Published on Apr 24, 2012
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1992 Radio interview from Art Bell with John Lear

John Lear, retired airline captain, with over 19,000 hours of flight-time, has flown in over 100 different types of planes in 60 different counties around the world.

Son of Lear Jet inventor, Bill Lear, John is the only pilot to hold every FAA airplane certificate, to include airplane transport rating, flight instructor, ground instructor, flight navigator, engineer, aircraft dispatcher, airframe powerplant mechanic, parachute rigger, and tower operator.

He flew secret missions for the CIA in Central and Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa between 1966 and 1983. He has flown as Captain and check pilot for over 10 different airlines.

John held 17 world records including speed around the world in a Lear Jet Model 24, set in 1966. He was presented with the PATCO award for outstanding airmanship in 1968, and the Symons Wave memorial. He was the youngest American to climb the Matterhorn in Switzerland in 1959 and in the 1970's owned and skippered the Americas Cup boat, the Soliloquy, out of Marina Del Rey.

In 1968, John raced a Douglas B26 Invader in the unlimited class at the Reno air races.

He was a Senior Vice Commander of the China Post 1, the American Legion Post for Soldiers of Fortune. He is a 20 year member of the special operations Association.

John is the current owner and operator of the only permitted gold mine operation Cutthroat Mining Corporation in Clarke County, Nevada. His efforts to clean up the Treasure Hawk Gold Butte mine won him the state of Nevada award for excellence in mining reclamation in 1999. John is a MSHA (Mine, Safety, and Health Administration) and holds a blaster license from the Nevada certified mining instructor from the Nevada State Fire Marshall.

John's passion for the preservation and documentation of the history of the Gold Butte has made him a authority on the area.

John has been a resident of Las Vegas since 1994 and was a republican State Senate candidate in 1980.

John has 4 daughters, 2 grandchildren, and lives with his wife in Las Vegas. - Las Vegas businesswoman, Mary Lee Lear in Sunrise Manor. continued...........