WICHITA, Kan. – The small airplane that spawned the multi-billion-dollar global business aircraft industry had been sitting exposed to the elements on a ramp at Florida’s Bartow Executive Airport for more than a decade when a group of aviation professionals began exploring its rescue in 2022.

Nearly 60 years earlier, the Lear Jet 23, serial number 23-003, had made history as the first business aircraft delivered to a customer: the Chemical and Industrial Corp. of Cincinnati, Ohio, on Oct. 13, 1964.

But since 1996, the aircraft had remained in storage amid changing ownership and legal disputes.

Back in Wichita, where it was built, engineer Dick Kovich and aircraft inspector and technician Bill Kincaid were trying to determine what had happened to the airplane and whether it could be restored.

Then came a surprise.

“In early 2022, the owner of the aircraft at that time, Mr. Don Rounds from Tullahoma, Tennessee, called Dick Kovich out of the clear blue sky and said, ‘I heard you wanted to buy a Lear Jet,’” said Rick Rowe, director of public relations at the Classic Lear Jet Foundation (CLJF). “That was how the foundation got started.”

Soon, a team of mechanics and engineers was on its way to Bartow to inspect the airplane and determine whether it could be restored, Rowe said in an interview.

“They completed that inspection in July 2022 and deemed that it was a viable candidate for restoration.”

By December 2022, the organization had been registered as a nonprofit, setting in motion the effort to return 23-003 to flying condition.

Asked why the foundation chose the name Lear Jet rather than the more commonly used Learjet, Rowe said: “We are trying to keep everything the way it was in the early days.”

Support quickly came from across the industry, including enthusiasts and legendary aviator Clay Lacy, who was close to Lear Jet founder Bill Lear.

Through his company, Clay Lacy Aviation, Lacy had also helped introduce the aircraft to Hollywood stars and served as Lear Jet’s first distributor. The foundation acquired 23-003 for $90,000 the following summer.

The Federal Aviation Administration issued its registration certificate on Sept. 9, 2023, listing the Classic Lear Jet Foundation as the registered owner.

Rescue and restoration

In the fall of 2022, the CLJF reached an agreement with the aircraft’s then-owner to dismantle 23-003 in preparation for its long journey back home to Wichita, protecting it from the threat of further hurricane damage.

The aircraft arrived in late February 2023 to a rousing welcome, several months before the foundation formally acquired it.

The restoration project is well underway at the same Wichita facility where Canadian aircraft manufacturer Bombardier continued building Learjets after acquiring the brand in 1990.

The final aircraft, a Learjet 75, rolled off the production line in 2021, when Bombardier ended the program.

In all, more than 3,000 Learjets were built over six decades.

Volunteers have already spent about 4,000 hours on the project, but Rowe acknowledged that progress is slow.

“It is very tedious. Every part has to be catalogued, documented and stored. So, it is a big physical effort, and it is a paperwork effort,” he said.

The wing problem

While the restoration is progressing, the team has encountered a major problem: heavy corrosion has rendered the original wing unusable.

Rowe said removing all the corrosion and installing new skin on the wing would be almost impossible and cost-prohibitive.

“So, we got another wing from 23-028. It is a later model wing, but it is going to be adaptable for us to use on 23-003,” Rowe said.

While the replacement might affect the aircraft’s historical authenticity, he said the foundation is trying to keep it as original as possible.

“We want to make it a flying airplane, not something just sitting on the ground or in a museum.

“In order to do that, we had to sacrifice the original wing and use a different wing. It’s still the Model 23 wing.”

Completion goal

The foundation hopes to complete the restoration by 2031, with continued support from volunteers and donors. Rowe did not disclose the estimated cost of the project.

In addition to Lacy, Lynn Krogh, founder and chief executive of Centennial, Colorado-based International Jet Aviation Services, is a major donor.

Several companies are also providing support, including Bombardier, which is making space available for the restoration.

“They are not charging us. It is the greatest thing that they are allowing us to have that space to restore the airplane,” Rowe said.

Once the restoration is complete, the foundation hopes to take the aircraft to EAA AirVenture Oshkosh in Wisconsin and NBAA-BACE, the business aviation industry’s largest annual gathering.

Las Vegas will host the convention for the fifth consecutive year in 2027 before it moves to New Orleans in 2028.