Bombardier’s Learjet 40XR
It’s fast, roomy and economical–sexy too
By Mark Huber - June 1, 2009
Cut two feet off the Learjet 45’s fuselage, throw out two passenger seats, drain 100 gallons of fuel and this is what you get: a $9.46 million bullet that is sexy, leggy and fast. It’s called the Learjet 40XR.
Unless you view this airplane through engineering and manufacturing lenses, it’s easy to be skeptical about it. When Bombardier was looking for a successor for the Learjet 31A, it saved a pile of money by essentially taking the Model 45 to the chop shop rather than developing a true “clean sheet of paper” airplane. The Learjet 40 shares the 45’s engines, avionics, wing, cockpit and fuselage cross-section, but it costs $2.4 million less.
It’s easy to see the marketing logic in this. After an extremely difficult gestation period, the nine-passenger (plus two pilots) Model 45 turned out to be a fine airplane and offered the market a unique value proposition: midsize-cabin capability like you’d find in a Hawker 800XP or Cessna Citation XLS mated to the direct operating costs of a smaller Citation Encore or Beechjet. That, and (as our friends in England would say) it was faster than stink (464 knots). But to get full range (2,032 nautical miles) from the 45, you can take only four passengers with full fuel. Five seats (if you count the belted potty) are basically wasted.
Work began on the Learjet 45 in 1992 and deliveries started in 1998. More than 350 currently are in service. When Bombardier announced the 40 in 2002, it already had a big body of knowledge on its key systems and performance, thanks to its experience with the 45. Deliveries of the 40 began in 2004.
Later that year, Bombardier started deliveries of a longer-range variant of the 45, the Learjet 45XR. The aircraft features a 1,000-pound increase in maximum takeoff weight, slightly more fuel capacity and a pair of up-rated Honeywell TFE731-20-BR engines that reduced balanced field length at higher temperatures, improved time to climb and delivered better high-speed cruise. Under certain circumstances, the 45XR’s performance improvement is dramatic. For example, out of Aspen, Colo., the 45XR with eight passengers will fly almost 1,000 nautical miles farther than a standard Learjet 45. The 45XR also had a restyled cabin with more comfortable seats, additional legroom and better lighting.
Those changes, including the engines, were incorporated into the Learjet 40 beginning in 2006 and retroactively to older models via compliance with a company service bulletin. These airplanes are known as the Learjet 40XR. As in the 45XR, the up-rated engines deliver dramatically better performance in high/hot conditions. For example, taking off from Jackson Hole, Wyo., with full fuel and six passengers, a
40XR will fly 936 nautical miles farther than a Model 40. Time to Teterboro, N.J.: three hours and 39 minutes.
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