Voting Station

William P. Lear

Please vote to return to collections.

Inventor

The Resume

    (June 26, 1902-May 14, 1978)
    Born in Hannibal, Missouri
    Founded Lear Avia (1934), Lear, Inc. (1939), Learjet (1962), and Lear Motors (1967)
    Held over 120 patents
    With Elmer Wavering, built the first car radio (1930)
    Invented aviation navigation devices including the Lear-O-Scope (1935), Learmatic Navigator (1940), and Lear Autopilot (1949)
    Developed 8-track tapes (1964)
    Inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame (1978) and National Inventors Hall of Fame (1993)

Why he might be annoying:

    He dropped out of school in the eighth grade and lied about his age to join the Navy.
    He was married four times, divorced three times.
    His plans for a steam-powered car with a turbine engine never panned out.
    His last airplane design, the Lear Fan, never received FAA certification and thus never went into production.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was a self-taught engineer.
    In 1939, more than half the private planes in the US were using radio and navigation equipment built by his companies.
    His Lear 23 (1963) was the first mass-produced business jet, sold for two-thirds the cost of its competitors, and within five years had become the best-selling business jet.
    He said, 'There are two types of inventors. There is the inventor who just likes to be clever and come up with a new idea. And there is the inventor who realizes there is a need and tries to fill it. I have spent my whole life discovering needs and then finding ways to fulfill them.'

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 4 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 16 Votes: 50.0% Annoying