Lear Jet at 40...
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Lear Jet at 40...
Just got around to reading the latest copy of "General Aviation" (got it a while back, then got buried on my desk).
The Nostalgia page at the back, written by our favourite aviation journalist, celebrates forty years of Lear Jetting. I can't believe it! 40! Like Concorde, it still looks so modern a design and just keeps getting better (though am I alone in thinking those delta fins detract from its looks?).
So any memories and stories out there?
I remember standing on the top of Car Park 2 at Heathrow and watching the ex-demo Lear 25, G-BBEE, taking off from 28L in 197something. The crew cleaned it up quickly and held it low... somewhere abeam the fuel farm, they hauled it into a near vertical climb - or at least it appeared so from where we were standing - before pushing out into a more genteel rate of ascent at 1500' or so...
I also recall an American Lear, a 24 or 25, absolutely shoehorned into one of those blister hangars on the NE side of Biggin Hill. How they got it in I'll never know... It was called "The Bare Foot Princess" and I hope it wasn't in there when the hangar collapsed under the weight of snow.
Oh, and I'm pleased to see that Lear's daughter, Shanda, still uses her maiden name!
The Nostalgia page at the back, written by our favourite aviation journalist, celebrates forty years of Lear Jetting. I can't believe it! 40! Like Concorde, it still looks so modern a design and just keeps getting better (though am I alone in thinking those delta fins detract from its looks?).
So any memories and stories out there?
I remember standing on the top of Car Park 2 at Heathrow and watching the ex-demo Lear 25, G-BBEE, taking off from 28L in 197something. The crew cleaned it up quickly and held it low... somewhere abeam the fuel farm, they hauled it into a near vertical climb - or at least it appeared so from where we were standing - before pushing out into a more genteel rate of ascent at 1500' or so...
I also recall an American Lear, a 24 or 25, absolutely shoehorned into one of those blister hangars on the NE side of Biggin Hill. How they got it in I'll never know... It was called "The Bare Foot Princess" and I hope it wasn't in there when the hangar collapsed under the weight of snow.
Oh, and I'm pleased to see that Lear's daughter, Shanda, still uses her maiden name!
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Treadders:
Well, blush, blush and thanks for the compliment!
I have one personal Lear reminiscence that I wasn’t able to squeeze into my GA page. It was 1960, and this then 14-year-old had taken the train from Portsmouth to Shoreham for a day’s aircraft spotting. I was sheltering from the light drizzle under one of the mouldering Miles Marathons when an American-registered, dayglo-bedecked Beech Super 18 landed and parked near the Miles enclave. Up I stepped, box camera in hand, and asked one of the occupants if I might photograph the aeroplane. This stocky, bespectacled gent readily agreed, but to my horror offered to pose in front of it. Somehow (I must have been more diplomatic then) I persuaded him that all I really wanted was a shot of the Twin Beech, and we went our separate ways. It was more than 30 years later that by chance I discovered that the inscription L.I.F.E. on the side of the Beech had had nothing to do with Life magazine, as I and many others supposed, but stood for Lear Integrated Flight Equipment. And the bespectacled gent whose portrait I had rejected was none other than Bill Lear, come to Shoreham to discuss with the Miles brothers some work on what was then still the SAAC-23 Execujet, later to become the Lear Jet 23.
As for looks, I’m with you Treadders. Whilst Lears have improved in every other area, to my eye none has ever looked as good as the original 23/24 with the bullet fairing at the fin/tailplane junction.
Well, blush, blush and thanks for the compliment!
I have one personal Lear reminiscence that I wasn’t able to squeeze into my GA page. It was 1960, and this then 14-year-old had taken the train from Portsmouth to Shoreham for a day’s aircraft spotting. I was sheltering from the light drizzle under one of the mouldering Miles Marathons when an American-registered, dayglo-bedecked Beech Super 18 landed and parked near the Miles enclave. Up I stepped, box camera in hand, and asked one of the occupants if I might photograph the aeroplane. This stocky, bespectacled gent readily agreed, but to my horror offered to pose in front of it. Somehow (I must have been more diplomatic then) I persuaded him that all I really wanted was a shot of the Twin Beech, and we went our separate ways. It was more than 30 years later that by chance I discovered that the inscription L.I.F.E. on the side of the Beech had had nothing to do with Life magazine, as I and many others supposed, but stood for Lear Integrated Flight Equipment. And the bespectacled gent whose portrait I had rejected was none other than Bill Lear, come to Shoreham to discuss with the Miles brothers some work on what was then still the SAAC-23 Execujet, later to become the Lear Jet 23.
