Kristen Nuss • October 16, 2024
SPECIAL EDITION - 60 Years Ago Today
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)
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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 .
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.
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.
