At this year’s NBAA conference in Orlando, Florida, Bombardier Aerospace celebrated the 40th anniversary of the first flight of a Learjet. On October 7 at 4pm — the exact time of the maiden flight forty years before — a ceremony was held, attended by pilot Bob Hagen, co-pilot Hank Beaird and Shanda Lear, daughter of Learjet founder Bill Lear.

EBAN spoke to Hank Beaird to find out more about what it means to him to be a part of aviation history and what he thinks of the industry today.

“I got involved with the Learjet project when I was finishing the fighter testing for the airforce and I wanted to get in on the design, building and the sales – the whole works of an aircraft,” he said. “Mr Lear made an announcement around this time that he was going to build this aircraft and I was keen to be part of it,” Beaird continued. “We were going to be able to travel around at altitudes above the airlines, at a speed just as fast. I asked him if I could do it and he was really quite nice about it.”

Beaird started working with Lear in Switzerland in 1961. Shortly afterwards a decision was made to move the project to Wichita, Kansas. Beaird realised that it would be a considerable amount of time between moving the project and completing it, so he moved to Florida to pilot another aircraft for a while. Lear called him when everything was ready and Beaird was onboard from that moment on.

“The flight itself was quite late in the day of course and it was almost dark,” said Beaird. “I knew the boss was quite intent on getting it flown though.

“The biggest thing I remember was the takeoff acceleration, which I expected because I’d flown a lot of fighters and I really enjoyed that,” he remembered. “The climb-out was spectacular. Then we flew it around and we tested the stability of it a little bit and slowed it down to approach speeds to be sure it flew alright.” The memories still very clear in the 79-year-old’s mind, he continued: “We decided to come in to land and my most prominent memory about the flight, was all those people along the roadway there – everybody had come out to see us flying and to see us land,” he said. “They were out there when we were on the base leg, turning around to land and I looked down and saw all those people. It was quite exciting.”

Beaird says he was confident then that the Learjet would do well. “I wasn’t surprised about the success of the aircraft,” he explained. “I knew all the guys who had worked on it and they had done such a good job of building it and testing it, with ground tests as well. We had made two high-speed taxi runs before we flew it, so I knew it was going to be alright.”

From an impressive landmark flight to mass-production, Beaird claims that it was not long before the aircraft were being sold. “We didn’t spend a long time on it, because Mr Lear didn’t spend a long time doing anything!” He said. “He liked to have things done by yesterday. So if something went wrong with the aircraft, you worked day and night to fix it – to get it back in the air again so we could do the test flight,” he added.

“The Learjet 23 could outperform everything that had come before, so it took a little getting used to,” he said, “but people really did catch on in a hurry. Some very important people bought this aircraft because they knew Mr Lear. It didn’t have any troubles getting started as some aeroplanes do,” he insisted. “We built 80 of them in the first year alone.”

The aviation world has undergone massive changes since that flight in 1963 and Beaird feels that this is a positive sign.

“The industry itself has improved over the years,” he said. “The aircraft back then used to have very noisy engines and they’ve quietened them down now by putting fans on them. Now you can get power without so much noise,” he continued.

“The electronic flight systems are probably the most important development to be made in new aircraft.”

Beaird still maintains a love of those early Learjets. “I still have a soft spot for the Lear 20 series, because they were the first I flew in,” he said. “Of course — they’re lighter than other aircraft, so they outperform them — but I like performance having flown fighters so much. “I guess my favourite aircraft would be the Learjet 24D. I still fly them today.”

Pilot Bob Hagen said at NBAA that it didn’t feel as long as 40 years since they made that flight and Beaird agrees. “It has been a long time though,” he said. “It was something which happened in a hurry, but it stays in your mind. I was extremely pleased to be there and happy that people were recognising it,” he explained, “because it was the first real executive jet aircraft and I have always enjoyed being associated with it.

“The Europeans caught on quickly,” said Beaird, “they bought some of the first ones, then we sold them in Africa, Singapore and all over. Everyone around the world wanted it because it was a low-priced, high-performance aircraft,” he added.

Beaird still maintains a close relationship with people at Bombardier and Lear. “They have let me fly a lot of their new aircraft first, right after they certify them and I’ve always been very appreciative of that.”

The most unforgettable moment of his aviation career, aside from that first flight, was a record-breaking mission. “My most outstanding memory is of our round-the-world flight in the Learjet 24. We set the record of a flight around the world in 1966,” Beaird explained. “I was fortunate to be on that trip. The jet commander had announced they were going to fly around the world and set records with aircraft, and of course ours was much faster, so Mr Lear decided we’d better hurry up and get ready to go around the world,” he said.

“There were three of us onboard taking turns to fly, so it was not as strenuous as it sounds.” He continued: “We still hold the record for a lighter weight aircraft — the 23 and 24 models were lighter than most. Some Cessna aircraft have been lighter since, but that record still stands. We did it in 50 hours and 19 minutes flying time.”