 Approval of this request allowed the SJ30 program to exceed the 12,500 lbs takeoff weight limit of Part 23 and paved the way for other companies to follow the SJ30 lead.The SJ30 program was the first jet aircraft company in over 30 years (since Learjet in 1963) to develop, certify, and manufacture a brand new jet aircraft.With all of it trials and tribulations, the SJ30 program showed why it is so difficult to build a company and develop and certify an aircraft at the same time, thus demonstrating why no one else had done it since Learjet.