The Lear Fan Business Turboprop

Even non-pilots have heard of or know what a Lear Jet is, but you’ve got to be an aviation buff to know about the Lear Fan. The Lear Fan, also known as the LearAvia 2100, was the final airplane project of business aviation pioneer Bill Lear. This aircraft was one of the two all-composite airplanes designed starting in the late 1970’s. The Lear Fan, along with Beechcraft’s Starship was notable because they had fiberglass skin on the fuselage- not aluminum- as well as other non-metal components throughout. The goal was to make the airplanes lighter and as such more fuel efficient and faster. Both airplanes were developed independently and in addition to the use of composite materials each was powered by aft propulsion. Both were two engine turbo-props with the propellers in the rear.

What set the Lear Fan apart from its’ rival as well as from any other airplane was its use of two engines to feed a combining gearbox that in turn drove a single propeller. The Starship had two aft mounted engines and two propellers set conventionally on each wing. The Lear Fan’s engines were mounted on the sides of the aft fuselage, much like any typical business jet, with a single propeller mounted at the end of the tail cone. Lear’s intent was to offer the benefit of two engines but at a lower cost and with better performance. The Lear Fan had the added safety of a second engine but with one propeller and less weight it would be faster in the air and cheaper to operate.

The ground breaking technology of this plane, apart from the use of non-conventional materials was that combining gearbox. The eventual refusal of the Federal Aviation Administration to approve this gearbox led to the end of the Lear Fan. Because of the airplane’s dependence on the single gearbox and with no available on-board backup system, should it fail in flight Lear fan then became a glider. So the Feds chose not to award the airplane its Type Certificate. Apparently it’s okay for helicopters to use two (or three) engines to feed a single gearbox and in turn a single main rotor, but airplanes are not the same as helicopters in the eyes of some federal engineers.

The airplane did fly- Lear’s engineering worked well. Three Lear Fans were built as test beds and technology demonstrators. But without a license to produce the airplane it died a regrettable death. Two of the three Lear Fans still exist- the one above is in the Seattle Air Museum and the second in the Dallas aviation museum at Love Field. If you have an opportunity to visit either place seek out the Lear Fan and take a moment to appreciate the work of one of the great aviation pioneers.

Incidentally, Beechcraft’s Starship was eventually certified and (I think) fifty or so manufactured. But the plane was a commercial flop because of its weight- it was heavier than ever intended- and its subsequent lackluster performance. In 2008 Beech attempted to buy back as many of the Starships as it could and broke them up for scrap.