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Bombardier to Stop Making Iconic Learjet to Drive Up Profit
Bombardier Inc. will stop making Learjet aircraft and cut 1,600 jobs as part of a wide-ranging plan to boost profitability and reduce costs. (www.bloomberg.com) Más...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
Does anyone know how to delete a comment?
Lear 25s liked two things, runways and jet fuel. They used a lot of both.
The 24dI I flew did not need much runway. It had the Mark II wing and it literally blew itself off the runway. If you did a rolling takeoff and eased the power up, you did not reach takeoff power before she was off in 1500' or less and climbing at an ungodly angle if you did not reduce power right after gear up. My Vapp and Vref were less than I currently use in the CJ. The only issue was that the fuel flow was the same during taxi as it was at FL450 doing 450 kts. Every minute on the ground was a minute you could not spend at altitude. That's why Lear drivers wanted to get going. It was best to get her off the ground ASAP and let'r eat in the air. You flew at redline all the time, climb, cruise, and descent. I usually leveled at FL450 still climbing over 2000 fpm. I miss it and will always love the Lear.
Yes the wing modification was a big improvement but if you had the original wing and were sitting in Denver on a hot day you weren’t going anywhere. Now if you really did fly the LR24 answer this riddle. In the late 70’s what was the worst thing a controller could say to a Lear pilot?
The biggest thing that pissed me off was ATC telling us to level off a 1000' below an aircraft 20 miles in front of us when we're climbing like a bat out of hell. ATC had no idea of our climb rate. Sometimes they would ask us how fast we were climbing and all we could say was. "we don't know, the VSI is pegged up." One time, level at 240 and redline, the controller asked how soon we could be out of 310 if he let us climb. We said 1 minute and he said, "prove it." We made it with time to spare and he said he would have to file that one away for future reference . I sure miss that performance.
Last thing you wanted to hear from a controller...”you’re following a Citation “. Always got a kick out of that.
Did it have a go fast switch?
No. I heard a lot about that switch but never wished to go there. There was no doubt that it could go higher, faster, farther, but we operated it within its envelope.
I hear you. With good training and following SOPs it was a great airplane. One of the most significant aircraft ever made. I hope you have lots of good memories from flying it.