Bombardier confirmed, as first reported in Flying, that the company’s next generation Learjet will be built entirely from composite plastics. The new Learjet 85 would be the first transport category airplane with an all-composite airframe, and is the first in the Learjet, Challenger or Global Express line from Bombardier to use composites for primary structure of wings and fuselage.
A surprising aspect of the announcement, which was made in January, is that the Learjet 85 will be developed by Grob Aerospace of Germany. Grob has built more than 3,500 composite airplanes, mostly gliders, over the past 30 years. Grob will work with Learjet engineers to design and build the first three prototype Model 85s, but no announcement on which company or where, actual production of the airplane will take place.
