Learjet

Learjet is a Canadian owned, American manufacturer of business jets for civilian and military use. Founded in the late 1950s by William Powell Lear as Swiss American Aviation Corporation, it has been a subsidiary of Canadian Bombardier since 1990, which markets it as the "Bombardier Learjet Family".

History

Learjet was one of the first companies to manufacture a private, luxury aircraft. In the 1940s, with World War II still fresh in the public's mind, Lear's preliminary design was based upon an experimental American military aircraft known as the Marvel, substituting fuselage-mounted turbojet engines for ducted fan turboshaft engines. However, that preliminary design was abandoned and the final Learjet design was instead adapted from an abortive 1950s Swiss ground-attack fighter aircraft, the FFA P-16.

The basic structure of the Swiss P-16 aircraft was seen by Bill Lear and his team as a good starting point to the development of a business jet, and formed the Swiss American Aircraft Corporation, located in Altenrhein, Switzerland and staffed with design engineers from Switzerland, Germany and Britain. The aircraft was originally intended to be called the SAAC-23. or at one time the 'Tina Jet'. The wing with its distinctive tip fuel tanks and landing gear of the first Learjets were little changed from those used by the fighter prototypes. Although building the first jet started in Switzerland, the tooling for building the aircraft was moved to Wichita, Kansas, in 1962. Bill Jr stated that it took too long to get anything done in Switzerland despite the cheaper labor costs. LearJet was in a temporary office which opened in September 1962 while the plant at Wichita's airport was under construction. On February 7, 1963 assembly of the first Learjet began. The next year, the company was renamed the Lear Jet Corporation.

Learjet 25

The Learjet 25 is a ten-seat (two crew and eight passengers), twin-engine, high-speed business jet aircraft manufactured by Learjet. It is a stretched version of the Learjet 24.

Development

The first Model 25 flew on August 12, 1966, and the first delivery was in November 1967.

The Learjet 25 is similar to the Model 24 but is 1.27 m (4 ft 2 in) longer, allowing for three additional passengers. In 1970 the Learjet 25B was produced along with the Learjet 25C in the same year. Type development continued with the Models 25D and 25G, which included more advanced CJ610-8A engines and a ceiling increase to 51,000 feet.

Description of Systems

Engines

Two General Electric CJ610-6 single-rotor axial-flow turbojet engines are pylon-mounted on each side of the aft fuselage. Each engine is rated at 2950 pounds of thrust at sea level. The engine compartments consist of an eight-stage axial-flow compressor directly coupled to a two-stage turbine, a through-flow annular combustion system, variable inlet guide vanes, controlled compressor interstage bleed, exhaust nozzle and accessory drive system. Starting ignition is provided by a dual output capacitor-discharge system. As the ignition cycle is completed, the igniter plugs cease sparking and combustion becomes self-sustaining. A fuel control metering system selects the rate of fuel flow to the engine combustor.

Learjet 40

The Learjet 40 (LJ40) is a light business jet produced by Bombardier Aerospace.

Design and development

The Learjet 40 is derived from the Learjet 45, but with a shorter fuselage (by 24.5 inches/60 cm), and is powered by two Honeywell TFE731-20AR engines. These are known as the "AR" engines. The 40 model takes place of discontinued light Learjet 31a in Learjet model line, with several welcome performance and comfort improvements taken from 45 model.

The prototype aircraft, a rebuilt Model 45, first flew on August 31, 2002, and the first production aircraft performed its maiden flight on September 5, 2002. Both flights took place from the Wichita Mid-Continent Airport. The LJ40 entered into service in January, 2004.

The Learjet 40XR is an upgraded version introduced in October, 2004, offering higher takeoff weights, faster cruise speeds and faster time-to-climb rates as compared to the LJ40. The increases are due to the upgrading of the engines to the TFE731-20BR configuration. These are the "BR" engines. LJ40 owners can upgrade their aircraft through the incorporation of several service bulletins.