First Customer Lear Jet To Be Restored

i'm pretty sure this was the model I used to fly in MS Flight Simulator v1.0

What a great find!! How cool will that be to get that iconic aircraft airworthy again!

climb at .80, cruise at .80, descend at .80 and the freight dogs moved on to Lr60s for Flex or SWA in my neck of the woods. Love to see the finished product and Thanks bbabis! I know you have seen the movie.

Clay Lacy used to zoom in and out of VNY late 60s.. roll invert...wow

Remember the scene in ‘In Like Flint’ where the Lear Jet (piloted by Bill Lear himself in a cameo) pulled in close alongside a Delta jet around the 30 minute mark for a wave towards his girls inside? Couldn’t get an N-number on the Delta jet nor see any other markings so it’s identity (to me) is unknown.

https://youtu.be/bHLLerqKevY

Look forward to seeing it fly again.

They might be able to can some parts from a Lr-24 I saw sitting on the ramp in Montego Bay. :)

Incredible plane, that's all I have to say.

These old Lears are still the best-looking small jets.

nice

Hot machine but they were so thirsty, the moment you reached cruise altitude you had to be looking for a place to land.

Even if/when it is restored to flying condition: 1) I hope it is restored with the original Grimes oscillating tandem type beacons; 2) I hope it is not flown but instead, loaned to a museum. It is too rare of a bird to take the risk of flying it...especially with the ever increasing number of aviation boo-boos, mishaps and 'close calls'.

Which Lear was used in the movie, “Capricorn One”?

The early 23's were light, fast and would aileron roll so fast that you had to cage your eyeballs.

IMHO your first flight in any 20 series was akin to hanging on to the tail of a tiger. There was no question about what was ahead of whom, nor would the slow catch up in a trip or twenty! Didn't take long to figure out that throttles were the answer! Learning to open or close the Door was a right of passage for some and I observed more than one Captain exceed the flap retract speed as we rapidly approached the 2000' level off restriction out of ADS, still at max. epr. goin' thru 250. OOOhh duh, 82% was the magic # after gear up call and you really don't need a 15 degree deck up angle to get to 2000' from a 644' elevation base.

The reality was, there was no sim training, duty times were, umm, flexible and FEDEX MEM call outs meant it was Christmas or the weather sucked and their guys weren't goin' and the supplemental LrJets, Falcon 20's and 'believe it or not' an occasional Hansa Jet flew that 'absolutely had to be there overnight' merd that got there. Freight doggin' was the right of passage for many and the Lear was the predominant tool. type and ATP ride in a Lr. 25 was my iniation to the 'club' of jet drivers and I look back on it fondly.

Would love to read the history of the old Jet. My Dad used to fly Lear Jets of the era out of Van Nuys with Clay Lacy and the company partly owned by Danny Kaye.