Largest Learjet

Featuring an all-composite construction that needs minimal servicing, the cabins offer more space and convenience than any other medium sized aeroplane. Capable of 8 people, the plane provides fully adjustable full grain adjustable seating, allowing you to absolutely comfortably bed or relax while enjoying a first class dinner from the galleries, which is one of the largest in its sector.

Driver chairs have drawer compartments instead of the standard back pocket and larger and easier monitors make it easier for drivers to fully manage navigation. The Learjet 85 can operate trans-continental services at a maximum velocity of Mach .82 and can be purchased under Flexjet's FRA for a 5-year 1/16-part stake at US$1 million.

Learjet 85 Bombardier: Windows of opportunity slam shut

Bombardier announces a "pause" for an "indefinite period" in the Learjet 85 programme in mid-January, which has been seen by some industry experts as a permanent postponement of the programme. Considering the fact that Montreal will receive a $1.4 billion pre-tax cash bonus, representing nearly 90 per cent of total aid expenditure, and announces the loss of 1,000 workers at the company's sites in Wichita, Kan.

"In view of the downturn in the markets, we made the tough choice of interrupting the Learjet 85 programme at this point. Our efforts will be focused on our other two developing CSeries and Global 7000/8000 programmes," said Pierre Beaudoin, the company's President and CEO. Bombardier's largest, most spacious and most powerful Learjet ever heralded was probably the most risky corporate jet design programme ever.

Bombardier, presented as Learjet NXT at the 2007 NBAA Convention, forecast the major leap forward that all assembled jets would be certificated and put into operation in 2013. Like many other programmes advertised by other vendors, these breakthroughs were never achieved. Now, two years after the end of the period agreed, the Montreal-based company has refocused its priority design activities in the midst of a crisis in air traffic flows.

What a truth this forecast would be, but in a way that Bombardier Aerospace did not anticipate or want. In order to reduce production cost by $1.3 million per plane, the company chose to use compound materials instead of aluminium alloy for most primaries. Bonded structures were assumed to reduce the number of parts and thus the working time in end assemblies.

In order to achieve further economies of scale, Bombardier outsourced the design of the cockpit to Grob Aerospace, a Germany-based producer of compound gliders and powered gliders established in 1971. Not only would the Learjet 85 be the first practically fully composites airliner, but it would also be the first fully composites FAR Part 25 airliner ever manufactured by either Bombardier or Grob.

In order to reduce the cost of tools, Bombardier opted to construct the aircraft cell mainly by manually using preimpregnated composite fibre fabric with resins around a comb centre rather than using computer-controlled fibre placing or file development machinery to fully Automate the proces. On the other side, the manual laying of the bandwich structure would be very hard to realize with constant results.

After the Embraer Legacy 500, the largest Learjet of all time will have a 665 cubic foot stateroom with a shallow bottom that is the second largest after the Embraer Legacy 500. Grob's first big hit for the Learjet 85 programme came in mid-2008 when he filed for bankruptcy. Following this relapse, Bombardier opted to take the airplane home for further developments.

It soon became clear that she had to independently design a whole series of new compound building methods to construct the building itself. The company had a strong lead over the competition as its Belfast, Northern Ireland based Short Brothers plc affiliate had combined engineering capabilities including high-temperature high-pressure auto-claves.

Instead of using Shorts' know-how to build the whole superstructure, however, Bombardier decided to design a new kit of hand-laying techniques at its Queretaro plant in northern Mexico, where employees assembled wire looms and built aluminium superstructures for other Bombardier types. Instead of purchasing a high-temperature, high-pressure auto-clave and resins transfusion system in Queretaro, Bombardier opted for an out-of-autoclave (OOA) system that relies on evacuated packaging and low-temperature hardening of compound layered sandwich panels.

Bombardier thus changed to a more carbonized, self-contained design for most of the hull, but maintained the manual laying work. The Bombardier Vision airfares are equipped with the Rockwell Collins Pro Line Fusion Aviation with three 15.1 inch screens, plastic vison nozzles, industry leading optical fiber (PFD), industry leading IRS lasers and two EFSs for zero-paper card operation. The altitude of Queretaro (6,000 ft.) was also a challenge.

Conversely, computer-controlled composites layout composites, such as the Fibex file wrapping system designed by Rocky Mountain Composites, produce densely wrapped textures without entrapped bubbles or cavities that can be easily hardened using OOA packaging. The Learjet 85's R&D project did not warrant the investments, according to the program's outsiders.

A Learjet 85 cab has twin seats for eight people. However, Bombardier shifted the design of the airfoil to shorts, which invented a new high-pressure gas injection technique for the production of Bombardier's CSeries and Learjet 85 compound aircraft. Belfast manufactured the top and bottom parts of the Learjet with integrated strings as well as both wingstips for the Learjet programme, mainly from dried coal fibre plates, which are precisely trimmed by automatic milling machines.

However, the fins are made of aluminium because this material has better resistance to shearing than composites. Beams, shells and fins are then joined together to form entire wings. The Learjet 85 had solved most of its design issues. Branch analysts still believe that the company would have been called upon to maintain the constant level of compound design in full scale manufacturing.

Influenced by impressive aggressiveness in the launch of new jets,ombardier announced the re-launch of its 1990 BRJ-X projects as the greatly enhanced CSeries in 2008, the Global 7000 and 8000 in October 2010, the launch of the Challenger 350 in May 2013 and the Challenger 650 in October 2014.

