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William (Bill) Powell Lear, Sr. recognized the FFA P-16's potential and established Swiss American Aviation Corporation (SAAC) to produce a passenger version as the SAAC-23 Execujet. The company moved to Wichita, Kansas and was renamed as the Lear Jet Corporation, production was started on the first Model 23 Learjet on February 7, 1962. The first flight of the Learjet 23 took place on 7 October 1963 with test pilots Hank Beaird and Bob Hagen.[1] Although the prototype crashed in June 1964 the type Learjet 23 was awarded a type certificate by the Federal Aviation Administration on 31 July 1964. On October 13, 1964, the first production aircraft was delivered.

With this jet a completely new market for fast and efficient business aircraft was opened. The Model 23 was the basis for a whole set of similar aircraft which remain in production.

Production of the Learjet 23 stopped in 1966 after a total of 104 had been built. In 1998 there were still 39 Model 23s in use. A total of 27 have been lost or damaged beyond repair through accidents during the aircraft's lengthy career, the most recent in 2008.

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