Learjet was an American business-aircraft manufacturer whose compact jets helped establish a broad market for executive air travel. William P. Lear initiated the programme in 1959, and the first Model 23 flew in October 1963. Bombardier acquired Learjet in 1990 and continued developing the aircraft family.[1][2]
William Lear and the first aircraft
Lear came to aircraft manufacture after work in radios, avionics and flight-control equipment. His business-jet project drew structural inspiration from the Swiss P-16 fighter, although the resulting transport addressed a different market. The Model 23 combined a small pressurised cabin with two General Electric turbojets and a streamlined fuselage shaped around its wing and engine installations. Its size distinguished it from larger early business jets such as the JetStar and Sabreliner. Corporate customers and prominent individual owners helped make Learjet a widely recognised name.[1][3]
Expansion of the family
The Model 24 followed the original Model 23, and an around-the-world flight in 1966 demonstrated the growing type's capabilities. Subsequent development enlarged the range through different cabin sizes, engines and equipment. Learjet operated under Gates ownership before later corporate changes and Bombardier's purchase. By the end of the 1990s, Bombardier's offerings included the Learjet 31A, 45 and 60. The Model 45 represented a newer aircraft within that portfolio, while the later 60XR updated cockpit and cabin provisions in the midsize family.[1][4][2]
Production and continuing support
Learjet's long production history ended with the final delivery in 2022. Bombardier retained support responsibilities for aircraft already in operation alongside its Global and Challenger fleets. The company's historical significance also survives in preserved aircraft: the Smithsonian's Model 23 prototype had served in flight testing and subsequently in NASA wind-tunnel work before restoration for museum display. That airframe records the experimental and certification work behind an aircraft family whose public image was closely associated with personal and corporate jet travel.[5][1]