Learjet 23  N294BC                              (c/n  unknown)

                                    

                                         In the late 1950s Bill Lear Sr became interested in (enamored of?) the Swiss FFA P-16 jet
                                         fighter.  He saw, in this basic design, the basis for a twin jet executive aircraft.  In the event
                                         the Swiss Government elected not to go ahead with the P-16 program.  Lear, in the meantime,
                                         had formed the Swiss American Aviation Corporation (SAAC) to design and build his Learjet.
                                         For various logistic and political reasons the whole enterprise was upped and moved to Wichita,
                                         Kansas in 1962 and renamed the Lear Jet Corporation.   A stylish aircraft reflecting its fighter
                                         origins, the first Learjet flew on 7 October 1963.  Initial aircraft seated 5 passengers.  This
                                         example was owned by the Boise Cascade Corporation and flew into Palm Springs, California
                                         one Spring day in 1964, presumbly on an executive golf junket.