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58-516: William Powell Lear (June 26, 1902 – May 14, 1978) was an American inventor and businessman. He is best known for founding Learjet , a manufacturer of business jets . He also invented the battery eliminator for the B battery , and developed the car radio and the 8-track cartridge , an audio tape system. Throughout his career of 46 years, Lear received over 140 patents. Lear was born on June 26, 1902, in Hannibal, Missouri to Rueben Marion Lear,

116-476: A Montreal aircraft manufacturer. The idea was to design an executive aircraft which would bring together a supercritical wing with Lycoming 's new turbofan engine. However, the concept was only a very rough outline, prepared by a consultant. Although Canadair took up its option, Lear eventually realized that the Canadians had simply been interested in using his reputation and skills at promotion to penetrate

174-724: A car up the steps of the General John Logan Memorial in Grant Park —with a photographer present and a policeman there to arrest him. He paid the policeman $ 10 for the arrest. In 1904, he began working for the company in Syracuse. He quickly rose in the sales and promotion areas and made a name for himself. In 1910, he moved back to Chicago to join a speculative business of a friend of his who wished to manufacture an automobile self-starter. The business did not succeed and McDonald lost his investment. In 1911, he

232-808: A carpenter, and Gertrude Elizabeth Powell Lear. His mother left his father and he stayed with his aunt, Gussie Bornhouser, in Dubuque, Iowa . Later, Otto Kirmse took him in and raised him as his stepson. The family relocated to Chicago where Lear attended Kershaw Grammar School. On Sundays, he attended the Moody Tabernacle (now Moody Church ). "From listening to Paul Rader , of the Moody Tabernacle, he learned grammar and how to speak. He found out how to meet people, how to shake hands, and what to say when he did so... He learned about hypocrisy, too", and ceased any further church affiliation. While in Chicago, Lear

290-498: A closed circuit steam turbine to power cars and buses. He built a transit bus, and converted a Chevrolet Monte Carlo sedan to use this turbine system. It used a proprietary working fluid dubbed Learium , possibly a chlorofluorocarbon similar to DuPont Freon. A prototype racing car was built to enter the 1969 Indianapolis 500 , the Lear Vapordyne. The car never entered the race and never ran at competitive speeds. Lear had

348-644: A company specializing in aerospace instruments and electronics. Lear developed radio direction finders , autopilots , and the first fully automatic aircraft landing system. He was awarded the Collier Trophy for this contribution in 1949. Lear also developed and marketed a line of panel-mounted radios for general aviation . His "LearAvian" series of portable radios, which incorporated radio direction finder circuits as well as broadcast band coverage, were especially popular. The company earned about $ 100 million during WW II for its products. Lear changed

406-455: A few other aircraft companies that were located in Kansas, which meant there were many more potential workers who would possess the skills that Lear needed to run his company in the design and manufacturing of the aircraft. Lear was offered an industrial revenue bond of 1.2 million US dollars. This would be known as the first historical industrial revenue bond offered by the city. To this day,

464-696: A hard-driving and demanding CEO, was also a yachtsman. His yacht the Mizpah (AKA USS Mizpah (PY-29) ) was one of the largest in the Great Lakes region. Toward the end of 1939 the interest in the war in Europe increased. McDonald had poor reception of any regional broadcast aboard the Mizpah and suggested that a portable radio be produced that could receive not only standard broadcast (AM radio) but higher-frequency shortwave broadcast to receive international broadcasts that use radio frequencies that could bounce off

522-520: A lieutenant commander. His commission came about as he understood the operation a device used in the Navy for recording radio and telephone conversations – the "telegraphone" – and the manufacturer was no longer in business. He remained in the service until 1919 but continued service in the Naval Reserve until 1939. He kept the title of lieutenant commander for the rest of his life, having retired at

580-529: A private, luxury aircraft . Lear's preliminary design was based upon an experimental American military aircraft known as the Marvel , substituting fuselage-mounted turbojet engines for ducted fan turboshaft engines. However, that preliminary design was abandoned and the final Learjet design was instead adapted from an abortive 1950s Swiss ground-attack fighter aircraft , the FFA P-16 . The basic structure of

638-580: A railroad electrician. Lear called the company Radio Coil and Wire Corporation. Eugene F. McDonald of Zenith Electronics ordered 50,000 coils, which were one-quarter the size of coils made with solid wire. Lear traded his Radio Coil business for one-third interest in Paul Galvin 's Galvin Manufacturing Company. At that time the radio had not yet been developed for use in automobiles. Lear worked with his friend Elmer Wavering to build

