This was followed in 1990 by the acquisition of the bankrupt Learjet Company of Wichita, Kansas, builder of the Learjet business aircraft, and finally the money-losing Boeing subsidiary de Havilland Aircraft of Canada based in Toronto, Ontario in 1992.

Learjet is also a subsidiary of Bombardier based in Wichita, KS.

Learjet is now a subsidiary of Bombardier and marketed as the " Bombardier Learjet Family ".

* Bombardier Learjet 40 XR

* Bombardier Learjet 45 XR

* Bombardier Learjet 60 XR

* Bombardier Learjet 70

* Bombardier Learjet 75

* Bombardier Learjet 85

In 1990, Canadian firm, Bombardier Aerospace purchased Learjet Corporation.

Orders for new aircraft plummeted, prompting Wichita's five largest aircraft manufacturers — Boeing Co., Cessna Aircraft Co., Bombardier Learjet Inc., Hawker Beechcraft and Raytheon Aircraft Co .— to slash a combined 15, 000 jobs between 2001 and 2004.

Bombardier Learjet, Cessna, and Hawker Beechcraft are based in Wichita, along with Spirit AeroSystems, and both Airbus and Boeing maintain a large work force in Wichita.

* Learjet 85 is an all-composite plane being developed by Bombardier Aerospace

All new airliners such as the Airbus A380, Boeing 787 and private jets such as Bombardier Global Express and Learjet use glass cockpits.

* June 22 – Bombardier purchases Learjet for $ US 75. 85 million

Farnborough Airport sees the bulk of its traffic from conventional business jets, such as the Cessna Citation, the Gulfstream, the Dassault Falcon, the Learjet, the Bombardier Challenger, the Bombardier Global 5000, the Bombardier Global XRS and the BAe 125.

In 1990, Bombardier Aerospace purchased the Learjet Corporation.

The aircraft were then marketed as the " Bombardier Learjet Family ".

In October 2007 Bombardier Learjet launched a brand new aircraft program, the Learjet 85.

The light jets have been a staple of the business jet industry since the advent of the Learjet 23 in the early 1960s.

For business jets, the rear-engined universal configuration pioneered by the turbojet-powered early Learjet 23, North American Sabreliner, and Lockheed JetStar is common practice on smaller bizjet aircraft as the wing is too close to the ground to accommodate underslung engines.

Learjet is a manufacturer of business jets for civilian and military use.

Learjet 25, an example of the Lear executive jets that still bear his name

In 1969, the company was merged with Gates Aviation and the company name was changed to Gates Learjet Corporation.

The winglets inspired the name " Longhorn " for the short-lived Learjet 28 / 29 series and for some of the more successful models that followed.

In 1987, Gates Learjet was acquired by Integrated Acquisition and the next year the name was changed to Learjet Corporation.

Since its inception Beechcraft has resided in Wichita, Kansas, also the home of chief competitor Cessna, the birthplace of Learjet and of Stearman, whose trainers were used in large numbers during WW2.

Shortly thereafter, de Havilland Canada from Boeing, Short Brothers and Learjet operations were added.

A vice-president of Learjet, Kaye owned and operated a Learjet 24.

Although the rule still applies, the visible fuselage " waisting " can only be seen on a few aircraft, such as the B-1B Lancer, Learjet 60, and the Tupolev Tu-160 ' Blackjack ' — the same effect is now achieved by careful positioning of aircraft components, like the boosters and cargo bay on rockets ; the jet engines in front of ( and not directly below ) the wings of the Airbus A380 ; the jet engines behind ( and not purely at the side of ) the fuselage of a Cessna Citation X ; the shape and location of the canopy on the F-22 Raptor ; and the image of the Airbus A380 above showing obvious area rule shaping at the wing root, which is practically invisible from any other angle.

Cessna and Hawker Beechcraft remain based in Wichita today, along with Learjet and Spirit AeroSystems, and both Airbus and Boeing maintain a workforce in Wichita.

On February 7, 1963 assembly of the first Learjet aircraft began and the following year, the company was renamed the Lear Jet Corporation.

In one of the more dramatic scenes of the series, in season four, J. R. Ewing flies in his Learjet to the Lamesa airport.

Students benefit from extensive facilities at the Roehampton Vale campus including a Learjet 25, flight simulator, wind tunnel and automotive workshops including a range of vehicles and testing facilities.

Knowing that the only logical solution for their captors is kill them during the cover-up process, they escape in a Learjet, which runs out of fuel soon after take-off.

Bill Lear, of Learjet fame, was to provide support, along with his friend Art Linkletter.

On December 4, 1978, the crash of a Learjet 25C at Anchorage International Airport killed five people.

On February 14, 1996, Conrad was part of the crew on a record-breaking around-the-world flight in a Learjet owned by cable TV pioneer, Bill Daniels.

On 28 October 1985, Osho and a small number of sannyasins accompanying him were arrested aboard a rented Learjet at a North Carolina airstrip ; according to federal authorities the group was en route to Bermuda to avoid prosecution.

To demonstrate that the ferry was too slow for government business, he convinced a pilot friend to fly him to Prince Rupert in a Learjet, thereby managing to get there before Bennett did.

Although the Model 28 was intended to be a prototype experimental aircraft, performance was so impressive that it resulted in a production commitment from Learjet.

On October 25, 1999, a month after the American team rallied to win the 1999 Ryder Cup in Brookline, Massachusetts, and four months after his U. S. Open victory at Pinehurst No. 2, Stewart was killed in the depressurization of a Learjet flying from Orlando to Dallas, Texas for the year-ending tournament, The Tour Championship, held at Champions Golf Club in Houston that year.

* October 13-The first production Learjet, a Model 23, was delivered.

* May 23 – 26-Round-the-world demonstration flight by a new Learjet 24 to exhibit its capabilities ; flight time was 50 hours and 20 minutes.

A Grumman Gulfstream IV was later acquired, as was a Learjet 45.

For decades the popular misconception was that the Learjet started life as an abortive 1950s Swiss ground-attack fighter aircraft, the FFA P-16.

The original Learjet 23 was a six-to eight-seater and first flew on October 7, 1963, with the first production model being delivered in October 1964.

About this time it was hoped to make the Learjet the first supersonic business jet, with the ability to accelerate vertically upward.

The Learjet 28 / 29 was based on the Learjet 25, and received a completely new wing fitted with winglets, resulting in improved performance and fuel economy.