Learjet's Composite Airframe Bet

Learjet’s Composite Airframe Bet

Thursday, December 17, 2009 at 09:54 AM ET

Verified

This computer-generated rendition of Bombardier's new Learjet Model 85 is amazingly close to the "real" thing. Bombardier

Key Takeaways:

Historically, all-composite aircraft programs like the Starship, Hawker 4000, and Boeing 787 have struggled with significant weight misses, delays, and cost overruns.
The Learjet 85 aims to overcome these past failures by adopting a conservative approach that does not expect weight savings from carbon fiber, instead focusing on reducing parts count and controlling labor costs.
Learjet's strategy involves experienced leadership, such as David Coleal, and employs practical manufacturing techniques including improved prepreg hand layup and hybrid mechanical fastening with bonding, prioritizing reliability and cost control over aggressive weight reduction.

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When I first heard that Learjet would build its new Model 85 entirely from composite materials, I wondered what management there was thinking. So far there has not been an FAR Part 25 transport airplane built even mostly from composites. And the history of turbine-powered composite airplanes is sketchy at best.

The Starship, of course, remains the granddaddy of all composite airplane disasters. Back in the 1980s Beech spent somewhere between $800 million and $1 billion to build the factory, make the tooling and create the procedures to certify and manufacture the first turbine-powered all-composite airplane.