Aircraft
Legacy Tales: Lear Jet 23—Birth of a Legend
The Lear Jet 23 legacy spans thousands of aircraft
Lear Jet 23 hanging in the National Air and Space Museum
The Lear Jet 23's legacy lives on the National Air and Space Museum, as well as in business aviation history. (Photo: National Air and Space Museum)

There are only a handful of airplane types whose names have made it into the lexicon of the public at large: Blackbird, Concorde, B-52, and 747 Jumbo Jet, to name a few. To that list must be added the name Lear Jet (or Learjet as it later became), which rapidly became a synonym for the private jets that transported the rich and famous between their glamorous engagements and vacation retreats.

While the marque may no longer be in production, and its status as a must-have accessory for celebrities and industry luminaries long usurped by names such as Gulfstream and Falcon, its legacy will live on for decades.