LOL! As we both know, Bill Lear also invented the 8-Track player.
Posted on 02/12/2021 10:46:32 AM PST by Rio
The Learjet, which became synonymous with lifestyles of the rich and famous, is about to fade into aviation history.
Canada’s Bombardier announced Thursday that it will stop production of the Learjet later this year to focus on more profitable planes.
That means the elimination of 1,600 jobs in Canada and the United States, another blow to aircraft manufacturing, which has withered in the pandemic.
The iconic jet was among the first private luxury planes. William Lear based his design in part on military jets. The first Learjet flew in 1963, and more than 3,000 had been built since.
Most of the projected job losses for Montreal-based Bombardier will occur in Canada, with about 700 planned in Quebec and 100 in Ontario. The company said about 250 jobs will be eliminated in Wichita this year and next year, with another 100 job losses scattered across the rest of the U.S.
Will go the way of the 8-track tape player......................
Nice plane, and sad for the workers, but there is a good side: Democrats will have less options for transportation when booking their Global Warming conferences.
I better cancel my order.
We were just watching the “Man from UNCLE” box set (got it for my husband a few years back) and it had lots of nice footage of the then-new Lear jet. Too bad.
There are lots of options out there now including the Honda Jet..
Lear was too small. There are plenty of much better options from Bombardier and many others.
They Killed OMC too. (Johnson/Evinrude)
LOL! As we both know, Bill Lear also invented the 8-Track player.
All the Global Warming Freaks have 1 or 2 already ?
Ah-a
I did consulting at the factory in Wichita. I NEVER saw 250 on the shop floor at the Lear side. There were union slobs sitting around doing nothing. It’s no wonder they dumped it. Lear was a money pit.
My Gawd! What next? Polo pony feed?
Wish I could afford one of those.
My husband had Lears for many years. One time in the early 70s I was at the Melbourne airfield picking up my then-teenage niece for a vacation. I knew that my sister and b-i-l (Harris Corp.) would be watching our takeoff so I asked the pilots for a snap-roll. The chief pilot, ex-carrier pilot, shook his head but told us to sit in the seat that goes across the back and make sure our seatbelts were tightened. We took off STRAIGHT up, like a rocket. What a tremendous thrill, but I’m glad I didn’t have to account for the fuel consumption. Anyone who was at the airport that day will remember it. My sister and b-i-l heard about it for months.
… Wish I could afford one of those.
The people who can don’t worry about the cost
It was said of the early Lears with inefficient engines, that the first thing a pilot noticed after startup was that he was already low on fuel.
.
Only flown on one once. Years ago I was part of a small team that was evaluating several potential development partners. We decided that chartering the flights made more sense than commercial since all the locations were within about 800 miles. First trip was on a Lear. Yeah, kind of cramped but we got shrimp and champaign on the return. Totally impressed we booked the next flight. Got an 8 place Piper and had to navigate around thunderstorms. One member of the team got sick. Can’t remember what we did after that but the Lear was the high point.
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