The Lear Fan 2100 early model

[hesham]

Hi,

hear is the Lear design,Fan 2100,in early model,it had many differents.

http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1977/1977%20-%203794.html

 

[Jemiba]

The same model, I think :
(from Aviation Week .11.77)

 

[hesham]

Hi,

here is anther Lear Fan 2100 model,its engined intake was different.

http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1978/1978%20-%201056.html

 

[Mark Nankivil]

Here are some photos of one of the survivors on display at the Frontiers of Flight Museum in Dallas, TX.

Enjoy the Day! Mark

 

[GTX]

That early version without the vertical tail fin has a distinctly RQ-1 Predator look to it.

Regards,

Greg

 

[Caravellarella]

but gorgeous and very cool looking ;D ......

Terry (Caravellarella)

 

[Mark Nankivil]

Greetings All -

I inventoried a box of miscellaneous items at the Museum this past week and I came across a Lear Fan brochure with the attached 3 view.

Enjoy the Day! Mark

 

[Stargazer]

Superb! Thanks a lot for this gem, Mark.

 

[LowObservable]

One tail design is Predatorish and one is Reaperish - which may not be surprising since the one-time boss of Learavia, Linden Blue, owns General Atomics with his brother Neal.

 

[Stargazer]

One tail design is Predatorish and one is Reaperish - which may not be surprising since the one-time boss of Learavia, Linden Blue, owns General Atomics with his brother Neal.

What you're telling us, in essence, is that Bill Lear strongly influenced the design the General Atomics family of UAVs? Wow!

 

[Stargazer]

From the original brochure.

Source: http://www.aviationexplorer.com/learfan_aircraft_facts.htm

 

[Stargazer]

Mark's great find reworked and enhanced to look as a proper 3-view plan:

 

[Mark Nankivil]

Nicely done Stargazer - thanks!

Enjoy the Day! Mark

 

[Stargazer]

Nicely done Stargazer - thanks!

Enjoy the Day! Mark

My pleasure! Did you notice that there were (at least) two different configuration studied before the final one? Well at first it didn't strike me! There was the initial configuration of the model presented by hesham (no tail fin and the two ruddervators oriented downwards). Then there was "yours", which has the upwards ruddervators and underside fin, but the air intakes/exhausts on top of the rear fuselage; eventually the produced aircraft had them in side nacelles.

 

[hesham]

Via my dear Retrofit,and from Le Fana 99.

 

[hesham]

From L+K 11/1981.

 

[hesham]

From Aviation magazine 1977.

 

[fortrena]

Hoping this is not too far off topic.

At the end of March 1979, Canadair signed an exclusive option agreement with a small American aircraft manufacturer, LearAvia. The Quebec company was indeed considering the possibility of producing a nine-seat business aircraft which only existed on paper. Designed circa 1976 under William Powell “Bill” Lear, father of the design which gave birth to the world famous Challenger business jet, the Lear Fan 2100 combined unusual looks with spectacular performance. Totally taken up by the Challenger production program, Canadair was forced to give up its option on the Lear Fan 2100 around July 1979 – a decision which surprised more than one observer.

The new aircraft was generating real interest in Alberta, however. In the early spring of 1979, a few businessmen approached the provincial government. They hoped to obtain a loan guarantee allowing them to start production of the Lear Fan 2100 in the province. Let’s not forget, Premier Peter Loughheed intended to use the province’s massive Heritage Fund, built up with oil money, to diversify Alberta’s economy. As intrigued as it was by the project, the provincial government hesitated - and was soon out of the picture.

At that time, negotiations undertaken by LearAvia and the British government were going well. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher wanted to create jobs in Northern Ireland, a region of the United Kingdom torn apart by a long conflict between the British authorities and Irish nationalists. LearAvia and the British government came to an agreement in February 1980. The Department of Economic Development of Northern Ireland invested half of the funds that LearAvia needed to complete the development of the Lear Fan 2100. A new company, Lear Fan was born. The factory from which the production aircraft were to come out was soon erected.

Completing the development of the Lear Fan 2100 turned out to be more difficult than expected, however. None of the engineers had experience with composite materials, for example. Costs increased as time went by and delays piled up. The prototype of the Lear Fan 2100 made its maiden flight on January 1, 1981, one day after the deadline set by the contract signed with the British government. Intent on not being a spoilsport, the latter announced that the aircraft had flown on December 32, 1980.

Weeks, then months went by. While Lear Fan managed to complete two more aircraft in 1981-82, the fact was that its financial situation was going from bad to worse. The very future of the Lear Fan 2100 was threatened. A Saudi prince passionate about aviation saved the project in September 1982 by investing a large sum of money. A new American company, Fan Holdings, took control of the entire project. Its management now wished to send the elements of the first production aircraft to the LearAvia factory, which would assemble them. In the longer term, Lear Fan would assemble the Lear Fan 2100s before a flight across the Atlantic to receive their interior fittings.

Lear Fan quickly spent a good portion of the sum invested by the Saudi prince. The aircraft manufacturer needed to redesign the structure of the wing and fuselage of the Lear Fan 2100. Worse still, the gearbox which connected the pair of Pratt and Whitney Canada PT6 turboprops to the propeller was not quite up to snuff. Given the circumstances, the Federal Aviation Administration, the body responsible for civil aviation in the United States, refused to certify the aircraft - a decision which dealt a fatal blow to the Lear Fan 2100. Fan Holdings was forced to file for bankruptcy in May 1985.

