The Raab Collection announced today that it has acquired the original Collier Trophy awarded to William Lear, inventor and founder of LearJet. The Robert J. Collier Trophy is awarded annually “for the greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics in America, with respect to improving the performance, efficiency, and safety of air or space vehicles, the value of which has been thoroughly demonstrated by actual use during the preceding year.” The list of Collier winners represents a timeline of aviation, as many of the awardees mark major events in the history of flight. Lear received the Collier Trophy in 1949 for developing the F-5 autopilot with a control for landing aircraft in “zero-zero” weather.
Raab also acquired an important archive of material related to the early development of the LearJet.
