Holiday Special Edition - December 2025

If you receive the RECHARGE newsletter, we assume you are already a valued supporter or donor to the Classic Lear Jet Foundation. We want to wish you a happy holiday season and we feel it appropriate to provide feedback on just what exactly your support has provided over the last year. Our mission is to restore the aircraft to an airworthy condition and return it to its 1964 original appearance.

Due to its historical significance, we are looking much more in depth than a traditional aircraft inspection. Every part of this aircraft is being removed, inspected and cataloged for future repairs, restoration and reinstallation. Our electricians are fully documenting the electrical wiring in the aircraft, carefully identifying each individual wire and preparing to re-manufacture that wiring. With 147,000 inches (2.3 miles) and hundreds of engineering changes that’s a big job.

We also spend a lot of time evaluating the necessary repairs and restoration of the aircraft structure and systems. We have made many field trips in search of aircraft structural and system components. Most of which are long obsolete, some of which we have found, some remain elusive, some we will have to fabricate. Another area of activity is seeking out donors for services, such as fabrication of replacement parts, (Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul) and necessary aircraft verification services. Behind the scenes, these hours are worked by a team of 7 individuals who donate their time every Tuesday and Thursday. As of this writing our volunteers have donated approximately 1900 aircraft labor hours with 1400 being logged since January 1.

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Progress Report - April 2026

By Kristen Nuss • May 1, 2026

April was a historic month in the restoration of 23-003 N200Y!! First, on April 14 th , after final leveling, the fuselage cradles, jacks and supports were secured firmly to the hangar floor with a special plaster mixture containing hemp fibers (some ropes are made with these fibers). This plaster mixture is commonly used on the factory floor to set tooling jigs so that they cannot move ensuring accurately produced parts and assemblies. With the fuselage secured, we were able to start the removal of skins from the fuselage that need replacement or repair. On April 21, 2026 Hartney Hummer removed the 1st skin panel!! This panel is on the left side of the fuselage, just aft of the engine pylon. This particular panel is not repairable and will have to be replaced. Removal of this panel will also allow the non-destructive inspections (NDI) of the aft fuselage to continue. The NDI test equipment is too big to fit inside the aft fuselage so it will be positioned outside of the stringers pointing inside. International Turbine Industries (ITI) has started the restoration of our CJ610-1 engines. The inspection of the engine cases has started in preparation for them being shipped out to have a coating applied. During earlier discussions between ITI and CLJF, we decided that during the restoration, the engines will be upgraded to the ‘dash 4’ (CJ610-4) configuration. The CJ610-4 engine is a previously approved FAA configuration for the Model 23.

Progress Report - March 2026

By Kristen Nuss • April 1, 2026

Our March progress has been slowed somewhat because of the construction activity being accomplished in bays 1 and 10 at the north end of building 14. 23-003 is in bay 9 which shares a hangar wall with bay 10. The construction has cut electrical power to this wall, but we are working around this problem. Also, our access to bay 9 now involves having to go through a badge access turnstile which limits our volunteers to those of us who have contractor badges. Even with these construction issues, we are continuing with the cutting and marking of the new wiring for the new wiring harness and tracking parts. Also, the wing that we acquired from 23-024 arrived at building 14 on March 3, 2026. We are using this wing to salvage parts including the leading edges, hydraulic components, etc. that will help with the restoration of 23-003 and needed spares. We are completing the final leveling of the fuselage and securing the supports. This will allow us to remove damaged fuselage skins. With these skins removed, Non-Destructive Inspections (NDI) can continue in order to provide us additional data on the fuselage structural integrity. Ed Grabman, Experimental Test Pilot at the Bombardier Flight Test Center, has agreed to chair the 23-003 Cockpit Configuration Committee. This committee is tasked with determining the cockpit upgrades required to operate 23-003 in the current airspace system while maintaining, as much as possible, the look of the original cockpit. Parts donated by Incora are continuing to arrive with the latest delivery on March 3rd. These much needed, and greatly appreciated, parts include mechanical hardware, aircraft wiring and some electrical components.

Progress Report - February 2026

By Kristen Nuss • March 3, 2026

The tip tanks and keel beam are back in Florida!! S.E.A.L. Aviation has generously volunteered to rebuild and restore our tip tanks and keel beam! Since they are in southern Florida, we loaded them up in a truck for the trip back to Florida. Ron Forshee and Chris Marshall volunteered to make the long drive. They departed Wichita on February 15 th at 12:35 pm and arrived in Florida at the Global Jetcare hangar two days and 1,306 miles later on February 17th. The tip tanks and keel beam will now be taken to the S.E.A.L. facility for restoration. A volunteer has started cleaning the flight controls, ailerons, flaps, etc., so that we can accomplish the necessary detailed inspections. As you can see in the photo below, they are quite dirty after sitting outdoors for years. Volunteers Dan DeMott and Cliff Ives are identifying all of the hydraulic and fuel tubes and components that have been removed from 23-003 with part numbers and Parts Catalog locations. The tubes will also have metal ID tags to facilitate vapor degreasing when the time comes for this operation. Another milestone was reached late this month in the restoration of 23-003: The fuselage has been firmly tied down, securing it to prevent any movement. This will allow us to now start the necessary structural repairs! In the photos below you can see the cradles and supports securing the fuselage. One cradle just forward of the cabin door, a cradle aft of the cabin window, the jacks on the engine beams, a cradle just aft of the engine pylon and the tail stand.