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| The Swiss FFA P-16 jet fighter, cancelled by the federal government in the late 1950s, caught the attention of Bill Lear Snr, who saw in it the basis for a twin-jet executive aircraft. He initiated preliminary design work at St Gallen, Switzerland, in November 1959 and sold his electronics company to the Siegler Corporation. Lear then formed the Swiss American Aviation Corporation to develop the aircraft, known originally as the SAAC Lear Jet 23. An important objective was to keep the aircraft's gross weight below 5670kg so that it would qualify for single-pilot operation under FAA CAR.3 regulations and for air taxi operations without requiring CAB approval.
In August 1962, after the design had been finalised and tooling was in progress, Lear transferred the project to Wichita, Kansas, and renamed the organisation the Lear Jet Corporation.
In every way a stylish aircraft reflecting its fighter origins, the Learjet 23 marked a new era in 'bizjet' design, offering very high performance - if not much headroom.
The prototype made its first flight on 7 October 1963, the second and third aircraft being flown on 5 March and 15 May 1964 respectively. Following the receipt of certification on 31 July the first production Lear Jet 23 was delivered on 13 October 1964 to the Chemical and Industrial Corporation of Cincinnati, Ohio. Despite the fact that the Lear Jet was considerably smaller than the piston-engined aircraft that it was designed to replace, it more than made up for this in performance, and though intended for single-pilot operation the basic layout was for a crew of two and for five to seven passengers. The first 30 production aircraft to be completed were powered by 1293kg thrust General Electric CJ610-1 turbojets, but
the remainder of the production run of a little over 100 Lear Jet 23s had CJ610-4s of similar thrust.
| ENGINE | 2 x General Electric CJ610-4 turbojets, 1293kg |
| WEIGHTS |
| Take-off weight | 5670 kg | 12500 lb |
| Empty weight | 2790 kg | 6151 lb |
| DIMENSIONS |
| Wingspan | 10.85 m | 36 ft 7 in |
| Length | 13.18 m | 43 ft 3 in |
| Height | 3.84 m | 13 ft 7 in |
| Wing area | 21.46 m2 | 230.99 sq ft |
| PERFORMANCE |
| Max. speed | 903 km/h | 561 mph |
| Cruise speed | 781 km/h | 485 mph |
| Ceiling | 13715 m | 45000 ft |
| Range | 2945 km | 1830 miles |
| John Hess, e-mail, 20.11.2010 20:39 Flew co-pilot for Holiday Magic's N461F for about 6 months in 1971. Captain: Art Stagg. We made a month-long trip "around the world" during my tenure. Under HM's ownership it was based first at Oakland (OAK) and then, after the runway was lengthened, we moved it to Gnoss Field (DVO formerly 056). HM operated a Cessna Flight Center at Gnoss. reply | | Neal Parks, e-mail, 05.02.2010 01:42 My Father, Thomas Parks Flew the Lear 23 it was number 28 N-818-LJ and he attended theLear School in Kansas which was an awsome 6 weeks experience.
it was a fine little jet I remember it well, Owner was P.E. Haggerty Chairman of the Board of Texas Instruments. reply | | ORV DALTON, e-mail, 31.01.2010 05:33 As I recall the date was in 1965 almost 50 years ago. Myself the NASA Ames Photographer and the Chief Test pilot at Ames Research Labs ,NASA,flew in a Lear 24 as I remember, through Zero "G"about 17 times ,testing a rat feeder to be used on the NASA Bio-Satelite Program.We had equipment strapped to the seats to photograph the feeder in action at Zero "G".During the last pass I was operating a hand held Amateur Radio transmitter,talking to my co-workers back at Nasa Ames, thus being the First Amateur Radio Operator to operate "HAM RADIO" while at Zero "G".At almost 50 years ago I still recall the thrill,and I fell in love with the LEAR JET . reply | | mpbk, e-mail, 12.07.2009 02:03 N803LJ shows up in the movie "Our Man Flint" starring James Coburn. reply |
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| | Joe Moore, e-mail, 07.01.2009 00:35 I was certified to fly the zippy lear Jet 23 /24 series in 1967.
Our company leased five different Lear Jets . Some Numbers were N803LJ, N804LJ,N805LJ, N807LJ and 1966K. The Last one I flew was again N803LJ with the new "N'number N3BL.That was in 1977. A great flying machine but not for the timid.
Joe Moore reply | | Fred Martin, e-mail, 23.07.2008 00:45 The Lr23 gross wt. was 12,499lb. We first gave a letter of competency to pilots who passed the flight check in the aircraft. The letter could be used to add a type rating when the aircraft became a type rating aircraft. Myself, Ansil McAllister and Ed King were the first FAA Inspectors that started the Lear check outs. Our ground school was at the factory. Paul Donohoe from EJA in Coumbus, OH gave us our flight training. A great and enjoyable aircraft. Fred reply |
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Actually, there were two different Lear Jets in Our Man Flint. The N803LJ, as you mentioned, in an aerial scene, and the N985L being positioned on the ground in the previous scene. The four beautiful stewardesses and the Delta DC-8 make it easy to miss.
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