As for looks, I’m with you Treadders. Whilst Lears have improved in every other area, to my eye none has ever looked as good as the original 23/24 with the bullet fairing at the fin/tailplane junction.
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Still the best bizjet around, the older ones have a lot more character though, the later ones just look like everything else (although interiorwise theres no contest!)
Do I recall correctly there is/was a Lear on the display circuit in the US? Seen pictures of it inverted - red and black I think with smoke pods etc.
Do I recall correctly there is/was a Lear on the display circuit in the US? Seen pictures of it inverted - red and black I think with smoke pods etc.
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Correct, flown by Bobby Younkin (sp?). I'm looking forward to seeing that at the next US show I go to... I bet he doesn't do Bob Hoover-style energy management though!
Reminds me - I have heard that Bill Lear hired three pilots to demonstrate a Learjet formation at a US show (Reading?) and they rolled during one fly past... much to the crowd's delight and the Feds' fury!
Reminds me - I have heard that Bill Lear hired three pilots to demonstrate a Learjet formation at a US show (Reading?) and they rolled during one fly past... much to the crowd's delight and the Feds' fury!
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Bobby Younkin's web site can be found here:
http://www.younkinair.com/
http://www.younkinair.com/
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I bet he doesn't do Bob Hoover-style energy-management though!
You're right about the Lear Jet 23 formation roll. It was at the Reading Air Show, 1965 I think. Bill Lear put them up to it of course, and promised to pay any fines imposed on the pilots by the FAA. Can't remember if he actually had to shell out.
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Ah, Learjet.
Amazingly, I have been aboard one!
Got a 'lift' from Essendon to Morrabbin in a Lear, thanks to Mike Falls Snr over my old home of Melbourne in 1992. Bless the chap, he offered me a ride as I was being nosy and he had to reposition the Lear for a job. We got a lift in a 172, bumped accross the city, then got into the Lear. Mike offered me the co-pilot's seat (well, I accepted of course) and we shot back to Morrabbin in double quick time. I was initially -ah- concerned that my not-short legs (I'm 6'4" in old money) would restrict the controls and Mike certainly moved my feet about! The contrast in journeys was amazing, and it's the closest I've come to a fast jet flight (but MUCH more comfortable and classy).
One of my top aviation 10 minutes!
Cheers
James
Amazingly, I have been aboard one!
Got a 'lift' from Essendon to Morrabbin in a Lear, thanks to Mike Falls Snr over my old home of Melbourne in 1992. Bless the chap, he offered me a ride as I was being nosy and he had to reposition the Lear for a job. We got a lift in a 172, bumped accross the city, then got into the Lear. Mike offered me the co-pilot's seat (well, I accepted of course) and we shot back to Morrabbin in double quick time. I was initially -ah- concerned that my not-short legs (I'm 6'4" in old money) would restrict the controls and Mike certainly moved my feet about! The contrast in journeys was amazing, and it's the closest I've come to a fast jet flight (but MUCH more comfortable and classy).
One of my top aviation 10 minutes!
Cheers
James
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Pop quiz...
They obviously made an impression as I can think of two rock music tracks from the 70s that mention Lear Jets...
A point for each band/artiste and the names of the tracks...
(The only other rock song I can think of that mentions a particular aeroplane is Tiger Moth by Steve Hackett).
No, I never saw Bob fly anything other than the Shrike, his last appearance at Reno in 1999 - awesome! I'd love to have seen his Mustang act.
James, you lucky...
A point for each band/artiste and the names of the tracks...
(The only other rock song I can think of that mentions a particular aeroplane is Tiger Moth by Steve Hackett).
