For 21 years, between 1991 and 2012 the Learjet 60 was Learjet division of Bombardier’s longest range business jet. However, in 2012, after twenty years of production, Learjet pulled the plug on the Learjet 60.
Nevertheless, almost a decade later, most of the original four hundred Learjets are still flying. For most of them, they are in the hands of the people who originally bought them, although many are on the secondary market.
Development
In 1981, Learjet released their latest business jet, the Learjet 55, itself being derived from the first ever business jet, the Learjet 23. This aircraft originally sold very well, but by the end of the 1990’s, sales began to slow.
Learjet attempted to create new variants of the aircraft, but no one was interested in them. As such, Learjet began to float the idea of a Learjet developed from the Learjet 55, with newer engines and an extended fuselage.
On top of this, the fuselage was redeveloped somewhat, to be more aerodynamic. This included the blend between the wings and the fuselage, which had to be altered in order to stay as strong and aerodynamic.
Due to the newer engines being more powerful, the 1960’s-designed engine pylons had to also be redesigned. This was mostly solved through altering the original pylon design and using newer, stronger materials.
In altering the wing’s design somewhat, Learjet was forced to alter other aspects of the wing, it wouldn’t have otherwise. One of the also improved the winglets, which allowed the Lear 60 to be more fuel efficient than the Lear 55.
Originally, this aircraft was meant to be yet another variant of the Learjet 55. However, eventually, this aircraft was developed into a new line of jets, which the company called the Lear 60, otherwise known as the Learjet 60.
Operational History
Whilst the Lear 60 was originally designed as a corporate jet, it has also been used by governments and even militaries for a variety of different purposes.
Civilian
The Lear 60 first entered production in 1991, before first being delivered in early 1993. The aircraft’s first round of buyers were mostly medium-sized corporations who wished to use the aircraft as their company’s jet.
For many of these companies, especially those with offices all over North America/Europe, the Lear 60 is the logical choice. It is a cheap, yet opulent private jet, that serves its primary function exceptionally well.
Other buyers in the original round of buyers were air charter companies. Due to the aircraft’s relatively large size (for its class) and fuel efficiency, the Lear 60 can transport a large number cross-country, for cheaper than other jets.
Depending on the route, many Lear 60s can travel internationally as well, both in North American and in Europe. This allows air charter companies to make a larger profit from the same flight than they had with previous jets.
Due to all of this, the aircraft has become a favorite among fractional ownership companies such as Warren Buffett’s NetJets. This is because people are often looking to buy the aircraft for themselves.
As such, if they can’t find one at an attractable enough price, they’ll choose to buy a fraction of the aircraft. This allows them to fly the aircraft around North America or Europe for their given number of hours per year.
Government
To date, the aircraft has been acquired by a number of militaries as well as local and state government agencies and departments for a variety of different reasons.
For the most part, the aircraft acts as an executive transport, doing so for various regional governments in Argentina. The Colombian, North Macedonian and Moldovan governments also use the jet in this capacity.
In 1999, the Mexican Air Force acquired one Lear 60 for VIP transport. This also doubled as a MediEvac aircraft in case of emergency (or if Mexico ever went to war). The aircraft has since been transferred to the Mexican Navy.
Starting in February 2000, the FAA began receiving six Lear 60s to be used for various different jobs. For the most part, these aircraft act as aerial observation aircraft, usually carrying photographers.
These aircraft are usually used to inspect aerodromes and airports, to ensure that their navigation systems are up to standard. Photographers take pictures in order to inspect things like runways and terminals for damage.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) also operates two Lear 60s in the same capacity. The CAAM also uses the aircraft to help calibrate CAAM-owned aerodrome equipment, rather than risking civilian lives.
Features
As with other Learjet aircraft of the time, including the Learjet 35 and Learjet 45, Learjet marketed the Lear 60 on its above average range and more luxurious cabin.
Especially once subsequent variants had been released, the cabin interior had been completely redesigned for the Lear 60. This removed many of the 1960’s-looking aspects of the interior.
The Lear 60 also received mildly improved winglets compared to previous Learjet winglets. This improves stability and control for the pilots, as well as being more fuel efficient.
Learjet was one of the first companies to use the Pratt & Whitney Canada PW305 family of engines on their jets. Several generations of the family would be used on the different variants of the aircraft.
Thanks mostly to these engines (as well as the aerodynamic redesign), the Learjet 60 has significantly reduced fuel costs. This had been demanded by operators of previous Learjets for several years prior.
As with previous Learjet aircraft, the Lear 60 has a rather spacious internal cargo hold. Compared to previous Learjet aircraft, this cargo hold is much larger, however, subsequent Learjets have dwarfed it in terms of size.
Price
In February 2012, Learjet/Bombardier charged $14.674 million for the basic Learjet 60. This makes the Lear 60 among the cheapest private jets in the entire world. Today, this is worth around $16.7 million.
As of the time of writing, several Learjet 60s, 60SEs and 60XRs are available on the secondary market. For the most part, they are retailing from anywhere from $800,000 to $3.1 million, depending on age and spec.
For the most part, the older, standard Lear 60s retail for $1 million and below. The middle-aged Lear 60SEs are currently retailing for around $2 million. The youngest Lear 60XRs are retailing for around $2.8 million upwards.