Before that process was completed, an Italian banker contacted Lear's widow. He claimed to be able to save Fan Holdings. That said, the individual in question, Dominique Ferretti / Domenique Ferritti, had to admit he was abit short of money. Overjoyed, Mrs. Lear agreed to lend him what he needed. She immediately communicated with the main investors and implored them to accept the Italian banker's offer of assistance. Hoping to recover at least part of their money, they accepted. In early June 1985, while LearAvia's management was celebrating its good fortune, with Ferretti, two deputy sheriffs entered the room and placed the latter under arrest. Ferretti was neither a banker nor an Italian. He was an American crook by the name of George Washington Upton. That sad twist concluded the story of the Lear Fan 2100. The assets of Fan Holdings went on sale in late 1986 or early 1987.

 

[publiusr]

This was semi stealthy by accident right?

 

[hesham]

From Aviation magazine 1981.

 

[Mark Nankivil]

I came across this poster on EPay and could not resist buying it. Glad I did!

Enjoy the Day! Mark

 

[aim9xray]

Nice!

 

[DaleNulik]

Hoping this is not too far off topic.

At the end of March 1979, Canadair signed an exclusive option agreement with a small American aircraft manufacturer, LearAvia. The Quebec company was indeed considering the possibility of producing a nine-seat business aircraft which only existed on paper. Designed circa 1976 under William Powell “Bill” Lear, father of the design which gave birth to the world famous Challenger business jet, the Lear Fan 2100 combined unusual looks with spectacular performance. Totally taken up by the Challenger production program, Canadair was forced to give up its option on the Lear Fan 2100 around July 1979 – a decision which surprised more than one observer.

The new aircraft was generating real interest in Alberta, however. In the early spring of 1979, a few businessmen approached the provincial government. They hoped to obtain a loan guarantee allowing them to start production of the Lear Fan 2100 in the province. Let’s not forget, Premier Peter Loughheed intended to use the province’s massive Heritage Fund, built up with oil money, to diversify Alberta’s economy. As intrigued as it was by the project, the provincial government hesitated - and was soon out of the picture.

At that time, negotiations undertaken by LearAvia and the British government were going well. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher wanted to create jobs in Northern Ireland, a region of the United Kingdom torn apart by a long conflict between the British authorities and Irish nationalists. LearAvia and the British government came to an agreement in February 1980. The Department of Economic Development of Northern Ireland invested half of the funds that LearAvia needed to complete the development of the Lear Fan 2100. A new company, Lear Fan was born. The factory from which the production aircraft were to come out was soon erected.

Completing the development of the Lear Fan 2100 turned out to be more difficult than expected, however. None of the engineers had experience with composite materials, for example. Costs increased as time went by and delays piled up. The prototype of the Lear Fan 2100 made its maiden flight on January 1, 1981, one day after the deadline set by the contract signed with the British government. Intent on not being a spoilsport, the latter announced that the aircraft had flown on December 32, 1980.

Weeks, then months went by. While Lear Fan managed to complete two more aircraft in 1981-82, the fact was that its financial situation was going from bad to worse. The very future of the Lear Fan 2100 was threatened. A Saudi prince passionate about aviation saved the project in September 1982 by investing a large sum of money. A new American company, Fan Holdings, took control of the entire project. Its management now wished to send the elements of the first production aircraft to the LearAvia factory, which would assemble them. In the longer term, Lear Fan would assemble the Lear Fan 2100s before a flight across the Atlantic to receive their interior fittings.

Lear Fan quickly spent a good portion of the sum invested by the Saudi prince. The aircraft manufacturer needed to redesign the structure of the wing and fuselage of the Lear Fan 2100. Worse still, the gearbox which connected the pair of Pratt and Whitney Canada PT6 turboprops to the propeller was not quite up to snuff. Given the circumstances, the Federal Aviation Administration, the body responsible for civil aviation in the United States, refused to certify the aircraft - a decision which dealt a fatal blow to the Lear Fan 2100. Fan Holdings was forced to file for bankruptcy in May 1985.

Before that process was completed, an Italian banker contacted Lear's widow. He claimed to be able to save Fan Holdings. That said, the individual in question, Dominique Ferretti / Domenique Ferritti, had to admit he was abit short of money. Overjoyed, Mrs. Lear agreed to lend him what he needed. She immediately communicated with the main investors and implored them to accept the Italian banker's offer of assistance. Hoping to recover at least part of their money, they accepted. In early June 1985, while LearAvia's management was celebrating its good fortune, with Ferretti, two deputy sheriffs entered the room and placed the latter under arrest. Ferretti was neither a banker nor an Italian. He was an American crook by the name of George Washington Upton. That sad twist concluded the story of the Lear Fan 2100. The assets of Fan Holdings went on sale in late 1986 or early 1987.

Good information? Didn't know the Fan was a secret? Several designers I worked with on the beech Starship brought copies of there work on it? Certifying a composite then scarred the FAA, the FAA also attempted to bankrupt Beech. Taking 6 years and dozens of changes? Many to the detriment of performance on that aircraft also?