Lear 35A Vs Lear 55B fuel burn comparison

staledog said:
Just because of the cost of the inspection? Or some other reason?
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I forgot what goes on during a 12 year but they basically tear the plane apart. Among a multitude of other things I think they replace all of the control cables during a 12 year. The wing comes completely off... The first 12 year is costly, the second one (which the 55s are going though now) are very costly and parts are an issue. The next 12 year will park these planes. The 35s are going through their third 12 year And it just doesn't make sense to have a 150k cost or more to fix a 300k airplane.
 
I saw a demate on a couple of high time 35s where the spar was dimpled due to rivets on fuselage stringers pressing into it during each pressurization cycle. Yikes...[emoji16]
 
ZapBrannigan said:
I saw a demate on a couple of high time 35s where the spar was dimpled due to rivets on fuselage stringers pressing into it during each pressurization cycle. Yikes...[emoji16]
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I got pictures of the spar of my favorite 35 at airnet. Plane split it's 27k hours in S. Africa and Tampa, FL....not a lot of warm and fuzzies after seeing that.
 
mikecweb said:
I got pictures of the spar of my favorite 35 at airnet. Plane split it's 27k hours in S. Africa and Tampa, FL....not a lot of warm and fuzzies after seeing that.
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I always found that the less I looked at them all torn apart the better off I felt... And Zap, my former employer had one of Walmart's 35s a high S/N, #662 if I remember right. On paper it should have been the nicest 35 I ever flew, in reality it was a POS. Only had 11 or 12K hours on it but all kinds of problems. We all did handstands when they finally got rid of it.
 
arkflyr said:
I always found that the less I looked at them all torn apart the better off I felt... And Zap, my former employer had one of Walmart's 35s a high S/N, #662 if I remember right. On paper it should have been the nicest 35 I ever flew, in reality it was a POS. Only had 11 or 12K hours on it but all kinds of problems. We all did handstands when they finally got rid of it.
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We just did a D check on ours......sort of creepy seeing it all gutted and scratching your head looking at all the plumbing and wiring. But it was nice helping out on the inspection to grasp a better understanding of the plane.

Derek
 
Roger Roger said:
One of our local medevac operators is phasing out the 35s in favor of 2005 beechjets. They say the beechjet has shorter enough legs that alternates are going to be a problem on some of their normal trips that weren't an issue in the 35. So yeah...
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Don't use a Beecher for EMS. Just don't....
 
In a lear 35 air ambulance, I can understand 2 hours, but I try to comprehend how cramped it must be for the medical team with a critical patient, when they travel international, with multiple 3-4 hour legs. :ooh: Imagine if you need to turn the patient or do chest compressions if things unexpectedly go south.
 
Being that it was my first jet the 35 will always have a special place in my heart. But saying that, I was so ready to be done flying it. For the regular charter clients that we flew it for it wasn't bad, they knew how to pack and what to expect. Show up to a brokered trip in one and oh boy, things could get out of hand quick.

We were also doing air ambulance work with them, which was another giant pain because my old company would only buy them with a 24" door. Shoving a stretcher through that thing was awful, especially if the patient was big or in pain.
 
Inverted said:
I forgot what goes on during a 12 year but they basically tear the plane apart. Among a multitude of other things I think they replace all of the control cables during a 12 year. The wing comes completely off... The first 12 year is costly, the second one (which the 55s are going though now) are very costly and parts are an issue. The next 12 year will park these planes. The 35s are going through their third 12 year And it just doesn't make sense to have a 150k cost or more to fix a 300k airplane.
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I want to say they've done away with the requirement of demating the wings in lieu of an NDI inspection. Both are still acceptable methods of compliance. Don't quote me on that.
 
J777Fly said:
In a lear 35 air ambulance, I can understand 2 hours, but I try to comprehend how cramped it must be for the medical team with a critical patient, when they travel international, with multiple 3-4 hour legs. :ooh: Imagine if you need to turn the patient or do chest compressions if things unexpectedly go south.
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Try flying a 36 with extended range tanks. I know of people flying 8 hour legs in the smallest cockpit on the planet lol.
 
mikecweb said:
It's better but not by much. The 55 is a "stand-up" cabin for most people.
Depending on the mission they can both be great airplanes but won't be viable after their next 12yr/12k inspection.
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OMG, when I first moved from the 35 to the 55 I thought I had died and gone to heaven. Then again, when I got my first 35 job, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. After I had flown 5 hours in either one of them, I knew where I really was.
 
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