Watch the creation of Learjet’s latest jet, the Learjet 85, which was created via partnership with current Learjet owner Bombardier Aerospace.
Ralph Acs, the VPGM for Learjet explains the ‘labour of love’ that allowed them to create the largest, fastest and furthest flying Learjet ever. The Learjet 85 is the first primarily composite aircraft built by Learjet, and it is the largest, fastest and furthest flying aircraft Learjet has ever built.
The jet, registered N851LJ took it’s first flight on April 9, 2014 at 8:19 CST from Wichita, Kansas and flew to an altitude of 30,000 feet at an airspeed of 250 knots. Flight time was approximately 2 hours and 15 minutes.
Watch the proud moment:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZNLBUxpTDA
About the Learjet
The aircraft is powered by two Pratt & Whitney PW3073 engines. These engines each produce 6100 pounds of thrust. The Learjet 85 is a mid size jet which is now larger, and features a more comfortable cabin than those aircraft in the same class. Aircraft in the same class include the Cessna Citation Sovereign and the Hawker 900XP.
It is the first ‘clean sheet’ aircraft Bombardier has designed in over a decade. It is the first all-composite business jet to be certified under FAA Part 25 – airworthiness standards. The 85 features a composite fuselage and composite wing. Bombardiers new factory located in Queretaro, Mexico, is where the composite components are being manufactured.
Learjet 85 cockpit. Image from the Bombardier website.
Performance
As the largest Learjet ever built, the 85 features a stand-up cabin capable of carrying eight passengers, with a maximum cruising speed of Mach 0.82 – that is around 528 knots, or 978 km/h. Fast! Range, as measured with four passengers on board is estimated at 3000 nm. Estimated price is $17.1 million.
Maximum ceiling is 49,000 feet and maximum takeoff weight is 33,500 lbs (15,195 kg) in 1465 meters (under 5000 feet). The goal was to create a takeoff weight of under 5000 feet because many GA runways in the US are of that length.
The Learjet company was incorporated into Bombardier in 1990.