Assuming you flew the aircraft for 400 hours per year, the aircraft costs around $4,100 per hour to operate. For an aircraft of its size an era, this was considered on the cheaper end, however, by modern standards, this is rather expensive.
The $4,100 accounts mostly for fuel (costing roughly $893.2 per hour flown). However, it also accounts for things like insurance, airport fees, ATC fees, crew salaries and maintenance costs among other things.
Variants
Upon the original variant of the aircraft was released, it was very well received by the business aviation community. As such, Learjet developed two subsequent variants of the aircraft, both to varying degrees of success.
Learjet 60
The first variant of the Learjet Model 60 was the Lear 60. This aircraft was designed based off the design of the previous Learjet 55, just with a lot of modifications and upgrades, in order to save on costs.
Due to this, the aircraft was originally more successful than the basic Learjet 55. Within a couple of years, medium and large-sized corporations were buying the Learjet 60 in place of the Learjet 55.
As the aircraft was the “base” aircraft for all of the Lear 60 family, its specs are comparably weaker. However, this does generally coincide with the aircraft being older and more expensive to operate.
Learjet 60SE
In the mid-1990’s, Learjet began to survey its Lear 60 customers in hopes of finding out how to improve the Lear 60. In these reviews, the owners of the aircraft kept touching on the interior.
For many of them, they paid millions of dollars for several generations of Learjet aircraft, yet hadn’t really seen an improvement in comfort levels etc. Fearing they may lose customers to competitors, Learjet chose to release the Lear 60SE.
This aircraft saw an all new interior, still containing the original eight seats. However, the seats were made from newer, comfier materials which were better on long flights. New entertainments systems and an APU were both installed as well.
Learjet 60XR
In 2005, both the original Lear 60 and the 60SE were beginning to look a little bit old. With this sales of both aircraft began to slump, and Learjet knew it had to improve the design or risk conceding to its competitors.
As such, it began work on a variant of the Lear 60. This variant would feature a longer cabin, newer avionics and an improved braking system, with a smaller and more aerodynamic wing.
This gave it specs more akin to a mid-size business jet, but the price of a light business jet. To date, no Learjet aircraft has had a longer cabin.
Due to the similarities in length, speed and how to operate the aircraft, the aircraft didn’t require its own type certificate. However, it was put on the Lear 60’s type certificate, but rather on the 1966-released Learjet 24.
Specifications
| Specifications | Learjet 60 |
|---|---|
| Length | 58 ft 8 in (17.88 m) |
| Wingspan | 43 ft 9 in (13.34 m) |
| Height | 14 ft 8 in (4.47 m) |
| Crew | 2 |
| Passengers | 8 |
| Speed | 484 mph (779 km/h, 421 kn) |
| Range | 2,773 mi (4,463 km, 2,410 nmi) |
| Service Ceiling | 51,000 ft (16,000 m) |
| MTOW | 23,500 lb (10,659 kg) |
How Safe is The Learjet 60?
When it comes to looking at which aircraft are on the safer end of the spectrum, and which are on the more dangerous end of the spectrum, there’s often one type of aircraft left out: private jets.
For the most part, this is due to the fact that most people will never get the chance to fly on a private jet. Then there’s also the fact that private jets tend to fly less hours than commercial jets, which often skews the results.
Nevertheless, if you’re about to fly on the Lear 60, you’re going to want to know how safe/dangerous it is. By most accounts, the Lear 60 is considered to be one of the safer private jets.
In its almost 30 year history, the aircraft type has only ever had one incident. Sadly, this incident resulted in four fatalities and two injuries. However, his does make the type safer than both the Learjet 35 and Learjet 45.
The types’ only crash came in September 2008. Here, a privately owned Lear 60 was taking off, carrying singers Travis Barker and DJ AM (Adam Goldstein) and their entourage to Van Nuys from Five Points.
However, issues involving severely deflated tires caused the aircraft to crash shortly after takeoff. DJ AM and Travis Barker were injured, with the rest of the crew and passengers (four in total) dying.
And Airworthiness Directive was issued for the Lear 60, which stated that all operators must check tire pressure every for days. This is still in effect to this day.
What’s it Like to Fly on The Learjet 60?
Personally, I have flown on all three different variants of the Learjet 60. For the most part, I flew these several years ago due to my position and role in some of my previous jobs.
For the most part, the company I worked for, chartered the Lear 60 to travel within Europe (mostly journeys from one end of Europe to the other). Often, these journeys would be several hours long and from various different types of airports.
As a pilot myself, I did notice that the flights were smooth for the most part. However, when I compare them to previous and subsequent Learjet aircraft, they have been much rougher to fly on, although, not by much.
However, I must state that this may have been down to the pilots we flew with, and how inexperienced they were with the aircraft. After all, this was in early 1994, with the aircraft having come out in 1993.
During most of these flights, I was flying alongside my colleagues, and we spent much of the flight working. Due to the aircraft’s layout, I found this very easy, as I could turn and talk to the person I needed to, often without leaving my seat.
Years later, when WiFi was added to the Lear 60 fleet, I also found the aircraft quite easy to type on, even despite the occasionally shaky nature fo the aircraft.
All in all, I would say that the Learjet 60 is among the best private jets ever built. This is because it could be used both as a private jet (for relaxation purposes) and as a corporate jet, sometimes at the same time!
What do you think of the Learjet 60? Tell me in the comments!
Featured image courtesy of Mark Harkin via Flickr.