A newly installed jet welcomes visitors to the Seward Municipal Airport.
Whisler Aviation installed a Learjet, donated by Harry Barr, at the entrance to the airport. Barr stored planes at the airport and flew in the annual July 4 airshow. He died in 2020.
“He was a huge advocate of aviation,” Greg Whisler of Whisler Aviation said.
The jet display is similar to one at Duncan Aviation in Lincoln. Barr was a co-founder of and longtime pilot for Duncan. Whisler said Duncan allowed the airport to use the engineering and design for the stand.
“We spent weeks getting it ready,” Whisler said.
It took three people about 20 days to finish the preparation.
Crews removed all the unnecessary weight from the plane, including the engine and interior fixtures. New opaque window coverings were designed and installed, and lights were added so the jet is visible at night. The plane body was bird-proofed, an important part of the project, Whisler said.
“We wanted the airport to have something,” Whisler said. “This is a first impression for many businesses.”
The 1976 Learjet 35A is 48 feet long and 41 feet wide. It could hold nine people, including the two pilots. It flew around 480 miles per hour and could get from Seward to Denver in an hour, Whisler said.
FCC Construction of Michigan built the stand and brought welders to mount the plane. The concrete work was done by a company in Lincoln, and a Lincoln company brought the crane to help install the jet.
“All went well,” Whisler said. “Ninety-nine percent of the success comes from preparation.”
Crews rolled the plane to the stand and then removed the landing gear, he said. The nose cone was also removed to allow room for the strapping to lift the plane into place and then reinstalled after the plane was set.
The jet is mounted nose up with a right bank.
“It’s static but not static,” Whisler said.
Lear was the first popular business jet and set the standard for business travel for years, he said. The company was bought by Bombardier Aviation in 1990, and Bombardier stopped producing the jet in 2021.
Installing the jet was not a new project for Whisler Aviation.
“It’s what we do,” Whisler said. “We transport and disassemble and put on display.”
Whisler said they try to start installations early in the day so they have time to make adjustments and finish the project during daylight hours.
Whisler and his wife Terri have installed planes around the world, including in the Philippines, Germany and two at the USS Intrepid in New York City. They have a trailer they use to transport planes around the country. As of Sept. 28, they were taking a plane apart to ship it to China.
“I like challenges,” Greg Whisler said.
They have worked on planes damaged by storms and accidents. They make the repairs in Seward and the plane flies home, he said.
Whisler, who has been the manager at the Seward Airport since 1995, has worked around aircraft for a long time. He served as a civil service technician in the Nebraska National Guard, and the helicopter on display at the Seward Airport is the one he flew during his service.
The airport opened in 1973 and was placed south of town to avoid obstructions and limit noise for Seward residents.
The airport is a busy place with 10,000 opportunities per year. It is currently home to 52 planes. The grounds include four rows of T hangars and a corporate hangar, Whisler said.
Seward works with the Nebraska Department of Aeronautics and the Federal Aviation Administration. The FAA provides grants for capital improvements, and additional funding comes from fuel taxes. The airport authority is also able to levy a small amount in property taxes.
“That allows construction on municipal airports” and projects that small airports may not be able to afford on their own, he said.
Aerobatic pilots often use the Seward location to practice for competitions. In fact, Whisler said, on Sept. 28 four pilots were practicing for the National Aerobatics Championships.
Business travelers come through the Seward airport on an almost daily basis, he said.
“You can fly from Seward to anywhere,” he said.
Visitors to Seward can use the airport’s courtesy car to get from the airport into town, he said.
While Seward doesn’t have the security systems found at bigger airports, Whisler said security is not an issue. Small planes and jets are a large investment, he said, so owners are careful who uses them.
The Seward airport is a Category B2 airport. Planes that use Seward have up to a 72-foot wingspan and can land and take off from a 4,200-foot runway.
Whisler said they wanted to install the jet by the highway but the airport doesn’t own enough ground and with utilities and other billboards, there wasn’t space. The design also takes farm equipment into consideration, being high enough that equipment can get underneath it.
