I'd be curious to know how they even sold this one. Who is buying a small 2-pilot jet in today's world ?

When Cessna first started SP, they could only do it under Part 23. The 551 was limited to 12,500 lb, which is why it wasn't very successful. That changed later.

That's why the Lear 23 is called a Lear 23.

When Cessna first started SP, they could only do it under Part 23. The 551 was limited to 12,500 lb, which is why it wasn't very successful. That changed later. ISTR they tried to do it on the original 500 cert and were unsuccessful

I flew right seat in a Lear Jet 35 for awhile.

Since I had no idea what I was doing, had no book training, didn’t know the numbers, the pilot was flying it single pilot. Didn’t look too hard.

Greatness....have a Yeungling on me.

He (like many pilots) was likely a bit of an overachiever. I’d imagine that when the FAA certifies a jet as single pilot, they deem it suitable for a businessman to hop in once or twice a month and go fly without killing anyone.
A pro pilot with decent skills, flying 3 days a week can fly many 2 crew airplanes as a single pilot.
Then of course there’s the issue of abnormals/emergencies. When the SHTF is the primary reason IMHO for crew requirements.

N2022L........fitting N Number.

[youtube]http://youtu.be/YUX32edpZV8[/youtube]

Agreed. Though I have to question whether I could have flown my plane single pilot using 1980's avionics. I shudder to think about flying IAPs and STARs at jet speeds (yes, it's a slow jet, but still) while dialing VORs/NDBs, running checklists, talking to ATC, oh, and actually flying the plane (well, managing the autopilot to hit all of the lateral and vertical points needed).

My hat is off to anyone doing it back then....

Agreed. Though I have to question whether I could have flown my plane single pilot using 1980's avionics. I shudder to think about flying IAPs and STARs at jet speeds (yes, it's a slow jet, but still) while dialing VORs/NDBs, running checklists, talking to ATC, oh, and actually flying the plane (well, managing the autopilot to hit all of the lateral and vertical points needed).

My hat is off to anyone doing it back then....

When I was a teenager, I had the opportunity to ride right seat in a KA 200 on several occasions, and right seat in a CJ once, with a SP, just to be a second set of eyes.

The 200 was owner/pilot, and anytime he was flying into a Class B like Charlotte or Atlanta, he would invite me to go with him. Although I didn't have my PPL, I could still help with COMM radios, GPS, and helping with checklists. All these things I got pretty good at, and it took a lot of work off of him.

The CJ was a flight to Norfolk, VA. Pretty much same thing.

I flew the LearJet 35A. I’m extremely confident that it could indeed be flown single pilot, but I would want to move a few switches from the FOs right knee.

Well, apparently Bill himself flew it SP many times, according to the book I read. He wasn't too bothered with following the rules always. And there was a Danish one that the owner flew SP for years, until he ran off the runway and got caught.

I have to wonder whether the FAA’s reluctance to certify the Lear 23 for single pilot operation was in part based on the two crashes of the pre-production single-seat FFA P-16 fighter, on whose wing the Lear 23 was built?
Perhaps if those single seat aircraft had entered service, light jets would be single pilot. On the other hand, if the P-16 had been a success, would Bill Lear have succeeded in buying the wing design for his jet?

I don’t think that the FAA would have bothered to try to equate the Lear Jet to a military fighter, and if they did, the comparison alone, crash or no, would be enough to take a pass on SP certification.

As to the wing, I don’t know how much he “borrowed” from the P-16 beyond the idea, but I think that Bill would have made the plane with or without the wing. There are lots of NACA designs to choose from and while I love the original factory wing, there were later designs that followed, so I think he’d have just done it himself.