With their very form symbolic of upper-level technology, Learjet today also incorporates high-tech materials and techniques to maintain its edge. Mike Kanaley, Bombardier vice president and general manager of the Wichita Learjet plant, recently noted that space-age composite materials are a key to modern jet design, but in some ways are not that different from earlier, metal craft.

“Final assembly of a composite plane isn’t that much different than assembly of an aluminum aircraft,” Kanaley explained. “But we will definitely be making a lot of investment in training of our personnel to work with this new material system.”

The latest venture into new frontiers involves Bombardier Learjet craft such as the Learjet 60 and 85, the latter representing the first with an all-composite structure. Even though it is the largest Learjet, the 85 can cruise at 540 mph and boasts a range of up to 3,000 miles with its passenger capacity of eight.

A subsidiary of Bombardier Aerospace since June 1990, Learjet now manufactures the Learjet Series business aircraft and Challenger 300 at its manufacturing facility and at the Bombardier Flight Test Centre in Wichita. Despite 45 years of experience, the plant also takes advantage of the international company’s resources for its products. For the Learjet 85, this meant that Grob Aerospace of Switzerland and Germany developed the plane’s composites structure at a plant in Tussenhausen-Mattsies, Germany, before final
assembly at Bombardier Learjet’s facility at Wichita’s Mid-Continent Airport.

“The plane’s structure will be made by hand, using carbon fiber sheets and a honeycomb core instead of using special machines that wind the filament,” Kanaley said. The effort is worthwhile, however. Composites mean less weight, fewer parts, lower maintenance costs, simpler manufacturing processes and extended service life, Kanaley added. The switch from aluminum to composite reduced the number of parts from 14,000 to about 1,000 for the Learjet 85, he said.

Introduced earlier, the Learjet 45 and 60 remain popular siblings to the 85. The updated, Learjet 60 XR flew out of Wichita for the first time in mid-2007. Improvements from its earlier version included glass-panel
electronic aircraft instrumentation and the ability to fly higher and faster.

One of four aircraft companies in Wichita, the company will celebrate the 45th anniversary of the first flight by a Learjet on Oct. 27, 2008. As a way to commemorate this, Bombardier Business aircraft will launch the Year of Learjet campaign, a celebration to honor Learjet’s contribution as a pioneer to the private business jet industry.