It appears thatombardier was forced to pursue the CSeries, its most challenging ever venture, or continued to sell shares to Embraers E-Jets, which went into operation in 2004. CRJs, powered by the Challenger 601, had operated well until it was outperformed by the bigger, more spacious E-jets that provided greater convenience and acceptability to passengers.

However, by 2008 Bombardier needed a new compound aircraft cell, a new powerplant, a new aircraft controller and a new system engineering to make the new aircraft highly competitive. 20 years later, Bombardier was able to build a new aircraft with a new aircraft design. Initially, the designers had a challenge with the assembled hull. Next, there were issues with the DCS that put the full-function test back almost two years.

And third, the Pratt & Whitney Pure Power 1500G gearfan power units had a problem with the figure eight lubricant, leading to a disastrous power plant breakdown and a fire that damage a blade of one of the test fleet's initials. Failures of the Fly-by-Wire (FBW) controller system have been the most challenging issue for the CSeries design programme, but it is now back on course and CS100 certifications are scheduled for the second half of 2015 or early 2016, with the CS300 scheduled to come on stream six month later.

In order for the programmes to be able to comply with these dates, the Global 7000 must begin to fly this year and the Global 8000 must begin to test flights in 2016. Bombardier has not yet announced a roll-out for both aircraft types. A brand-new General Electric Passport turboprop has already been developed for the General Electric Passport engines (see page 11).

Rear restroom (not shown) has a vaccum restroom, a first for a Learjet. That' s a whole bunch of engineering work for any producer. Each of these programmes, the Learjet 85 included, is expected to have spent nearly $900 million on research and innovation in the last three years alone, and R&D activities had to be cut back in line with available funding.

As Beaudoin said in the middle of 2014,ombardier must re-evaluate resource and engineering plans. The Learjet 85 is therefore at the bottom of the hacking order. "Most Learjet 85 test pilots have switched to higher prioritisation programmes. This was before the company's redundancies in Kansas and Mexico that had been heralded in mid-January.

Nevertheless, the Model 85 Model 85 Test Vehicle 1 (FTV 1) had performed more than 75 missions and 150 flying lessons since its maiden voyage in April 2014. The FTV 1 has both a stickshaker and a pushher, but the test pilots are hoping that manufacturing planes will not require stable barriers.

The stalling speed is not yet specified and the airplane has not yet been put through its paces with Iceforms. The building challenge at Bombardier's Queretaro facility has been met, but sector analysts are wondering whether clients will accept an all composite Airframe. In the meantime, FTV 2 was in full production and should be released for test in the first trimester of 2015.

Initially, five planes were scheduled for the test flights, but the number was later cut to four. Bombardier never forecast when FTV 3 and 4 would be constructed or flew. The Learjet 85 pledged to provide customers with progressive power plants, electronics and propulsion system for all its structure design needs. Pratt & Whitney Canada PW307B thrusters with a thrust of 6,100 pounds, enhanced ventilator dynamics, longer-lasting heat-part material and emission-reduced TALON II combustion chambers drove the plane.

Bombardier's Model 85 Model Vison flying capsule features Rockwell Collins Pro Line Fusion electronics with three 15.1-inch composite portrayal display configurations with synthesized Vison PDs, two WAAS GPS receiver FMSs, one in-ertial system, two EFBs, as well as a butterfly valve system. The system styling was more like a Challenger 350 than an older Learjet, but was even more progressive.

Initially, the pilots' main air traffic controllers were operated by hand, which resulted in high air force levels, given the aircraft's take-off mass of 36,700 pounds. The first Learjet with a steerable milling machine. No light bulbs, halogens or HID lamps on the plane. Further vendors were PPG Aerospace Transparencies for the windscreens and elongated side window panels, Kaman Aerospace for the door panels, Sonaca for the aluminium front edge of the wings and the blade protection system, Eaton for the system of inertisation for compressed air tanks and hydraulics pump, Cox & Co. for the thermic and electrodynamic vertical stabilizer system and HBL India for the battery panels.

Like the Learjets the new Learjets should be equipped with winged as well as trunkanks. When Bombardier revives the programme, it will face fierce competitive pressure. Learjet 85's promises of 3,000 nm reach, 5,000 feet take-off length, Mach 0. 78 cruising speeds and eight seat capacities are appealing, but these figures can be difficult to achieve considering that its wings are set at 401 square feet and the power plants are currently set at 6,100 pounds.

The Learjet 85 cost 16 million dollars when it was heralded as the Learjet NXT eight years ago. Major rivals were the Learjet S60XR, Gulfstream G150, Hawker 900XP and Citation Sovereign. Embraer's offer is $2 million to $3 million more than Learjet 85, but it gives shoppers more reach, higher cruising speeds, a bigger cab, and fly-by-wire airfares.

Brazil's aircraft could devour many shares of the fleet, while the Learjet 85 is left behind, not unlike the Challenger 300, which is conquering shares, while the Hawker 4000 suffers from design difficulties. Meanwhile, Cessna anticipates that the Citation Latitude, a bigger Citation Sovereign variant with shallow ground and outstanding take-off and landing capabilities, will go into operation again this year.

There has 500 miles less cruising distance than the Learjet 85 and lower cruising speed, but it is also price reduced to $15 million, fewer choices. "It' s really difficult to be upbeat about the program," Aboulafia states. Likewise, others are not convinced of the Learjet 85's perspectives for the bright side. It would be regrettable indeed if this opinion were corroborated, because it seems that Bombardier's engineers have mastered many of the greatest hurdles of the Learjet 85.

Except for the lack of fly-by-wire control, the aircraft's power units, electronics and system technology are almost unmatched in the mid-range segment.