Sad day, but can't say I'm surprised. They didn't follow the times and it finally caught up, I reckon. Not many people want a narrow cabin 2-crew jet these days. They'd probably be killing it if they'd gone SP on some of their last models.

https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2022-03-28/bombardier-delivers-final-production-learjet?utm_medium=email&utm_source=rasa_io&PostID=51197447&MessageRunDetailID=8661207391

Bill Lear was one of those remarkable self-taught, self-made, let's-roll-up-the-sleeves-and-git-er-done characters that just don't exist today. He invented many groundbreaking things. And when you look at the penultimate Learjet 60XR, it's just such a remarkable design that still looks modern after 50 years. I can count very few things in this world that are timeless - the Learjet certainly is.

And that was all Bill Lear - he willed that thing into existence trough insurmountable obstacles, against all odds and invented his own genre - the biz jet.

It's a sad day when any of the legacy aircraft manufacturers either go out of business, quit producing a model of aircraft, or sell off to a foreign company

There are certainly modern day examples even MORE successful than Bill.

Agreed. One came immediately to mind.

No, I don't think there is actually. If we're taking bootstrapping, self-taught/minimal education guys that started with just an idea or invention and went very far in life - who would that be today?

Getting big with VC investors doesn't count.

Bill Lear was in a class on to himself. I’m not sure if there’s anyone today that would hold a candle to him. Interesting character, genius inventor and the epitome of entrepreneurship. Really a giant among men. It’s hard to come up with anyone who would really compare. Hard on marriages though and probably not the easiest man to get along with. But nevertheless, an American Icon.

I would certainly place Elon Musk in that category. Insane work ethic, wildly successful at nearly everything he touches, pushes the limits of technology, and just MAKES %#$@ HAPPEN.

Yes, also horrific with personal relationships.

Who needs a Relationship?

He has a great relationship with his what 150 billion dollars……

The best ride I ever had was in a Lear 28, certificated for 53,000.

They did take it up there and would only run it on the autopilot.

Also, highly likely for flaming an engine out, that we did not experience.

Could just begin to see the curvature.

One of my most memorable trips.

I'm curious, what are the requirements for a jet to be single pilot? Is there a reason Learjet never pursued a single pilot option?

Bill originally wanted the Lear 23 to be single pilot. The controls were configured to support that (gear switch by the pilot's right knee, yaw damper in the left corner of the panel, MGW 12499 lbs, etc. It never went through. The story I always heard was that it was considered too much for one pilot to handle on their own. Having flown it I struggle to imagine that it's any harder to fly than a Premier or other SP certified jet, but what it lacked was the same level of automation. As important I think is that there had never been a SP jet before and the FAA likely saw this brand new pocket fighter and blew coffee out of their nose laughing at the thought. The little Lear was not the pussycat that the analog Citation is, nor did it have any of the helpful automation that later designs have. I do not know how much of that bore on the decision, nor what the specific requirements of SP are, but nobody pursued the idea again until Cessna got the SP certified many years later.

And looking all the later models that came and their weight, it was clear they never thought about SP certification. The 75 is just too heavy. The time to have done it was around the 28/32/35 model and maybe re-engined and re-winged that. It's over 12500lbs of course, but so is the CJ3 and CJ4, so obviously not a show stopper. Or maybe just done a clean sheet out of the 75 as a SP platform.