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webstratics • May 1, 2024

Progress Report - April and May 2024

Restoration of 23-003 continues. The April step on the road to total restoration to flight status was the removal of the interior on April 27th. This will allow us access to the inside of the fuselage for the removal of the foam insulation which will then let us evaluate the condition of the fuselage structure. Tim Walker and Joel Weber spent Saturday removing the seats, side walls, carpet, cabinets, partitions, etc. These items will be used as patterns to help manufacture a new "original" interior. A couple of companies have already volunteered to make and donate this interior to us!


The latest work towards the restoration of 23-003 was accomplished on May 19th. The wing flaps, ailerons and spoilers were removed. The left hand aileron had a large, luckily unoccupied, wasp nest inside! Also, we started removing the cockpit instruments from the pilot's panel. Each removal was documented and carefully bubble wrapped and placed in a storage container for future refurbishment and, if needed, calibration.


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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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