Story Of Learjet – From Fighter To First Ever Business Jet.

Bill Lear pioneered the modern business jet segment. In this video we talk about the history of learjet, the first ever business jet. We talk about the first learjet 23, its specs, full business jet review, and also we talk about all the other learjets made both by Bill Lear and later by bombardier-learjet.

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:59 Bill Lear
02:14 Learjet 23
03:13 Specs
06:01 Learjet 24
06:34 Learjet 25
06:51 Learjet 35/36
08:02 Learjet 28/29
09:24 Learjet 55
09:42 Learjet 31
10:06 Learjet 60
10:24 Learjet 45
11:53 Learjet 40
12:04 Learjet 70

Audio:
Cut Me Free by tubebackr

/ tubebackr
Creative Commons — Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported — CC BY-ND 3.0

[taproom]

The first Lear equipped 'check-hauling' company I flew for had 23, 24 & 25 series Lears. That company was absorbed by a larger government contract company with mostly 35's. After 10++ years flying checks (and other things), I moved into part-135 'people-hauling' Lears, including 55, 60, 31 & 45 series. To say I Love these aircraft would be a massive understatement. Though it's hard to chose ... the 24D-XR is my favorite of all the models. ^v^

[crooney]

I have many hours flying the 40 and 70 series airplane. They are powerful, and beautiful machines and I treasure my memories of working in them.

[stevenward]

Always loved the Lear 23! But I am sorry to bust anyone's bubble here, the Lear 23 was not the first business jet! The following eight "Business Jets" flew before the Lear 23's first flight (Oct.7, 1963):
1. Morane-Saulnier MS760 Paris Jet (July 29, 1954).
2. Lockheed JetStar, model 329 - ( the TWIN-ENGINED VERSION )- (Sept.4, 1957).
3. North American Sabreliner - (Sept.16, 1958).
4. McDonnell 119/220 (the first 4-engined business jet) - (Feb.11, 1959).
5. Lockheed Jetstar, model 1329 - (the FOUR-ENGINED VERSION) -(Late 1959).
6. DeHavilland Hawker DH125 - (Aug.13, 1962).
7. Jet Commander - (Jan.27, 1963).
8. Dassault Falcon 20 - (May 4, 1963).

Thus, by the aviation history facts that I have looked up, the Lear 23 was the NINTH model of business jet to first fly on Oct.7, 1963! Learjets are sadly out of production now, but their name and legacy will live on forever in aviation history!

[DominickMarino]

Great quality content, appreciate your efforts.

[skytrotter]

I actually met his daughter in Geneva Switzerland years ago remained a friend for a long time !!!
Unfortunately there has been a few crashes with the early model due to lack of experience with high altitude performance such as the « coffin corner » margin between the high speed stall and low speed stall !

[aviatorguy]

It is sad how Learjet became the benchmark in aviation for personal jets. Now Learjet has gone out of business, markets are constantly changing. Learjets have been known for speed but not cabin size. The same goes for Mooney's. They were also known for speed, but not comfort, and that company has also gone out of business.

[TheProPilot]

You guys blended a lot of stats from other Learjet models. But that's ok. Still a great video. Thanks for doing this. I flew the LR25D and LR35A.

[TJDOZIER]

Please either add credit somewhere in your video to The Planes of Fame Air Museum and Clay Lacy for the use of the footage of Clays jet or please remove our footage. Clays is the jet painted in Special Ops grey color scheme with the onboard external cameras and runway shots.

[thomasescape]

It is a shame that the leading Swiss engineers who were the first to develop the supercritical wing profiles were unable to achieve commercial success, because the government got cold feet because of two crashes of the military prototypes. Mr Lear immediately recognized this and acquired the patents and construction details. Well done Bill! - It took a few decades before Switzerland was able to (re-)build a successful aircraft industry again with Pilatus. And the Pilatus 21 and 24 were able to set milestones again.

[timothypeck]

The first Hawker Siddeley DH 125 flight was 13 Aug 1962, the first Learjet flight was 7 October 1963.

[donaldshaffer]

Lockheed Jetstar was in service 2 years prior to Lear first flight

[MrSuzuki]

The Lear 23 was fuel critical when the engines were first started. If you couldn't get to 41, 000 feet right away, you would end up landing for fuel short of your desination.

[gliderfs]

Wrong : first ever private jet was the Morane Saulnier 760 Paris Jet.
The Dassault Falcon 20 took flight for the first time in May 4th of 1963 while the Learjet 23 flew for the first only in October 7th of the same year. 😉