Progress Report - March 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.

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Progress Report - October 2026

By Kristen Nuss • November 9, 2026

Our volunteers have been very busy this month. We are preparing the control surfaces for paint stripping by taping over every opening in order to prevent the solution from getting inside. Each control surface will then be thoroughly inspected and repaired if necessary. The stripping will be done by the same company that donated their services to strip the fuselage. Work continues on the huge task of sorting through the wiring diagrams to identify every wire in the harnesses and the part numbers of each connecter, switch, hardware, etc. These part numbers will put on a list and then sent to Incora, who is donating the new parts in order for us to build a completely new wire harness to replace the original 62-year-old harness. Every part removed from 23-003 must be tagged with its part number and, if applicable, serial number, then carefully stored in a known location for future repair, restoration or replacement. Also, every donated part is logged in with its paperwork, then safely stored for future use.

Progress Report - September 2026

By Kristen Nuss • October 2, 2026

Work continues on the removal of the baggage floor. The process includes removing the fiberglass ducts on the left and right sides of the divan floor, then removal of the step between the divan floor and baggage floor. The photo below, looking aft, shows the various parts included in removing the baggage floor. Note that the right side of the baggage floor has been raised to aid in the removal of the right-hand fiberglass duct. Hartney Hummer removed right hand fiberglass duct on September 10, 2026. In the photo on the right below, where the duct has been removed, you can see the fuselage foam insulation that was hidden behind the duct and will have to be removed using the dry ice blasting technique. Major Wing Decision We have made the difficult decision to replace the wing on 23-003. When we first inspected the 23-003 in Florida on July 20, 2022, we observed corrosion on the left lower wing skin and understood the risk that that would present. After we started the detailed evaluation of the wing in Wichita in the fall of 2024, we found the corrosion to be out of structural limits, meaning a major repair or replacement of the skin was necessary.

Progress Report - August 2026

By Kristen Nuss • September 1, 2026

It is amazing the progress that our hard working, very dedicated group of volunteers are making on 23-003. Here’s a sample of the various jobs that they do in a single volunteer day: On Tuesday, August 25, 2026, the team was working in unison on several projects: removal of the aft cabin baggage floor, disassembling the main landing gear wheels, using the wiring diagrams to identify switches, connectors, etc., researching the drawings and parts catalog, tagging and storing removed parts. They also held a team meeting to discuss progress, problems encountered and planning the next day’s work projects. We finished removing the fasteners and the enormous amount of sealant that was on the baggage floor on August 6th.. The floor is now completely loose and moving around. However, we discovered that removing it from the fuselage is going to be a lot harder than we thought! According to Jim Tidball, “Talk about a square peg in a round hole!” We put out a request for assistance from anyone that can help us remove this floor and Wes Lumry, a retiree who has been at Learjet since the early days, volunteered. On August 27th he came out to inspect 23-003 and offer his advice on removing the baggage floor. In order to get enough room to lift and rotate the baggage floor to clear the fuselage structure to remove it, we will first have toremove the step between the divan floor and the baggage floor.