The Lockheed JetStar was designed in response to a request from the United States Air Force for a 10-passenger utility jet. On September 4, 1957, just 241 days after the start of its design, the JetStar made its first flight over Burbank, California. The Air Force ultimately did not buy the JetStar in large numbers, but the aircraft found a civil market, establishing the form factor of the now common business jet.
JetStar customers included corporations, the U.S. Air Force (as variants C-140A/B-LM and VC-140B-LM), the U.S. Navy (as variant UV-1), the FAA, NASA, and the governments of Canada, Germany, Indonesia, Iran, Kuwait, Libya, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq. Following two initial prototypes, a total of 202 production JetStars were manufactured by the Lockheed-Georgia Company of Marietta, Georgia.
The Museum's JetStar is the prototype aircraft, one of only two twin-engine JetStars built, equipped with Bristol Orpheus turbojets; production JetStars were equipped with four Pratt & Whitney turbojet or retrofitted Garrett AiResearch turbofan engines. After completion of the original flight test program, it remained with Lockheed as an executive jet until its donation to the Pacific Vocational Institute in Vancouver, B.C. in 1982. In Vancouver, it was used for aircraft maintenance training. The Museum of Flight acquired the aircraft in 2016.
The Lockheed JetStar was designed in response to a request from the United States Air Force for a 10-passenger utility jet. On September 4, 1957, just 241 days after the start of its design, the JetStar made its first flight over Burbank, California. The Air Force ultimately did not buy the JetStar in large numbers, but the aircraft found a civil market, establishing the form factor of the now common business jet.
JetStar customers included corporations, the U.S. Air Force (as variants C-140A/B-LM and VC-140B-LM), the U.S. Navy (as variant UV-1), the FAA, NASA, and the governments of Canada, Germany, Indonesia, Iran, Kuwait, Libya, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq. Following two initial prototypes, a total of 202 production JetStars were manufactured by the Lockheed-Georgia Company of Marietta, Georgia.
The Museum's JetStar is the prototype aircraft, one of only two twin-engine JetStars built, equipped with Bristol Orpheus turbojets; production JetStars were equipped with four Pratt & Whitney turbojet or retrofitted Garrett AiResearch turbofan engines. After completion of the original flight test program, it remained with Lockheed as an executive jet until its donation to the Pacific Vocational Institute in Vancouver, B.C. in 1982. In Vancouver, it was used for aircraft maintenance training. The Museum of Flight acquired the aircraft in 2016.