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webstratics • May 15, 2024

SPECIAL EDITION - 60 Years Ago Today

At 6:00pm on Friday, May 15, 1964, 23-003 N803L took off from Wichita's Mid-Continent Airport's Runway 14 with pilot Hank Beaird and copilot Glen David at the controls. 23-001 N801L flew as chase for the flight. They climbed to 12,000ft where speeds up to 400mph were achieved. All systems functioned satisfactorily during the entire 60 minute flight.


The first flight of 23-003 N803L took place a mere 10 weeks after 23-002 N802L's first flight!


23-003 was assigned FAA registration N803L, one of several Lear Jet owned numbers used for production flight testing. This number is typically replaced with the customer's unique number prior to delivery. N803L was replaced with N200Y when she was delivered to Chemical & Industrial Corp later that same year.


On the third flight of 23-003 N803L, June 15, 1964, pilot Hank Beaird and copilot Glen David flew to Vic Dietzel in San Antonio, Texas for upholstery and interior installation. The upholstery, supplied by Lear Jet, was taken along in the airplane.


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2024 In Review - January 2025

By Kristen Nuss • February 20, 2025
Wow what a Year for 23-003 and the Classic Lear Jet Foundation! The biggest and most important event of the year was the long term hosting agreement being signed by the Wichita Airport Authority, the City of Wichita, Bombardier and the Classic Lear Jet Foundation! The hosting agreement subleases bays 9 and 10 of building 14 to the CLJF from the primary lease holder, Bombardier. On October 12, 2024, 23-003 N200Y was moved into Bay 9 of building 14, the former Learjet Delivery Center where its restoration process is now serious! In January we announced that restoration for 23-003 had officially begun with the removal of the first panel, the pilot’s nose avionics door and our first official call for volunteers was sent out. Renowned videographer Tom Zwemke produced a promotional video on the Classic Lear Jet Foundation. In March the interior was removed from 23-003 and the first inspection, the cabin skin thickness checks were successfully completed. The months since then have seen numerous removals: cockpit instruments, instrument panel, throttle quadrant and floor boards, control column, glareshield, etc. In order to remove the cabin wiring, removal of the circuit breakers from their panels was required. We discovered that 23-003 was built without break plugs between the circuit breaker and its wiring. They are ‘hard wired’! The last of the pilot and copilot circuit breaker panels were finally removed on August 6 th .

Progress Report - December 2024

By Kristen Nuss • January 15, 2025
Wiring, parts and assembly removals from the fuselage, wings and tip tanks continued all month. We are rapidly adding to the hours volunteers have given to the restoration of 23-003. By the end of this year we should have surpassed the 500 volunteer hours mark!! This count does not include the numerous hours that were donated in Florida to de-mate the wing, remove and crate the engines, load everything on the trucks and the hours required to drive back to Wichita.

Progress Report - November 2024

By Kristen Nuss • December 2, 2024
November was another busy month for the restoration of 23-003 N200Y. Volunteers continue to dissemble the airplane in preparation for de-painting, interior foam removal and detailed structural and component inspections. The nose avionics bay wire bundle and equipment racks were removed on November 7th. On November 8th , the brakes were removed from the main landing gear. This turned out to be a real task since they were rusted together! While 23-003 was sitting outside on the ramp of Bartow Executive Airport, Bartow, Florida, the landing gear were submerged in 1 to 2 feet of water a couple of times over the years because of hurricane rains. This caused the brakes to rust and be non-serviceable. Thankfully, the dedicated volunteers were successful in removing the brakes.  November 17th saw the removal of the wire bundle from the cockpit and cabin. Next up comes the removal of the remaining wire bundle located in the aft baggage bay and tail cone. We intend to replace all of the 60 year old wiring. For safety sake, the airplane will be completely rewired with modern aircraft wire. Also, connectors will be installed in the wire bundle between the fuselage and wing. Because 23-003 and the very early Model 23’s were originally assembled and then wired, fuselage to wing connectors were not installed. Remember that we had to cut this bundle in order to remove the wing on February 22, 2023 for the trip back to Wichita. Read the full newsletter by clicking the button below.
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