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696-514: A remote control called the "Lazy Bones" which was connected with wires to the TV set. The next development was the "Flashmatic" (1955), designed by Eugene Polley , a wireless remote control that used a light beam to signal the TV (with a photosensitive pickup device) to change stations. One problem was that during the daytime the sensitivity degraded. In 1956 Zenith began producing a remote control named after McDonald's nickname "The Commander" and calling it

754-531: A reputation for being difficult. The 75-year-old Lear died of leukemia in Reno, Nevada on May 14, 1978. His remains were cremated and scattered at sea. In 1944, Harry Bruno included William P. Lear in a list of 87 "all-time greats in American aviation ... [who] gambled their necks, their brains and their money – that aviation might grow." Learjet Learjet was one of the first companies to manufacture

812-632: A small business jet, the SAAC 23 . During the brief existence of SAAC, King Michael I of Romania met Lear and agreed to work as a test pilot for the Swiss part of the company. This was during the king's forced exile , which lasted for 50 years until 1997. In 1962, Lear sold his interest in Lear, Incorporated to the Siegler Corporation after failing to persuade Lear Incorporated's board to go into

870-658: The Farnborough Air Show . On October 28, 2015 Bombardier announced cancellation of the Learjet 85 program. On February 11, 2021, Bombardier announced the end production of all Learjet aircraft. Bombardier also announced they would continue to fully support the Learjet fleet well into the future, and launched the Learjet RACER re-manufacturing program for the Learjet 40 and Learjet 45 aircraft. As Bombardier focuses on its larger Challenger and Global jets,

928-687: The Grigsby-Grunow-Hinds Company topped that offer when Lear fixed a problem with 60,000 B-battery eliminators that they had manufactured. He came up with an invention in 1924 when power inverters installed at Stevens Hotel failed to perform for the Radio Manufacturers' Association. Lear also built audio amplifiers and cases for Magnavox speakers. The Magnavox "majestic dynamic speakers" that he produced with Grunow were very popular. Lear pioneered an early step toward miniaturization in electronics. Tuning coils in

986-479: The LearAvia Lear Fan 2100 , a seven-passenger aircraft whose single pusher propeller was powered by two turbine engines. The fuselage of this aircraft was made of lightweight composite materials , instead of the more typical aluminum alloys. The Lear Fan was ultimately never completed; at the time of his death Lear asked his wife, Moya, to finish it. With the help of investors she attempted to do so, but

1044-466: The Learjet 45 . In October 2007, Bombardier Learjet launched a brand new aircraft program, the Learjet 85 . It was the first FAR Part-25 all-composite business aircraft. Bombardier celebrated the 45th anniversary of the first flight by a Learjet with 2008's Year of Learjet campaign . One of its highlights was British Formula One racing driver Lewis Hamilton racing a Learjet and winning an event at

1102-529: The Model 24 first flying on February 24, 1966, and the Model 25 first flying on August 12, 1966. On September 19 of the same year, the company was renamed Lear Jet Industries Inc. On April 10, 1967, Bill Lear's approximately 60% share of the venture was acquired by the Gates Rubber Company of Denver , Colorado , for US$ 27 million (equivalent to $ 246,718,563 in 2023). Lear remained on

1160-459: The radio frequency stage of a set were rather large; Lear reduced their size by using Litz wire , braided from many fine strands to create a large surface area, giving it high conductivity at radio frequency. Lear borrowed $ 5,000 from his friend Algot Olson to build machines to wrap the strands, braid the wire, and wind the coils. The industry was set up in the basement of his mother's old house on 65th street, and run with assistance of Don Mitchell,

1218-402: The "Space Command". This new technology worked by sending an ultrasonic tone to the TV set, where it was picked up with a miniature microphone sensitive to only that tone. At the cost of $ 259.95, it was truly a luxury item. McDonald married the former Inez Riddle but they divorced in 1947. In 1962, four years after the commander's death, his former wife Inez Riddle McDonald Neale sought to have

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1276-498: The Earth's ionosphere (upper atmosphere) and travel great distances. One of the big obstacles to such a radio was that vacuum tubes in the 1930s and 1940s had trouble operating at higher frequencies using battery power supplies which were lower voltage than AC-operated designs. In late 1941 after many rejects by McDonald (who personally did the testing on his yacht). Zenith Radio engineers Gustaffson, Passow, Striker and Emde came up with

1334-626: The Learjet facility is still located in Wichita, Kansas, and is currently getting ready to be renovated, by expanding the Flight Test Center and building a new center for delivery. Eugene F. McDonald Eugene F. McDonald (1886–1958) founded Zenith Radio in 1921, a major American radio and electronics manufacturer for most of the twentieth century. Eugene F. McDonald Jr. was born March 11, 1886, in Syracuse, New York ,

