LearAvia Lear Fan 2100
LearAvia · United States · first flew 1981 · transport aircraft
Bill Lear's deathbed masterpiece: an all-composite pusher with two engines geared to one tail propeller — brilliant, beautiful, and unlucky.
Recognition (WEFT)
| W — Wings | Low-mounted, tapered |
|---|---|
| E — Engines | 2 × turboprop, fuselage-mounted |
| F — Fuselage | All-composite needle fuselage — Bill Lear's last design |
| T — Tail | V-tail |
WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.
Spot it by:
- Single pusher propeller behind a Y-shaped tail
- Two buried turboshafts driving that one prop through a combining gearbox
- All-composite needle fuselage — Bill Lear's last design
A sleek white dart with a Y-tail wrapped around a single rear propeller and no visible engines — once seen, never confused.
Specifications
- The LearAvia Lear Fan 2100 has a length of 12.5 m (41 ft).
- It has a wingspan of 11.99 m (39 ft).
- Its maximum speed is 676 km/h (420 mph).
- Typical crew: 1-2 + 6 passengers.
Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.
History
Flown on 'December 32nd, 1980' (1 January 1981, so a UK grant deadline could be 'met'), the Lear Fan promised jet speeds on half the fuel. The combining-gearbox certification problem and funding collapse killed it after three prototypes.
Variants
Three prototypes; production in Belfast never began despite the factory being built.
Where you'll see it
Prototypes preserved in US museums; its Belfast factory later built Shorts components — a poignant Northern Ireland footnote.
Related aircraft
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