No, I never saw Bob fly anything other than the Shrike, his last appearance at Reno in 1999 - awesome! I'd love to have seen his Mustang act.
James, you lucky...
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Carly Simon, ‘You’re so vain’?
Flew with Bob in the Shrike at Reno in ’85. Effortless, but took a bit of getting used to seeing those big Hartzells both feathered. Had previously ridden with him during his Commander 114 routine at the Hanover Show in ’78 I think it was. Not such fun because I was in the back (to get a better viewpoint for fisheye lens pictures of him at work) and had only a lapstrap, so the inverted sequences weren’t too comfortable… That night or the next attended a barbeque at a hunting lodge where the cook was Adolf Galland and Hoover was drinking Tanqueray’s gin in straight-up glasses, neat (no, he wasn’t flying next day). Happy days (or daze).
Flew with Bob in the Shrike at Reno in ’85. Effortless, but took a bit of getting used to seeing those big Hartzells both feathered. Had previously ridden with him during his Commander 114 routine at the Hanover Show in ’78 I think it was. Not such fun because I was in the back (to get a better viewpoint for fisheye lens pictures of him at work) and had only a lapstrap, so the inverted sequences weren’t too comfortable… That night or the next attended a barbeque at a hunting lodge where the cook was Adolf Galland and Hoover was drinking Tanqueray’s gin in straight-up glasses, neat (no, he wasn’t flying next day). Happy days (or daze).
Last edited by Aerohack; 9th Jan 2004 at 02:05.
Gnome de PPRuNe
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Correct Aerohack!
Phew, I think I'd be a bit uncomfortable even with a diagonal!
Anyone recommend a Bob Hoover video, there must be something out there.
Anyone know the other song?
Phew, I think I'd be a bit uncomfortable even with a diagonal!
Anyone recommend a Bob Hoover video, there must be something out there.
Anyone know the other song?
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Lear Jet Climb.
The rate of climb of the Lear has always been quite phenomenal. Back in the early ‘80s I worked one out of Heathrow going to Frankfurt. Straight off the deck it climbed like a Saturn 5. I ‘phoned the Dover sector and asked for further climb to prevent him from levelling off whilst he changed to their frequency. They gave me FL270 level by the boundary. That was the London / Maastrict UIR boundary about half way between DVR and KOK. I cleared the aircraft up telling him to be level by the boundary and he said he would have a go but it might be a bit tight. I thought this a bit strange given that he had not yet passed abeam Biggin and was still climbing like his life depended on it. I monitored his climb and as he passed Detling he levelled at FL270. Reporting level he said how it was a close run thing but he had made FL270 by the boundary. It was then that I realised that he was talking about the London TMA boundary, which in those days ran through Detling, not the UIR boundary. I hadn’t the heart to tell him. Incredible performance.
Clint.
The rate of climb of the Lear has always been quite phenomenal. Back in the early ‘80s I worked one out of Heathrow going to Frankfurt. Straight off the deck it climbed like a Saturn 5. I ‘phoned the Dover sector and asked for further climb to prevent him from levelling off whilst he changed to their frequency. They gave me FL270 level by the boundary. That was the London / Maastrict UIR boundary about half way between DVR and KOK. I cleared the aircraft up telling him to be level by the boundary and he said he would have a go but it might be a bit tight. I thought this a bit strange given that he had not yet passed abeam Biggin and was still climbing like his life depended on it. I monitored his climb and as he passed Detling he levelled at FL270. Reporting level he said how it was a close run thing but he had made FL270 by the boundary. It was then that I realised that he was talking about the London TMA boundary, which in those days ran through Detling, not the UIR boundary. I hadn’t the heart to tell him. Incredible performance.
Clint.
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Pink Floyd's 'Money' - is one I can think of that mentions a mention of Lear Jet, but there's a Kate Bush song that contains the line 'dropped from my black Spitfire to my funeral pyre'.
Then there's Neil Young's song 'You are like a Hurricane', not forgetting 'Mustang Sally' of course. Heart sang 'White Lightning & Wine'
Perhaps this needs a new thread
Then there's Neil Young's song 'You are like a Hurricane', not forgetting 'Mustang Sally' of course. Heart sang 'White Lightning & Wine'
Perhaps this needs a new thread
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Heh, heh, heh.