1392-681: The Swiss P-16 aircraft was seen by Bill Lear and his team as a good starting point to the development of a business jet, and formed the Swiss American Aircraft Corporation , located in Altenrhein, Switzerland, and staffed with design engineers from Switzerland , Germany and Britain. The aircraft was originally intended to be called the SAAC-23 . The wing with its distinctive tip fuel tanks and landing gear of

1450-549: The US entry into World War II put a production halt to the "Clipper". Although no new consumer Trans-Oceanics were made, Zenith provided them for the war effort and continued to advertise and promote the Trans-Oceanic during World War II. Very few were produced (35,000), and not very many are in service presently, which makes this a very rare item. In December 1957, Eugene McDonald and Zenith engineers put Zenith Radio back into

1508-690: The Zenith products and sent sales to new records. He formed and was the first president of the National Association of Broadcasters and pioneered the development of the short-wave radio . When Donald B. MacMillan made his Arctic trip he was equipped with transmitters and receivers supplied by the Zenith Corporation. "He expanded the radio medium into international communications, ship-to-shore, radar, and VHF and UHF television." The company slogan was: "The quality goes in before

1566-528: The aircraft failed to obtain FAA certification and so was never put into production. Lear developed the 8-track tape music cartridge in 1964. Lear's invention was an improvement on the four track Muntz Stereo-Pak tape cartridge, marketed by Earl "Madman" Muntz in California in 1962, itself a version of a 3-track system, Fidelipac . The 8-track was a commercial success that provided good audio quality and

1624-503: The aircraft manufacturing business. The resulting company was thereafter known as Lear Siegler . Lear next moved to Wichita, Kansas , to manufacture the converted SAAC 23 design. In October 1963, Lear Jet started test flights on the Learjet 23 , the first mass-produced business jet . The first Lear Jet was sold in 1963; it could carry eight passengers at 560 mph and cost about $ 650,000 fully equipped (equivalent to $ 6,468,913 in 2023), about $ 400,000 less than its competitors at

1682-546: The ban on radio during World War I." One of his first ventures was with Lawrence Sorensen, selling "Loose Coupler" radios. Lear had been an "instructor in wireless" in the U.S. Navy so he confidently identified himself as a radio engineer to Clifford Reid in Quincy, Illinois . Reid was selling auto supplies and hired Lear to expand into radio. With contractor Julius Bergen, he founded Quincy Radio Labs and built speaker boxes for radios. Lear also helped develop WLAL which evolved into

1740-487: The company board until April 2, 1969, when the company was merged with Gates Aviation Corporation and was renamed Gates Learjet Corporation . In 1971, the first Model 25 powered by a Garrett TFE731-2 turbofan engine was flown. This aircraft later became the successful Learjet 35 . That year, the company was awarded the President's "E" Award for promoting export sales. In 1974, the worldwide Learjet fleet had exceeded

1798-534: The demands of their order book. McDonald was appointed general manager and the partnership was formally incorporated in 1923 as the Zenith Radio Corporation . By 1927, the company was large enough to secure its own RCA manufacturing license. McDonald was well known for his charismatic leadership style, and his unexpected death in 1958 reportedly "left a void of talent at the top" of the company. Brief summary Eugene McDonald, besides being

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1856-495: The divorce set aside. There was a long and ugly trial played out in the local newspapers. The children sided with the mother but she was finally denied her request. The McDonald estate was estimated to be worth $ 30 million, but there were also lower estimates. Details of the decision were (McDonald v Neale) filed in 1962. It was ruled against claims his former wife petitioned for. The Illinois court ruling can be seen at this link McDonald Jr vs Neale . There were two children born to

1914-555: The end of the year the company had ceased production of its commercial jets in an effort to reduce inventories. This lasted until February 1986, when the company headquarters were transferred to Tucson , Arizona , and production was restarted both in Wichita and Tucson. On September 10, 1985, the Aerospace Division was awarded a contract to produce parts for the Space Shuttle 's main engines. In 1987, Gates Learjet

1972-500: The final aircraft, a Learjet 75 , was delivered on 28 March 2022 after 60 years of production, delivering more than 3,000 aircraft, of which more than 2,000 remain in service. Learjet started off in Wichita, Kansas , and as of 2013 has over 3,200 employees. Wichita was not the only candidate for the location of Lear's project. Grand Rapids, Michigan , and Ohio were also both locations that were being considered. There were already

