Will business jets ever become collector items ?

Reading the thread title my first thought was: MAYBE an early Lear.

Seriously though, i think the vast majority of biz jets are just toys, IMHO there exist very few applications where they make sense from a financial perspective.

Thus, the airframe gets old enough that it needs really really big inspections and such the $$$ simply overides any "collector urge"

 

Those early Learjets have incredible lines to them.
Here is an old pic of a Lear 24A. The "FS" in the tail number stands for Frank Sinatra.

I could see restoring one of these as a collectors item.
But I'd put modern avionics in the panel and maybe mount a pair of modern engines on it too.
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While google searching for old Learjet pictures, I came across this undocumented B&W picture of a Ferrari 275 GTB parked by a hangar years ago.
I think it was taken in the U.K.

Any thoughts on where and when the picture was taken?
Also, what kind of airplanes & cars are also in the picture?
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Resto-modded Lear...love it

 

The plane in the hangar looks like an Avro product though the one outside resembles a B25. The only car I can pick out is the white one on the far left, looks like a Thames or Anglia, something of that sort. I know, not much help though lol

 

The plane in the hangar certainly looks like a Lancaster, though both the color scheme and markings look unusual, and the registration appears to be civilian.

 

I honestly have no clue, but am interested in how older planes are re-certified/registered/etc. I know for classic cars, it's pretty easy to get them back on the road. No real agency you have to go through to show what you did once it gets old enough (EPA and DOT no longer are required to be met)...maybe at the State level, but definitely not in FL. How does the FAA go about the classic airplanes like P51s? Are there still a lot of barriers to entry? That would be the determining factor on getting them and keeping them in the air ($$$ of course matters).

I'd imagine the Lears and other jets will be like the F355s of the future...still look great, but costly to maintain and parts will be hard to find eventually. It would make more sense to spend the extra money can get something like a car with few electronics and parts and easy to maintain (i.e. Superformance GT40 ).

 

Great airplanes, but old and now very very expensive to operate and keep up.

There is a company re-engining the 25's with newer P&W engines and that is probaly viable. The smaller cabin airplanes are loud and are getting pinched by noise regulations. A Mustang is probably a more rational ride than an 23 or a 24...

Some were used as freight haulers for priority work for the auto compaines. When you gotta keep the line open you will pay a bundle for enough parts to run the line for a day or two while the truck is still on the road. Those airplanes got run hard and put up wet. I'm sure there are a few nice ones, but it would cost a fortune to STC the airplane with a new engine and that probably won't happen.

For that reason it will just be a collectors item and it wouldn't be very usable.

 

I think so, but more as museum pieces/hangar art than flying history lessons.

 

Somebody is restoring the old Frank Sinatra 24.

That said, no, I don't really ever see them as collector's items, unless they have some celebrity connection or something-- like the ex-Sinatra airplane.

 

What about the old North American Sabreliner?

I think actor Richard Dorf had one - saw it on a TV documentary.

 

lots of Gulfstream GII's out there

 

Not that you're biased or anything.....

 

As others have said, the cost of keeping it in the air would be horrendous. Not remotely worth the collector value, due to the ongoing inspections, and regular mx required. As a static display, they may have some small value.

As for going into the Experimental category, the FAA has already thought way ahead of owners, and basically nixed that idea. You can't re-register a certificated plane in the Experimental category and la-de-da do anything you like. The rules are very strict, and very limited. It can be moved into the experimental class, but the limitations on operation are severe. At some point, you have to turn it back into a certificated plane, or modify it so heavily that it's nothing like a Lear.

 

That is a good looking plane. Would be really cool in a darker color.

 

Interestingly, the Frank Sinatra Learjet is already owned by a collector . . .

http://www.sunlakesaeroclub.org/updates_web_data/081231/Sinatra.htm

Here is Clay Lacy's Lear - and he still flies it!!

 

The Sinatra airplane also showed up in the pilot for Mission: Impossible. I would classify that airplane as a collectible, because of it's ownership and history. Most Lear 23/24s, though, are headed for the scrap yard.

Unfortunate, because they are fun to fly-- at least the later ones. I can't fit in a 23 cockpit, although I can (barely) fit in a 24D.

 

Ain't gonna happen, thank God.

 

The company I worked for several years ago had an IAI Westwind. The company went into bankruptcy and during reorganization they didn't use the plane for nearly two years. The maintenance expenses by that time were so high that the decision was made to sell it as-is. It brought a paltry $250k, where it had been millions just a few years earlier when they bought it (pre-owned). Basically even though it was probably servicable (six figures had been spent on the interior alone a year before BK), it was more or less a parts vehicle.