they told me soft side luggage is better for fitting in the luggage area... how many large bags do you think will fit? In the cabin will be me, husband, and 3 cat carriers. Is there room in cabin to have a few carryon bags as well? Thanks!!!

I believe one of the biggest mistakes Lear has made over the last decade or so is they never produced from the ground up a single pilot aircraft. To get a type rating single pilot was quite rare with a lot of restrictions for a Lear jet. Cessna, Pilates, Embraer, all recognized this and are leading the way in private ownership. Such a shame I love the 25 I got to spend time with them a number of years ago.

Waht about the Learjet 85? will that continue in production?

The Lear Jet name will live on forever there is actually a clothing line based out of Washington DC called LEARVISION

Great buy at $325,000; but you will spend a million a year on operation and maintenance, but damn you will go fast and look sharp

Learjet developed a Replacement the 85, but program was cancelled after only one built. It was mostly made in MEXICO by the way

Missed the lear 31 and 31A

Remember the XB-70 crash? The photo plane was Frank Sinatra's Learjet borrowed and flown by Clay Lacy June 8, 1966

I knew that I should have got my order in sooner. Oh well, off to Cessna it is, then.

Ironic that Sinatra owned one. His mother and her friend were killed when he sent them back to New Jersey aboard a LearJet. Not sure if it was the one that he owned though.

Marcel Dassault said once that a GOOD plane had to look NICE. It was true for the high speed suggesting Learjet sharp long nose and innovative windshield. Dassault had to expand also the nose of the Falcon to look good, adding surface and friction drag, yet slightly offset by slower air disturbance. It is also worth noticing that all initial business jets were using fighters wings made a bit larger: the P16 for the LearJet, Mystère 4 for the Mystère- Falcon Jet, F86 Sabre for the Sabreliner, Hunter for Hawker Siddeley. In fact the LearJet started as the “Swiss Jet” by engineers layed off by the P16 program cancellation with W.Lear. The initial high rate of incidents was mainly due I believe to too many professional businessmen becoming amateur Learjet pilots...with too many unprofessional decisions taken..so, as a result, large conservatives companies used instead the “plain ugly” Sabreliner flown safely by US Air Force veterans Sabre pilots and no more than 3 employees were allowed on the same flight on any other airplane, business or commercial. Any small business could be wiped out if 2-5 executive mgr. died in a single crash...The unique LearJet design got killed 60 years later by another Swiss killer, the outstanding and superbe STOL jet Pilatus P24....Now, the latest sales figures don’t really tell the truth..because once production is full, Pilatus closes the PC24 order board because taking order for deliveries three to four years down the road when improvements and changes may occurs is not sensible. Small jets have not been very successful on the market, since leasing occasionally a larger size and range was more flexible but the PC24 ability to use short unpaved grass or dirt strips with a low stall speed, oversized dragging main wheels and flexibility with large cargo door (Medevac etc) reactivated the market strongly with other short-mid range small aircrafts, Honda Jet , Cirrus Vision SF50 Embraer Phenom etc..leaving no room for old Citation, LearJet, Falcons etc.

you forgot to mention Phenom 300! the best one, by far!

they could cruise above the normal airways so could go direct

For me, everything that made Learjet Learjet happened BEFORE Bombardier.

How did Learjet not own bombardier?

Learjet. First business jet? First flight October 7, 1963. Only more than a year after the Hawker Siddleley 125 on 13 August 1962.