William Powell Lear (June 26, 1902 – May 14, 1978) was an American inventor and businessman. He is best known for founding Learjet, a manufacturer of business jets.

William P. Lear (born June 26, 1902, Hannibal, Mo., U.S.—died May 14, 1978, Reno, Nev.) was a self-taught American electrical engineer and industrialist whose Lear Jet Corporation was the first mass-manufacturer of business jet aircraft in the world.

Often associated with corporate jet airplanes, NIHF Inductee William Lear made his mark in car radios by inventing the eight-track tape player.

William P. “Bill” Lear was a prolific inventor with dozens of patents for a variety of machines to his name but is most famous for his work in the aviation field.

May 15, 1978 · William Powell Lear, the industrialist who pioneered the small corporate jet plane and who invented, among other things, the car radio, the automatic pilot for aircraft and the eight‐track...

Unveiled his radically new jet-powered business aircraft the Lear Jet in 1963. Initiated the design of the Lear-Fan, a high-efficiency, turbine powered pusher-propeller driven business type airplane in 1977.

What you need is an idea. Bill Lear was born in 1902 in Hannibal, Missouri. His formal education never went beyond eighth grade. During World War I, Lear served in the U.S. Navy as a self-taught radio operator. In the 1920s, he and a partner, …

Lear’s most impressive inventions were in the field of aviation where he virtually established the market for small executive jets. His development of the autopilot function for both small and large jets has been heralded as a major advancement in aircraft safety and efficiency.

William P. Lear’s name lives on in the eponymous Learjet, but his contributions to the history of automotive, aeronautical, and consumer electronics were far broader, encompassing over one hundred patents.

1902-1978 American engineer best known for his work with corporate jet aircraft. Lear also designed one of the first practical automobile radios, cramming a large volume of equipment into a package small enough to fit into a standard car.