2030-540: The first Learjets were little changed from those used by the fighter prototypes. Although building the first jet started in Switzerland, the tooling for building the aircraft was moved to Wichita, Kansas, in 1962. Bill Jr stated that it took too long to get anything done in Switzerland despite the cheaper labor costs. LearJet was in a temporary office which opened in September 1962 while the plant at Wichita's airport

2088-453: The first car radio. Lear partnered with Howard Gates of Zenith; Lear designed the circuit and layout, Gates did the metal work, and Lear completed the assembly. Galvin initially dismissed the prototype, but later ordered a 200-unit production run. Galvin and Lear mulled over names for the product on a cross-country trip and came up with "Motorola", which was a portmanteau of "motor" and the then popular suffix "-ola" used with audio equipment of

2146-473: The market. Canadair's design had little relation to Lear's concept, and Lear had no role in its development. Nevertheless, the Canadair Challenger business jet was to have a long career, with several variants. Bombardier Aerospace , by that time the parent company of Canadair , acquired Lear Jet in 1990. One of Lear's most innovative projects was his last — a revolutionary aircraft called

2204-527: The marriage: daughter Jean Marianne and son Eugene McDonald III. The son was known as "Stormy" died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound on February 6, 1965. His body was brought back to Chicago from Arizona , where a funeral service was conducted. Prior to his death he was briefly married to Virginia Baker. For details transcribed from the Arizona Daily Star newspaper go to the link The Stormy McDonald Mystery Archived December 6, 2013, at

2262-468: The math. He was at the point of wrapping up the entire four-year curriculum in one, when he was again dismissed for showing up teachers." Lear was self-taught : "He had read widely on wireless , including the works of Nikola Tesla , the scientist/inventor. He had even built a radio set, based on a twenty-five-cent Galena crystal which he sent away for, and he had learned the Morse code , the fun ending with

2320-427: The model 7G605 "Clipper", that was met with approval by McDonald after stringent testing. Zenith advertised this new product extensively, including loaning or giving one to a celebrity or well-known individual to try and evaluate. Zenith made electronics and radio history by producing the first totally portable multiband radio designed for standard and shortwave broadcast listening. Zenith went into production in 1942, but

2378-423: The name "Longhorn" for the short-lived Learjet 28/29 and for some of the more successful models that followed. On April 19, 1979, the prototype for the Model 54/55/56 series made its first flight, and on July 7, 1983, a standard production Model 55 set six new time-to-climb records for its weight class. In 1984, Gates Learjet announced the start of their Aerospace Division, a high technology endeavor. However, by

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2436-479: The name goes on." The Zenith Corporation was a great company and a good example to others. During the Great Depression, Zenith employees took less pay and worked longer hours to keep the company alive. As the economy improved, Comdr. McDonald rewarded them with additional shares in the company and a larger portion of its profits. He became interested in the radio business in 1920 upon learning that there

2494-573: The name of Lear Developments to Lear Avia, Inc. in 1939. The company rebranded again in 1944 to Lear, Incorporated and in 1949 opened a manufacturing facility in Santa Monica, California . In 1960, Lear moved to Switzerland and founded the Swiss American Aviation Company (SAAC). The company's goal was to redesign the FFA P-16 jet fighter —a project that had been abandoned after two crashes during test flights—into

2552-520: The news with the world's first portable transistorized multiband radio, the Royal 1000 Trans-Oceanic . McDonald was personally involved with its conception and manufacture, as he was in the development of the 7G605 "Clipper" The Royal 1000 like the "Clipper" was designed for standard and shortwave broadcast reception. The quality construction and engineering design efforts, a Zenith trademark were mechanically and electronically demonstrated in this model. This

2610-404: The one-million flight hours mark and, in 1975, the company produced its 500th jet, both industry firsts. By late 1976, the company increased monthly aircraft production to ten. On August 24, 1977, the Learjet 28 made its first flight. It was based on the Learjet 25, but received a completely new wing fitted with winglets . These resulted in both improved performance and fuel economy and inspired

2668-657: The powerful station KVOO. In 1924, he moved to Chicago and built a B- battery eliminator for the Universal Battery Company with R. D. Morey. He met Waldorf Astoria Smith of the Carter Radio Company who helped him with radio theory including Ohm's law . Tom Fletcher of the QRS Company was so impressed by Lear's radio set designed around a QRS rectifier tube that he hired him, offering 60% more pay than Universal Battery. Bill Grunow of

