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William P. Lear

Radio Apparatus

• Though his name is most often associated with corporate jet airplanes, William Lear earlier made his mark in car radios and by inventing the eight-track tape player.

• RCA purchased a radio amplifier design of Lear's, a universal unit usable in their entire line.

• Lear designed the eight-track player in the 1960s.

• At age 16 he joined the Navy, where he learned radio electronics. Following World War I he took up flying.

• An early Lear design, a practical car radio, launched the Motorola Company.

• Lear began designing navigational aids for aircraft In the 1930s and under the names Lear Corp. and LearAvia Corporation filled more than $100 million in defense orders during World War II. After the war, he developed a lightweight auto-pilot. His aircraft designs included the Canadair Challenger and the Lear Fan, an airplane built entirely from composites.

• His Radio Apparatus is Patent No. 1,944,139.