Many, many thanks to Mike Falls (also operates with gusto a T6 racer and DC-3.) The T6 I've seen beind demoed at the RAAF Museum in 2002 to bring the museum and flight alive for the visitors. After doing an aerobatic sequence, talking over the PA at the time, he then landed and took questions from the (small) crowd. Points to that man for encouraging air mindedness. It would be good if the RAF Museum could do similar.
C'mon, there's loads of a/c references if you look!
Dunno the other Learjet reference. There were several on covers of albums of various 'we want to look sickeningly rich' rock groups.
'Enola Gay' by OMD? Once partnered on a radio station with 'Atomic' by Blondie and then 'Who's Sorry Now.' Tasteful.
James
Many, many thanks to Mike Falls (also operates with gusto a T6 racer and DC-3.) The T6 I've seen beind demoed at the RAAF Museum in 2002 to bring the museum and flight alive for the visitors. After doing an aerobatic sequence, talking over the PA at the time, he then landed and took questions from the (small) crowd. Points to that man for encouraging air mindedness. It would be good if the RAF Museum could do similar.
C'mon, there's loads of a/c references if you look!
Dunno the other Learjet reference. There were several on covers of albums of various 'we want to look sickeningly rich' rock groups.
'Enola Gay' by OMD? Once partnered on a radio station with 'Atomic' by Blondie and then 'Who's Sorry Now.' Tasteful.
James
Last edited by JDK; 9th Jan 2004 at 04:19.
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Yes, Mr_Grubby, an often told tale, except after a few beers down the pub it's the London Zone boundary not the TMA boundary! Even for a Learjet, that's just a tad hard to swallow, so I'm glad you've set the record straight.
Last edited by Georgeablelovehowindia; 9th Jan 2004 at 08:48.
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Well done Kolibear, 2 points also...
Dunno that Kate Bush song! But real aircraft references as oppose to words that happen to be aircraft names...?
Dunno that Kate Bush song! But real aircraft references as oppose to words that happen to be aircraft names...?
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"Eight Miles High" by the Byrds could possibly be related to Lear Jet travel, but I think they were thinking of a different travel dimension!
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When I first saw the start of this thread I thought great this has much potential for some interesting posts. Shame that apart from a few sensible posts it has now degenerated into something that would be more suitable on Jetblast.
Simon.
Simon.
My two Lear Jet moments.
1. At CYVR. twr: Lear XXX how fast can you give to
ROSS (the FAF [ 3.3 mi end of runway ])
Lear XXX: 350 Kts ?
twr : Go for It !
2. Also at YVR at about 0300 local
twr: Lear XXX cleared for takeoff 08, right turn at pilots
discretion direct the YVR VOR ( about 9 nm S of
airport )
Lear XXX : You realise we will probably be going
through about FL 240 at the VOR
twr : I would expect nothing less from a Lear Jet !
1. At CYVR. twr: Lear XXX how fast can you give to
ROSS (the FAF [ 3.3 mi end of runway ])
Lear XXX: 350 Kts ?
twr : Go for It !
2. Also at YVR at about 0300 local
twr: Lear XXX cleared for takeoff 08, right turn at pilots
discretion direct the YVR VOR ( about 9 nm S of
airport )
Lear XXX : You realise we will probably be going
through about FL 240 at the VOR
twr : I would expect nothing less from a Lear Jet !
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LearJet...phoooy!
A 'proper bizjet and...the first dedicated bizjet, the Lockheed 1329 JetStar.
A distinctive four engine design....nothing like it since either.
A proper "captains of industry" walk around design, something a Lear owner can only dream about.
Lear...enter on all fours, and feel like a sardine.
Later models are better tho....
A 'proper bizjet and...the first dedicated bizjet, the Lockheed 1329 JetStar.
A distinctive four engine design....nothing like it since either.
A proper "captains of industry" walk around design, something a Lear owner can only dream about.
Lear...enter on all fours, and feel like a sardine.
Later models are better tho....