The Classic Learjet Foundation, a nonprofit group of current and former Wichita aerospace workers seeking to restore the first production Learjet (23-003), has raised enough money to purchase the aircraft.
“The financial acquisition of the aircraft completes a major goal of the Classic Lear Jet Foundation's mission to restore and operate the world’s first purpose-built business jet as part of a living flight history program,” said foundation president Bill Kinkaid. “This milestone comes less than one year after the creation of the foundation in August 2022.”
The foundation negotiated a sale price of $90,000 with the Learjet 23’s former owner, who had stored the light jet for years, knowing its historical significance. It had last flown in 1998.
As of June, the group was still approximately $50,000 from its goal when it invited legendary Learjet owner and aviator Clay Lacy and Lynn Krogh, founder and CEO of International Jet Services, to Wichita to view 23-003 in the Bombardier Learjet delivery hangar where it is being stored prior to restoration. In mid-July, Lacy and Krogh, along with Bill Lear’s daughter-in-law, inspected the airplane and received a presentation on the foundation’s plans for it. The pair became the primary acquisition sponsors, making up for the shortfall in purchase funds. While the engines had previously been removed and sent for overhaul, the restoration process on the airframe itself will now commence.