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.

October 12, 2024 was a historic day for the Classic Lear Jet Foundation and 23-003 N200Y! With the long term agreement signed, we moved 23-003 into its restoration hangar -- Bay 9 of building 14, the former Learjet Delivery Center. A group of 15 volunteers showed up at 8:00AM on Saturday, October 12th ready to move the wing, fuselage, horizontal tail, engine inlets and all of the miscellaneous parts from bay 10, where the fuselage has been since May 25, 2023 and the wing since September 1, 2023, into bay 9 to start the intense restoration efforts. Photo: Volunteers - Brian Williamson, Ed Grabman, Mike Yandell, Bill Kinkaid, Dan DeMott, Steve Miller, Dan Broyles, Larry Bowler, Jim Edwards, Ron Forshee, Mike Holt, Nancy Holt, John Reisch, Rick Rowe (not shown – Jim Tidball) Read the full newsletter by clicking the button below.

The first Lear Jet was delivered 60 years ago today to Chemical and Industrial Corporation of Cincinnati, Ohio!! The third Lear Jet to be built and the first ever Lear Jet delivered to a customer, was flown to the Lunken Airport in Cincinnati for a brief delivery ceremony on Tuesday, October 13, 1964. Herb Hamilton (CEO of Chemical and Industrial Corporation accepted the airplane from Bill Eikenberry (Lear Jet Marketing Director) and W. R. Dotter (Lear Jet Sales Rep). The Lear Jet was the first jet designed and built exclusively as a corporate jet. The delivery of 23-003 N200Y was the start of what is today a multi-billion dollar business jet industry. Photo: Herbert Hamilton (center) accepting symbolic desk model from and W. R. Dotter (L) Bill Eikenberry (R) Read the full newsletter by clicking the button below.

The restoration of 23-003 continued throughout July. On July 18th, after earlier removal of the cockpit instruments, instrument panel, throttle quadrant and floor boards, Bill Kinkaid was able to remove the control column. He then removed the glareshield (shown in the image above). On the morning of July 20th, the interior (seats, side walls, partitions, carpet, etc.) along with the thrust reversers, engine cowlings and a set of new tires were removed from building 14 to Millennium LLC who have volunteered to store these items for us making more room around the airplane and wing. “A major milestone was reached on July 23rd, when Bill Kinkaid announced that the cockpit had been disassembled to the point that we can start removing the cabin wiring. This will begin with the removal of the circuit breakers from their panels. Bill discovered that the airplane was built without break plugs between the circuit breaker and its wiring. They are 'hard wired'! This will require each wire to be labeled as the circuit breaker is removed. Read the full newsletter by clicking the button below.

More work towards the restoration of 23-003 was accomplished on June 17th. We completed the removal of the remaining instruments from the pilot's instrument panel. During this removal, Bill Kinkaid discovered just how many of the instruments do not have wiring connectors but are 'hard wired' to the wiring harness! Including the annunciator panel and circuit breakers! A team of volunteers came out on a Monday evening, June 17th, to lift the horizontal stabilizer off of its initial resting place on old tires, turned it right side up and placed upon stands so that the removal of the elevators can begin. Century Mission World Record 'Official' On June 21, 2024 the National Aeronautic Association (NAA) officially recognized The Century Mission Around The World flight as a new world record! Congratulations to the crew, pilots Bart Gray, Kirby Ezelle, Josh Podlich, John Bone and observer Joel Weber. The new world record: Speed Around the World, Westbound: 341mph, total elapsed time 67 hours and 28 minutes including 11 fuel stops. Total flight time was 54 hours and 48 minutes covering 20,008nm. Read the full newsletter by clicking the button below.