Learjet 31A

Against the Learjet 31 it succeeded, the 31A wins on three counts and loses on one. It is quicker at 456 kt, needs less runway at 3,799 ft against 4,242, and stands marginally taller inside at 52.8 in against 51.6. It reaches 1,290 nm where the 31 reaches 1,631, and that shortfall is the reason to think before specifying it. Seven seats, a 155 in cabin at 59 in wide, 40 cu ft of baggage across four bags — all held in common with the earlier aircraft.

Its landing distance is 2,500 ft, one of only two verified landing figures we hold across the fifteen light jets, so it is quoted here as a fact about the aeroplane rather than as a placing against the class. Taken with the 3,799 ft takeoff it describes an aircraft that gets in and out of tighter fields than the 31 does, at the cost of 341 nm. Production has ended. For a short, quick sector into a constrained airfield with a party of four or five, the 31A is the better half of the pair; for anything approaching its range limit, it is not.

Runway and pace over reach