The names of Dee Howard and Ed Swearingen are probably familiar to many aviation enthusiasts. But the name of Bill Lear is, with his eponymous Lear Jet series, almost a household name. He too started on the road to fame converting Lockheed types, only he started converting already civilianised Lodestars into luxury executive transports called, as one might expect, Learstars. Bill Lear's Learcraft Conversions gathered together some of the best engineers and production experts around. As Chief Engineer and test pilot Lear employed the colourful Gordon Israel who had worked on the design of the Grumman F7F, F9F and Mallard, the research pilot was Ed Swearingen - obviously valued for his knowledge of the handling characteristics of Lockheed's aircraft. Lear believed that the design of the Lodestar could be improved with the wealth of knowledge of drag problems compiled by research agencies since the Lodestar was originally designed. Initially Lear offered a 270mph (432kmh) TAS at 10,000ft (3048m)at only 58% power but was aiming for 300mph+ (480kmh+). Lear and Gordon Israel made a personal bet that the Learstar top cruise would soon (January 1954) increase. Lear offered to pay Israel $200 for every mile added above 280mph (448kmh) and Israel said he'd pay Lear $100 for every mile under 280mph! Lear used his Lodestar N9991F "The Greenie Weenie" supplied by the US military for blind landing and auto-pilot testing as initial Learstar proof-of-concept aircraft. Lear wanted to get the ultimate performance from the aircraft going to the extent of changing door handles and filing down rivets to reduce drag. Finally Lear produced a cleaned up; cowlings were streamlined, wings were re-designed, a retractable tail wheel added and fuselage contours altered, high-speed (it was advertised at the time as "the world's fastest executive transport" as it eventually reached 321mph (513kmh)with up to 12 passengers) long-range version of the old Lodestar in 1953.
The first flight of the Learstar Mk 1 took place on 19th May 1954 with deliveries commencing in 1955 to Butler Aviation Co. of Chicago, conversion time was 4 months. The Learstar Mk.I was followed in 1956 by the Mk.II which offered the same performance but with a 40% acquisition cost saving, the conversion cost being $175,000. First aircraft N10P was delivered to Plymouth Oil Co. in June 1956 and served with them through to April 1962 it then went to a succession of owners till it was last reported as being abandoned at an airstrip at South Bimini, Bahamas in 1983. Lear intended to sell between 200-300 Learstars for $650,000 each but by 1956 had only sold 60 - the Learstar was losing money for Lear Inc. and more money could be made from Government contracts connected with the Korean War. Also Lear spent money lavishly on the Lodestar - a project he saw as a personal one and only a step to building his own airplane from scratch. Lodestars were acquired by Bill Lear with his own money then sold on to Lear Inc. at a profit, more aircraft were acquired than could be converted and ended up stored at Santa Monica, equipment was acquired and charged to the Learstar project only to be used for other projects, the same was done with consultants and engineers. Some Learstars made their way to Europe with Krüpps and Helmut Horten supermarkets in Germany and 3M Europe based in Switzerland. 3M Europe's (Minnesota Europa S.A.) particular aircraft was delivered Minneapolis St. Paul to Geneva in August 1960. 3M had plants in Paris, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Milan, UK and Madrid as well as distributors in Holland, Austria and all Scandinavia. The aircraft regularly carried out 2-3 hr hops round Europe. 300 hours were flown in first year of operations. The aircraft (HB-AMM) was formerly used by 3M Chairman William McKnight in the USA. While Horten's Mk.I aircraft took the impressive delivery route Santa Monica - Frobisher Bay - Dusseldorf via the Polar route in November 1957 in a fraction under 24 hours.
Work on the initial conversions were begun by the Aircraft Service Division of Lear Inc but later a separate subsidiary named Learcraft Conversions Inc was established to convert and market the Learstar.
The Learstar was not produced as a new aircraft with an Approved Type Certificate, but rather was a series, often a long series of Supplemental Type Certificates, which when combined produced a significant improvement in the overall aerodynamics of the original Lodestar. At first glance as can be seen from the accompanying photos, the changes were minimal, just the nose and tail cone and some minor changes to the wind shield. But on closer inspection a multitude of alterations can be seen with some conversions having many STCs for modifications under the skin of the plane.
