Search Results for: Lear 45

I was at the tail end of three months of training for my CFI reinstatement check ride. My instructor Kevin and I were flying into a deepening Pacific Northwest twilight as we descended westbound over Lake Washington toward Boeing Field/King County International Airport (BFI). We began maneuvering to enter right traffic for Runway 31R in […]

Someone once told me that aircraft accidents happen every 5,000 hours during a pilot’s flying career. Well, mine came at 6,000 hours rather than 5,000. I have been flying small airplanes and helicopters since I was a teenager. My life has been pretty much the epitome of “will fly for food.” Stints as a police […]

At approximately 1905 Central time, the airplane was destroyed during a forced landing after a loss of engine power. The pilot sustained serious injuries and the passenger was fatally injured. Visual conditions prevailed.

In the mid-60s I was posted to Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, home of Headquarters Strategic Air Command. I was not in the HQ, however, but in the Operations Squadron of Offutt’s Air Base Wing. The ABW ran all the base’s goods and services, we in the ops squadron provided support for all the aviators […]

In aviation we admire fat logbooks of experience for both pilots and airplanes. New technology offers promise, but a successful history breeds confidence. And that’s what the new Learjet 60 XR exudes — confidence that you are getting the best of more than 40 years of Learjet heritage. The 60 XR is a refined version […]

The airplane was substantially damaged when it crashed into Old Tampa Bay at about 1538 Eastern time. Visual conditions prevailed. The private pilot and two passengers were fatally injured. A witness reported seeing the airplane flying at an estimated altitude of 100 feet, then saw the airplane in an estimated 90-degree right bank. The airplane then rolled into a 45-degree left bank, followed by rolling wings-level. The airplane was then observed in a 10-15 degree nose-up attitude. The airplane then stalled and descended in a nose- and left-wing-low attitude.

In late October Bombardier announced plans to build an all-new midsize Learjet dubbed the NXT, for next generation Learjet. It is odd that the company chose to announce the large project with only a press release instead of great fanfare at a major tradeshow as is the norm. However, Bombardier had been busy shopping the […]

Weather to a ground person and weather to an air person are two completely different things. The ground person feels temperature and wind and precipitation and looks out the window or up at the sky at clouds. The ground person has to wait patiently for the weather in his location to change. Those of us […]

I received a letter from a reader after our story on the Cessna Mustang ran in the May issue asking me to compare the Mustang to the original Lear Jet 23, to measure 40 years of progress in light business jets. Interesting idea, and there is a valid comparison, but it’s not the Lear and […]

On the afternoon of September 3, 1996, I had just taken off from the Mineral Wells, Texas, airport where I worked as a test pilot for an autopilot manufacturer. The aircraft I was flying was an Experimental Lancair (N353RD), and I was conducting a test on an S-Tec 50 autopilot. Another pilot was supposed to […]