2726-561: The rank from the USNR. He joined with Ralph Matthews and Karl Hassel, the three of them incorporating the Zenith Corporation (formerly Chicago Radio Labs) in 1923. From the call letters of their amateur station, 9ZN, they developed the trade name of ZN-th. The company survived the Great Depression and was soon the leader of radio manufacturers. At the same time McDonald launched a career as an explorer and adventurer that publicized

2784-580: The son of Frazier McDonald and Betty May Thompson McDonald. He earned his first money while a schoolboy by reading electric meters. School did not appeal to McDonald, and at the end of his sophomore year in high school he left school to take a factory job with the Franklin Automobile Company. Moving to Chicago in 1904, he became an automobile salesman with the Franklin Auto Company and, as a publicity stunt, once drove

2842-485: The time (for example " Victrola "). The product was such a success that Galvin changed the name of his entire company to Motorola . In 1931, Lear bought his first aircraft, a Fleet biplane for $ 2,500 from a woman in Dearborn, Michigan (equivalent to $ 50,088 in 2023). The challenges of aerial navigation led Lear into the development of radio direction finders and avionics products. Lear founded Lear Developments,

2900-683: The time. Although the Lear Jet was quite successful and remains in production, Bill Lear was eventually forced to sell Lear Jet Corporation to the Gates Rubber Company in 1967 due to other financial losses. In the early 1970s, Lear backed the Foxjet ST600 with its first order. The Very Light Jet project failed, but the VLJ concept became popular again 30 years later. In 1976, Lear sold an option to his LearStar concept to Canadair ,

2958-513: Was McDonald's last major involvement with Zenith as he died the following year. The Trans-Oceanic is considered by many the best-designed mass-produced portable radio made. Zenith for the most part, until the end of the model line, used the latest cost-effective technology advances and materials in Trans-Oceanics. The Trans-Oceanic model line ran from 1942 to 1982. For years it was the top selling "high-end" portable multiband radio until it

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3016-610: Was acquired by Integrated Acquisition and the next year the name was changed to Learjet Corporation . By January 1989, all production had been moved from the Tucson facility back to Wichita with an employment of 1,250. In 1990, Canadian company Bombardier Aerospace purchased the Learjet Corporation. The aircraft were then marketed as the "Bombardier Learjet Family". On October 10, 1990, the Learjet 60 mid-sized aircraft had its first flight, followed on October 7, 1995, by

3074-415: Was easily adapted to vehicle and home use. The Lear Jet Stereo 8 Division offered home, auto, and portable versions. A popular theory is that Learjets also included 8-track players. In 1965, a partnership between Ford , RCA , and Lear offered the first pre-recorded 8-track music cartridges. RCA released the first Stereo 8 Tape Cartridges in September 1965, issuing 175 titles. In 1968, Lear started work on

3132-574: Was employed briefly at a local airfield. He spent one summer with his father in Tulsa , re-building a Model-T car. Too independent to move back with his mother in Chicago, Lear struck out cross country. He joined the U.S. Navy and was sent to Great Lakes Naval Training Station . After discharge, and with a young family, "he decided to complete his high school education. Starting a radio repair shop in his home, which he could tend nights, Lear enrolled at Tulsa Central High School , taking eight solids, heavy on

3190-433: Was finally eclipsed by Sony with their digital tuning ICF-2001 and ICF2010 in the 1980s, which put the Trans-Oceanic out of business. RCA 's promoting radio manufacturers to build televisions with its no royalty policy got Zenith Radio into the TV business during the end of the 1940s. McDonald, whose aversion to commercials was well-known, wanted Zenith to produce and sell a remote control . In 1950 Zenith came up with

3248-599: Was in partnership in Detroit selling used cars, and by the end of 1912 had begun a credit finance company for the purchase of new and used cars, a commodity that had previously not been available on credit. He was the first to offer working people a payment plan for the purchase of an automobile. When the United States entered World War I in 1917, he enlisted in the Naval intelligence service and eventually became

3306-546: Was money to be made in it. However, it was necessary to hold a manufacturing license from Edwin Armstrong - and issuance of these had been suspended indefinitely. However, in 1921 he entered into a partnership with the founders of the Chicago Radio Laboratory, Karl Hassel, and Ralph Matthews. Under the tradename "Z-nith", this company held a valuable Armstrong license but lacked funds for expansion to meet

3364-540: Was under construction. On February 7, 1963, assembly of the first Learjet began. The next year, the company was renamed the Lear Jet Corporation . The original Learjet 23 was a six- to eight-seater and first flew on October 7, 1963, with the first production model being delivered in October 1964. Just over a month later, Lear Jet became a publicly owned corporation. Several derived models followed, with

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