At least two basic versions of the Learstar were eventually offered. The initial version was the Mk 1 which was powered by R-1820-76A engines, at 1425hp. With standard and long range models being offered depending whether one opted for the 470 USG or 696 USG wing tank held in Lear's modified outer wing. The first flight took place on 19th May 1954 with deliveries commencing in 1955 to Butler Aviation Co of Chicago (N16L c/n 2508), conversion time was approximately 4 months. One week after the first flight of the prototype on 26th May 1954, Lear Inc reserved registrations N12L through N22L, many of these registrations were worn by more than one aircraft over the years. (Other batches included N33/44/66/77/N88L and N200/300/400/600/700/800L). At the end of 1953 six Lodestars were reported as being on the production line of Santa Monica, one was the "Greenie Weenie", four of the remaining five aircraft were described as follows: one was a reference plane, one a test plane, one a mock-up plane and the fourth as a flight test plane - big money and extensive testing by perfectionist Lear was being used/employed. The second version was the Mark II powered by R-1820-56A engines at 1325 hp offering more or less the same performance but with a 40% acquisition cost saving, the conversion cost being $175,000.
A Mk 1A version was also created, this being a Mark II which was upgraded to Mk 1 status. However the FAA in their documentation refer to this particular plane as an Learstar III while flying as N100L (c/n 2573) with The Solo Cup Co of Chicago in 1957 and by 1959 they were referring to it as a Learstar 1A!
The Mk 1B was the designation given to aircraft fitted with Rocket Assisted Take Off, adding to the aircraft's weight but increasing take off performance. Sadly, no aircraft remain today with the RATO configuration but N710BK (c/n 2096) still has full controls for this between the front seats.
Lear intended to sell between 200-300 Learstars for $650,000 each but by 1956 had only sold 60 - the Learstar was losing money for Lear Inc. and more money could be made from Government contracts connected with the Korean War. Also Lear spent money lavishly on the Lodestar - a project he saw as a personal one and only a step to building his own airplane from scratch. Lodestars were acquired by Bill Lear with his own money then sold on to Lear Inc. at a profit, more aircraft were acquired than could be converted and ended up stored at Santa Monica, equipment was acquired and charged to the Learstar project only to be used for other projects, the same was done with consultants and engineers. Eventually Lear Inc. sold it's Aircraft Engineering Division to Pacific Airmotive Corp. in November 1956. Production was later taken over by them in 1957, the company renamed Pac Aero Engineering Corp and conversions continued until the early 1960s. Many of these elegant aircraft still survive today and are becoming popular with warbird enthusiasts as the market for more exotic types dries up.
Ironically Lear asked Dee Howard in 1962 to go into partnership to design the Lear Jet 23 but Howard considered it to be too small and wanted to finish his Howard 500 development and certification.
Know a/c: C/n Reg Date of conv. Notes 2027 N25635 1959?? b) 2062 N9951H 6.59 2069 N44L 11.56 2132 CF-CEC 1967 2135 XB-GEE ? 2137 N673 Late 50s 2142 N100V ? 2147 N420L 8.56 2148 N2151W ? 2182 N8000 10.59 2191 N760AC 1963? 2199 N28L 11.56 2203 N400M b) 2209 N66E 1956 2234 N770AC 9.56 2238 N26L 1956 2239 N29L 6.57 2251 N37500 6.56 2268 N200V ? 2305 N8008 4.57/1.58? 2306 N20L 6.55 2311 N12L 1955 "Greenie Weenie" 2318 N661 2.55 2323 N32L 1957 2342 N700L 7.58 2344 N80E 11.55 2345 CF-PPL ? 2373 N400L 10.58 2383 CF-BAL 7.58? 2400 N300L 8.56 2421 N12L 7.55 2424 N6L 1957? b) 2434 N35L ? b) 2467 N200L 1.57 2472 N45372 Mid 50s? d) 2474 N141PA 2.59? 2476 N17L 4.56 2482 N75GP 12.56 2484 N67H 12.56 a) 2489 N19L ? 2492A N31LG 5.57 2497 N13V ? 2499 N511L 9.57 2500 N14M 2.57 2502 N88L 8.55 2504 N42L ? 2508 N16L 1955? 2532 N343S? ? 2537 N60000 ? b) 2543 N43M 1.57 2546 N10P 7.56 2549 N1040 9.55 2573 N665 11.56 c) 2580 N120E ? b) 2583 N174T ? b) 2606 D-COCA 1957 2612 N14L Mid 50s 2613 N24W 5.55 2626 N211L 1957? 6378 N32L 3.58Notes: