2024 In Review - January 2025

Wow what a Year for 23-003 and the Classic Lear Jet Foundation!

The biggest and most important event of the year was the long term hosting agreement being signed by the Wichita Airport Authority, the City of Wichita, Bombardier and the Classic Lear Jet Foundation! The hosting agreement subleases bays 9 and 10 of building 14 to the CLJF from the primary lease holder, Bombardier. On October 12, 2024, 23-003 N200Y was moved into Bay 9 of building 14, the former Learjet Delivery Center where its restoration process is now serious!

In January we announced that restoration for 23-003 had officially begun with the removal of the first panel, the pilot’s nose avionics door and our first official call for volunteers was sent out. Renowned videographer Tom Zwemke produced a promotional video on the Classic Lear Jet Foundation.

In March the interior was removed from 23-003 and the first inspection, the cabin skin thickness checks were successfully completed. The months since then have seen numerous removals: cockpit instruments, instrument panel, throttle quadrant and floor boards, control column, glareshield, etc. In order to remove the cabin wiring, removal of the circuit breakers from their panels was required. We discovered that 23-003 was built without break plugs between the circuit breaker and its wiring. They are ‘hard wired’! The last of the pilot and copilot circuit breaker panels were finally removed on August 6^th.

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Progress Report - November 2025

By Kristen Nuss • December 5, 2025

With the removal of the windshields, glareshield and remaining instrument panel framework, we now have access to the foam insulation around the forward pressure bulkhead and the most forward fuselage. Ryan Timesch, owner of Best Engineered Performance Coatings (BEPC), and his daughter Raegan, came out on November 14 and 15, 2025 to finish their removal of foam beneath the cockpit floor and these now exposed areas in the forward fuselage. Following completion of the interior foam removal, the fuselage was moved to the north side of the hangar where it will be prepared for the Non-Destructive Inspections (NDI). It will be secured so that, after the NDI, any defective fuselage structure that is found can be repaired or replaced safely without allowing the fuselage to move or twist. The wing was moved to the south side of the hangar. Visitors, November 2025 Shane Johnson and family came out on Friday, November 15, 2025, to witness the dry ice blasting first hand. They were impressed at how easily and completely the dry ice removed the fuselage foam. They were able to see the before and after effects of the dry ice. The latest Flight Safety International (FSI) Model 45 training class visited 23-003 on November 6, 2025. Rick Rowe, CLJF Director of Public Relations, and Ron Forshee, CLJF Board member, provided the tour for the class and their instructors Abe Vidulich and Phil Heseltine.

Progress Report - October 2025

By Kristen Nuss • November 4, 2025

We continue to work toward preparing 23-003 for the Non-Destructive Inspection (NDI) phase of her restoration. The cabin windows were removed on October 8, 2025. As of October 9, 2025, we are moving forward with the preparation efforts for the removal of the windshields. Lee Aerospace will do the actual removals in order to accurately manufacture duplicate windshields to fit into the existing structural framework and fastener hole pattern. Lee Aerospace will also manufacture new cabin windows for 23-003 N200Y! We are going through the wiring from each connector in the wiring bundle, that was previously removed from 23-003, comparing each wire to the production wiring diagrams to identify the purpose of each wire. This information will be used when we build the new wiring harness to ensure that it accurately covers all of the needs of 23-003. The tip tanks were taken to the K&L Body Shop by owner Larry Ortiz to have the last remnants of paint and aerodynamic filler (Bondo) removed on October 21, 2025. Thank You Larry Ortiz and the K&L Body Shop for coming forward to help with the restoration!

Progress Report - September 2025

By Kristen Nuss • October 2, 2025

A major step in the restoration of 23-003 N200Y was achieved on September 9, 2025 when it returned from having the paint stripped from the fuselage, tip tanks and horizontal stabilizer. As you can see in the photos, we will have to manually remove the remaining bits of paint (download the full newsletter to view photos). The next step is to complete some additional dry ice blasting and remove the windshield and windows then start the Non-Destructive Inspections (NDI) of the fuselage structure. This will identify any structural components, skin, frames, etc. that will require repair or replacement. The crew that stripped the paint paused in front of the fuselage of 23-003 just before it was loaded onto a Patton Trucking trailer for the trip back to building 14. They are (not in order in the photo): Dave Lewis, Kevin Dome, Harold Haviland, Will Brown, Joseph Irwin, Adam Biggs and Jay Prideaux (not pictured). A big THANK YOU to the anonymous vendor that donated his company’s time and resources to strip the paint! Also, THANK YOU to Patton Trucking for donating their equipment and personnel to take 23-003 to the paint stripping facility and bring her home again.