C-21A Learjet
ICAO LJ35A 1970s Learjet still flying US Air Force staff and urgent medical cases. Live C-21A positions.
Flying right now
Live · 30sAirframe
- Manufacturer
- Learjet
- Role
- Staff transport and medical evacuation
- Class
- L2J — Landplane, 2 jet engines
- Crew
- 2
- First flight
- 22 August 1973
- In service
- 1984
Operators airborne
About the C-21A Learjet
The C-21A is a Learjet 35A, bought in the mid-1980s and never replaced. The Air Force uses it to move staff, carry urgent cargo and fly aeromedical evacuation, and the fleet has been repeatedly reduced and then reprieved because nothing cheaper has come along.
It is fast for its size and small enough to use airfields a transport cannot, which is why it persists. Sorties are short, frequent and administrative, flown mostly around the continental United States and Europe.
The LJ35 designator also covers civil Learjet 35s and the handful operated by other air forces, including Finland.
Callsign prefixes
- SPAR
- Special Air Resource — US Air Force staff transport
- PAT
- Priority Air Transport
How to recognise it
- —A very small jet with tip tanks on the wingtips — the clearest Learjet 35 identifier.
- —Two rear-mounted engines, a T-tail and a sharply pointed nose.
- —Fast and high for its size: often in the high thirties or low forties.
Common questions
+ How old are the C-21As?
They were delivered in 1984 and 1985 on a Learjet 35A design that first flew in 1973. Repeated retirement plans have been reversed, so the fleet continues into its fifth decade.
+ What are the tanks on the wingtips?
Additional fuel. Tip tanks were a Learjet trademark and also improve the wing's efficiency by reducing airflow spilling around the tip.
+ What does the C-21A do?
Staff transport, time-sensitive cargo, and aeromedical evacuation — moving one or two patients quickly rather than the large-scale role a C-130 fills.