AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - November 2021 - T-20

Early Lear Jet cabins were cramped-and tacky by today's standards. The cabin also had little
headroom. Bill Lear countered by saying " You don't stand up in your Cadillac, do you? "
One former JetStar II
operator quipped that
locking the airplane
wasn't necessary because
even those with a type
rating had trouble with
the complicated start
procedures.
of runway at sea level on a standard day.
Landing at the 36,000-pound maximum
landing weight required 4,170 feet.
One former JetStar II operator quipped
that locking the airplane wasn't necessary
because even those with a type rating had
trouble with the complicated start procedures.
The operator said he typically
cruised at Mach 0.76, because going faster
was often limited by how much wind roar
the crew could put up with. Fuel consumption
was planned at 4,000 pounds the first
hour and 3,000 pounds every hour after. To
put the JetStar II in modern-day perspective,
this operator described it as having
the cabin of a Bombardier Challenger 300
with the fuel burn of a Gulfstream IV. He
said the airplane had such a narrow coffin
corner at its FL410 service ceiling that
he only went there once. The heavy weight
and high wing loading allowed the JetStar
to handle turbulence well, he noted.
The last officially noted JetStar flight
was made by N313JS on December
30, 2019, from Witham Field in Stuart,
Florida, to the Cobb County International
Airport near Atlanta so that the airplane
could be displayed at a museum near the
Marietta, Georgia, factory, which made
most JetStars. The last unofficial flight
of a JetStar can be found on FlightAware
by N710RM from Conroe-North Houston
Regional in Texas to Crater Lake-Klamath
Regional Airport in Oregon on December
5, 2020. That airplane cruised at FL280,
likely because it did not have RVSM
approval to fly higher. Peter A. Bedell is a
captain for a major airline and is co-owner
of a Cessna 172 and Beechcraft Baron.
T-20
AOPA PILOT / November 2021
Lear Jet
LEAR JET
Symbol of the jet set lifestyle | BY PETER A. BEDELL
ith its rakish good looks, the original
Model 23 Lear Jet burst upon
the scene in 1964 when comparatively
stodgy-looking Lockheed JetStars and
North American Sabreliners were the
only occupants in the emerging field of
light jets in the United States. William P.
" Bill " Lear's vision of the light business/
personal jet so infected the culture of the
late 1960s and '70s that the Lear Jet name
was thrown around in celebrity circles and
song lyrics, and it became synonymous
with any civilian small jet.
Lear, who left school at age 14, was a
talented engineer and promoter who had
invented products including the 8-track
tape format, the car radio, and an autopilot
small enough to be practical in something
smaller than a bomber or airliner. Most
of his inventions bore the Lear name.
Lear was intrigued by a single-engine
Swiss ground-attack jet called the P-16,
intending to develop a small twin-engine
W
passenger jet based on it. He established
the Swiss American Aviation Corporation
and later moved it to Wichita, Kansas.
The company was eventually renamed
Lear Jet Corporation. Although certain
design aspects of the P-16 were common
with the Lear Jet-mostly in the wings and
landing gear-the two airplanes bore little
resemblance.
In keeping with his desire to make the
Lear Jet a personal airplane, Lear limited
the maximum takeoff weight to 12,500
pounds and intended single-pilot operation.
The FAA did not approve single-pilot
operations, which was likely a wise move
as the jet would be quite a handful for a
solo pilot. The 12,500-pound limit eventually
made the airplane very limited in
useful load. Two pilots and full fuel was
about it. The follow-on Lear 24, certified
via Part 25 rules, has up to a 13,500-pound
maximum takeoff weight, making it a
much more practical airplane than the 23.

AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - November 2021

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