Learjets

TrinidadGT20

Vice President of Awesome
How popular are Learjets in corporate aviation? I know it's a vague question but I'm curious and looking for an answer from those in the know. I know that I would LOVE to fly a Learjet but I've never had the opportunity to see one up close, other than seeing one from across the flightline.

Is wanting to fly Lears for corporate or charter a silly career goal in the grand scheme of aviation? I like the Lear 31a in particular. Also, I'm 6 feet tall...am I too big to fit in a Lear 31 cockpit? They aren't exactly big planes.

Final question, how often do Lears fly at 51,000 feet? A few of them have that height as their published ceiling.

Lots of questions, thanks in advance for any replies!
 
WOW!!! There are other groups in the forum to loot at, Ive got to do this more often!

I do know this, im 6'2" and a big guy, and I fit fine in a Lear 31. I use to do MX and short flights in a Lear 24B, and it was quite a squeeze!

Although I really dont have alot of time in Lears, im willing to put money they dont opearte at 510 very much. At SkyWay, our Lear 23's were most always dispatched at 410, and sometimes 430 and 450. There is hardly anybody or anything up that high, so why burn the extra fuel and go up there?

Lear's are still very popular. Although most companies that can afford it are dumping their 20/30 series Lears for more economical airplanes(sometimes another series Lear!). Not to mention, compared to most modern bizjets, the old Lears are pretty small in cabin size! The 31, 55, and 60 models are pretty hot sellers right now.
 
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There is hardly anybody or anything up that high, so why burn the extra fuel and go up there?

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Because you burn less fuel over distance and it saves teh comapny $, as you charge the pax the same.
 
Personally I don't like the older learjets. I'm only 14 and I've lost 4 friend's in lear accidents. The newer ones are a little better. They're aren't the easiest to fit into i'm 6'2'' and I have a little trouble getting into the cockpit of them when the pilots are nice enough to show them to me.
 
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Personally I don't like the older learjets. I'm only 14 and I've lost 4 friend's in lear accidents. The newer ones are a little better. They're aren't the easiest to fit into i'm 6'2'' and I have a little trouble getting into the cockpit of them when the pilots are nice enough to show them to me.

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Again, what's wrong with the older Lears? Damning the plane for many accidents that's the fault of the crew. Nothing wrong with the aircraft themselves as far as I can tell.
 
If you look at the accident records mike you'll see that most of the pilots in the accidents had thousand's of hours in type. The problem with the 20 series is that you can't get a millisecond behind 'em. Thats very hard to do after flying for 10 hours straight. The friends I lost all had 1,000 hours on type. The captain on one had 5,000 in type lost an engine on take off an it rolled right away and didn't catch it. They had just flown from coast to coast so he was tired and got a little behind it. Personally I never want to fly the old ones.
 
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The captain on one had 5,000 in type lost an engine on take off an it rolled right away and didn't catch it. They had just flown from coast to coast so he was tired and got a little behind it

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You hit the nail on the head right there, bub. Fact is, just because a plane is somewhat tricky, needs a little extra attention, and isn't very forgiving, doesn't make it a dangerous airplane. It's simply a plane that needs alert attention paid to it at all times.

Planes like these have limitations that pilots need to be aware of and compensate for. A later model Lear can bite you in the ass if you let it too.
 
You hit the nail on the head right there, bub. Fact is, just because a plane is somewhat tricky, needs a little extra attention, and isn't very forgiving, doesn't make it a dangerous airplane. It's simply a plane that needs alert attention paid to it at all times.

Planes like these have limitations that pilots need to be aware of and compensate for. A later model Lear can bite you in the ass if you let it too.

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Problem was they didn't have any time. They had just rotated and the second the engined failed the aircraft rolled. There was nothing they could do. With that little wing and only one engine at full power it'll roll as fast as a Pitts.
 
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You hit the nail on the head right there, bub. Fact is, just because a plane is somewhat tricky, needs a little extra attention, and isn't very forgiving, doesn't make it a dangerous airplane. It's simply a plane that needs alert attention paid to it at all times.

Planes like these have limitations that pilots need to be aware of and compensate for. A later model Lear can bite you in the ass if you let it too.

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Problem was they didn't have any time. They had just rotated and the second the engined failed the aircraft rolled. There was nothing they could do. With that little wing and only one engine at full power it'll roll as fast as a Pitts.

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And so will the Metro. Do the early model Lears require attention paid to them? Yes. Are they overly forgiving? No. Are they safe as an aircraft to fly? Darn right.

Anyone can have bad timing/bad luck ruin their day.
 
Anyone can have bad timing/bad luck ruin their day.

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yeah I think he had just had knee surgery so that would have made it even harder for him to catch it.
 
Learjets are rather popular in the corperate world, but I think you will find MANY MORE Citation Jets around than you will with the Lears.

I've also had a desire to fly Learjets such as the Lear 45 and the 60. There's a fractional jet operator out of Cinncinati Lunken, (Class D, east of KCIN) by the name of Executive Jet, and they fly a variety of Learjets
 
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Learjets are rather popular in the corperate world, but I think you will find MANY MORE Citation Jets around than you will with the Lears.

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How do you arrive at that?

the cessna Citation and Learjet series make up 35% of the total buisness fleet of aircraft under 29,000#

visit NBAA.org

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Okay, well the "better chance of finding a Citation is based on what I've seen at a variety of GA and commercial-based airports.

Regardless, you can see that the percentage which makes up the Lear and Citation numbers as well as others is larger than any other category in that pie chart.
 
one thing about the CITs is the smaller sones have the ability to fly out of much smaller runways, this means that the normal GA airport with a 5000ft runway or less, will see more CITs than larger heavier acft. t
 
I fly in the Lear 20's and it is a little tight up front, getting in is the hardest part. I'm 6ft/175lbs. Usually the Capt. guards the throttle quadrent as I get in/out.

The plane is definetly a little touchy when heavy (almost always) just after take off. It climbs really well 6,000fpm is not unheard of, so alot is happening right away. Throw in the 200kt speed restriction below 2,500 ft around the D/C airport and we're powering back right away.

Noise abatement is also a real pain in the 20's.

Citations are REALLY popular. I'd love to fly one, the new Sovereign (as seen in FLYING this month) looks great. Much more appealing than the Hawker.
 
I have never been in a LJ25, but the 35 is pretty tight as well, and I am one of the least of the flexible people you will ever meet, and there is nothing better than having wet oily shoes, and having to step on the seat to get in to the front. yuck! we had one guy who kept stepping on and breaking knobs on the center quadrant.
 
Years back, the Lear was much more prevalent than the "Near Jet" (Citation.) Since Bombardier has scaled back the entry level jet field (the Lear 31A is significantly more expensive than a new Citation Bravo) you will see more Citations in the small jet category. There are still tons and tons of 20 and 30 series Lears all over Florida and the Caribbean, however, and they certainly dominate the small jet freight market.
 
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How do you arrive at that? The cessna Citation and Learjet series make up 35% of the total buisness fleet of aircraft under 29,000#

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Eagle, According to 2002 registration data, Citations outnumber Lears by 1500+ airframes.
3659 Citations Total, of which 2741 are US registered.
2077 Learjets Total, of which 1526 are US registered.

Lear currently only manufactures 3 airframes. The 40, 45, and 60. While Cessna is producing the CJ1, CJ2, Bravo, Encore, Excel, and X. Notice that does not include the Mustang, CJ3, or Sovereign. I even included the military registered Lears in the total. I am sure there are Citation and Lear owners that are not part of NBAA so their figures would not reflect the total fleet sized of either.
 
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