SAAC-23

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SAAC-23
Model SAAC-23
Type: Business jet
Design country:

SwitzerlandSwitzerland Switzerland United States
United StatesUnited States 

Manufacturer:

FFA and Lear Jet Corporation

First flight:

none, there is only one project

Commissioning:

was never put into service

Production time:

was never produced in series, successor product 1962–1966

Number of pieces:

0, successor product 104

The SAAC-23 was at the beginning of the 1960s the feasibility study of a Swiss business aircraft .

prehistory

The FFA developed the FFA P-16 combat aircraft for the Swiss Air Force . After the second crash of a pre-production aircraft (the second crash of five P-16s manufactured to date), the Swiss government canceled the purchase of 100 P-16s. The flight and Fahrzeugwerke Altenrhein therefore tried to find export customers for the P-16th For the USA the version AJ-7 with modified, shortened engine outlet and a fin under the stern as well as the afterburner engine GE-J-79-11A was planned.

Because of this project, William P. Lear's son tested the P-16 in Switzerland. William P. Lear had developed the LearStar, his first business jet, back in the 1950s. To do this, he equipped the airframe of a Lockheed Model 18 Lodestar with new systems and interior fittings for eight to twelve passengers. After Lear had sold the licensing rights to the LearStar, he began to turn to the development of a small business jet in around 1960. His son Bill Lear pointed out the good flight characteristics of the P-16, especially the wings, which allowed short take-off and landing distances.

SAAC-23

As part of the project, Lear founded the parent company Swiss American Aviation Corp. in Delaware in April 1960 . (SAAC) with a subsidiary Aviation Development Corp. in St. Gallen . Later the headquarters of the Swiss American Aviation Corp. in Wichita , Kansas USA and in Geneva , Switzerland. In Switzerland, the design was revised with the assistance of Gordon Israel, who had previously designed the Grumman F7F Tigercat and the Grumman F9F Panther before joining Lear to develop the LearStar. Further development work in Switzerland was carried out by Hans-Luzius Studer, who designed the FFA P-16 fighter aircraft for Flug- und Fahrzeugwerke Altenrhein, from which the wings were largely taken over. The project was named SAAC-23.

The SAAC-23 should be a business jet in low-wing design and cruciform tail are two jet engines on the tail, Flügelendtanks, chassis with two wheels and two windows on each side of the fuselage for the passenger area. The rudder / elevator, wing and landing gear should be based directly on the P-16 components.

It was planned to produce the rudder / horizontal stabilizer, wings, wing end tanks and the landing gear at FFA and the fuselage, engines etc. in the USA. There should be two assembly lines, one in the US and one in Switzerland. It was rare at the time that aircraft assemblies for civil machines are produced on different continents and then shipped to different assembly lines. With the landing gear that came directly from the P-16, the SAAC-23, unlike the Learjet 23, would also have been capable of operations from field airfields . However, William Lear did not agree with the requirements of the Swiss Confederation regarding work and production regulations and considered the administrative processes to be too cumbersome. So the idea of ​​two assembly lines was discarded and the aircraft design was revised.

Technical specifications

FFA P-16 X-HB-VAC & LJ-23 N803LJ
Parameter Data
Cruising speed 850 km / h
Range 3000 km
Seats Max. 9
Runway 1000 m
Flight mass 5600 kg

Follow-up project Learjet 23

After its constructive revision and the reorganized production planning, where the Lear Jet Corporation clearly had the lead and the Flug- und Fahrzeugwerke Altenrhein clearly only acted as a supplier, the aircraft received the designation Learjet 23, although FFA was supposed to build the prototypes, but not in serial production will be integrated because of the commissioning of the Mirage III production for the Swiss Air Force. In 1962, the cost of series production had risen to such an extent that Lear abandoned the concept of international production and envisaged production in the USA alone. He founded the Lear Jet Corp in Wichita for this purpose . and there began the production of the prototypes with parts already produced in Switzerland. A few modifications were made before construction of the prototypes began. B. the rear fuselage extended by 51 cm and the engines moved 51 cm to the rear. The rudder areas have also been enlarged compared to the original design.

The 30-minute first flight of the Lear Jet 23 (the name was later written down as Learjet) of this revolutionary type took place on October 7, 1963 in Wichita. A second prototype began flight tests on March 5, 1964. Efforts to obtain FAA approval suffered a setback when, on June 4, 1964, the first prototype had to belly land on its 167th flight and then burned out. The two pilots survived. FAA approval was confirmed on July 31, 1964. The number "23" in the type designation was chosen because the draft should meet the requirements of the Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR) Part 23 published by the FAA . These specified an upper weight limit of 12,500 lb (5675 kg).

The FFA was to take over sales and maintenance of the Learjet 23 in Europe. Therefore the Learjet 23 with the registrations N803LJ and N706L were exhibited together with the FFA P-16 X-HB-VAC and X-HB-VAD in Altenrhein . However, this idea was not pursued either and the collaboration between the FFA and the Lear Jet Corporation was finally terminated.

literature

  • One thousand Learjets ... and a Longhorn or two! In: AIR International, May 1980, p. 215 ff.
  • John WR Taylor (Ed.): Jane's All The World's Aircraft - 1965–66. Sampson Low, Marston & Company Ltd., London 1965.
  • William Green, Gerald Pollinger: The Planes of the World. Werner Classen Verlag, Zurich and Stuttgart 1960.
  • Georges Bridel: Swiss jet planes and jet engines. Swiss Museum of Transport, Lucerne 1975, ISBN 3-85954-902-2 .
  • Hanspeter Strehler: The Swiss P-16 jet aircraft. 2004, ISBN 3-033-00051-7 .
  • Roman Schürmann: Helvetic hunters. Dramas and scandals in the military sky. Rotpunktverlag, Zurich 2009, ISBN 978-3-85869-406-5 .
  • Luc Leonardi: P-16, prototypes suisses d'avions à réaction, N-20, Lear Jet, Piranha. Editions Secavia, Genève, 2011, ISBN 2-88268-015-5 .
  • Jakob Urech: The airplanes of the Swiss air force since 1914. Publisher: Department of the military airfields Dübendorf, 1974 Verlag Th. Gut, 8712 Stäfa ZH.

Web links

Commons : SAAC-23  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ John Fricker: Switzerland's P-16 - Father of the Learjet. AIR International, March 1991, pp. 139-146.