The Model 45 was Learjet's first "clean-sheet" (all-new) design since the development of the original Model 23. An external 50-cubic-foot baggage area is also provided. Typical interior configuration is eight passenger seats, in a double- club seating arrangement, and a fully enclosed toilet (usable as a 9th seat) and an adjoining 15-cubic-foot baggage area. The plane was designed around a flat-floor cabin, with a non-circular cross-section for additional headroom. It has a 1,971-nautical-mile (3,650 km 2,268 mi) range at Mach 0.81 with four passengers on board. It offers the operating economics typical of a "light" business jet, but the performance and comfort of a "mid-size" business jet. In size, the LJ45 and LJ45XR fit between the smaller Learjet 31 and Learjet 40, at the low end, and the larger Learjet 60 at the top of the Learjet product line. However, 10 years later, a 2017 "Used Aircraft Report" by Business & Commercial Aviation magazine indicated that owners now regard the aircraft as "gas-and-go airplane" and credit it "with great reliability," and the article's author, B/CA senior editor Fred George, describes it as "a rock-solid reliable workhorse." īy 2018, Learjet 45/45XRs were priced at $1.5–4.9 million. īy 2007, Model 45 operators were said to have a "love-hate" relationship with the aircraft – appreciating its exceptional combination of performance, payload and economics, but frustrated by frequent maintenance problems, often grounding the aircraft, and difficulty getting prompt and adequate product support and parts. The FAA grounded all Learjet 45s, across the nation, and they all sat on the ground for a month, while the manufacturer struggled to develop a fix and get it to aircraft in the field. Problems came to a head in August 2003, when the FAA discovered a defective fastener for the Model 45's horizontal stabilizer could break, sending the airplane into a fatal dive. These and other problems commonly forced Model 45 operators to ground their aircraft about once a month, limiting their use.
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Initially, numerous mechanical and electrical problems began appearing in the aircraft after delivery – including cracked windshields, problems with pressurization, fried power distribution panels, and inappropriate alarms. By November 2010, over 500 of the Model 45 and 45XR had been delivered. Deliveries and difficulties īy late 2006, Learjet had delivered over 300 Model 45s (40 of which were its improved version, the Model 45XR). Some customers' orders were delayed more than two years. Initially, delays in production resulted in frustrated customers and lost or delayed revenues. The aviation magazine Flying reported that the Lear 45 was first certified under FAR Part 25 (transport category rules) in 1998. FAA certification was delayed, and finally granted in September 1997, with the first customer aircraft subsequently delivered in mid-1998. First flight of the prototype aircraft took place on Octo– the 32nd anniversary of the first flight of the original Learjet 23. The development of the LJ45 began in 1989, but was not announced by Bombardier until September, 1992. But, as a clean-sheet design (starting from scratch), being built to more rigorous (FAR Part 25) rules than previous Learjets, the aircraft's development took substantially longer than that of previous Learjet models.
The Model 45 was developed to make Learjets fundamentally more competitive against newer designs from competing manufacturers. The Model 45 was Learjet's first completely new ("clean sheet") design since the company's first aircraft (all other models having been evolved from the original 1963 Learjet design, the Model 23). The Model 45 was developed in the 1990s as a competitor in the "super-light" business jet category, a rival to the popular Cessna Citation Excel / XLS – but sacrificing the Cessna's stand-up room for the Learjet family's traditional high-speed performance.
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