[Hand flying qualities: On a scale of ten. The Jetstream31 rates a one, (heavy breakout forces, yet barely stable. meaning that you constantly have to fly it but it's heavy on the controls and wears you out. It is difficult to land and taxis like the the way a worn out Ford pickup drives).
The MD 80 rates a five, (it's nice and stable, but the non-boosted controls take a lot of deflection and muscle. The Douglas might be easy to land, but good landings must take more than a thousand hours to learn, because I'm not there yet)
The tip tank Lears rate a seven (they are nice and light on the controls, responsive, and obviously climb well, yet the tip tanks add to dutch roll and the drag rise at approach speeds will bite you quick. Landings are OK, just don't use too much bank in a cross wind)
The Brasilia rates a seven as well, (it was a little heavy but responsive and stable and landings were only moderately difficult )
Longhorn wing Lears rate an eight for the 55 and a nine for the 60. (the 60 gets one more point because its engines are FADEC controlled. These airplanes are well balanced in pitch, roll and yaw, they are stable and don't require constant attention yet the control forces allow for low effort flight. Landings are easy, and in nice smooth air you can even feel the 60's delta fins push the nose over when they hit ground effect, very cool)
Autoflite qualities: The J31 gets a pass here becaouse the piece of trash doesn't even have an autopilot.
MD80's rate a three (the autopilot and autothrottles are of the same vintage as the radio shack TRS80 computer. It is not intuitive to say the least. It can be flown well but requires a lot of mental effort)
The Brasilia rates a six, ( my memory is fading a bit, but it was fairly easy to manipulate)
The Lear FC200 a/p found in most of the thirty series flys the aircraft well and is intuitive to operate but suffers from the lack of an altitude capture feature. It gets a six as well.
The Lear 55 with it's FC500 a/p gains the altitude capture feature but is otherwise the same as the FC200 in the Lear 35. but the altitude capture is worth an eight.
The Lear60 a/p rates a nine, it is easy and smooth.
Systems: The J31 ties with the Brasilia at a rating of four. The J31 is physically built like a tank, but its systems are weak or poorly engineered, like the steering and antiskid systms.
The Brasilia is more complicated than a 737 or the MD80. It's computer controlled flaps, double acting hydraulic props, automatic everything electrical system, etc are just too much for a thirty seat tprop.
The MD80 rates an six on systems, it is simple and reliable. The electrical system is much more simple than the Brasilia. I would rate the Douglas an eight, but it requires to much mental effort to operate because it it almost totally manual. For example, there are six steps necessary to turn on the wing anti-ice system.
I rate the Lears at a nine, because they are dirt simple, reliable and easy to learn and operate.
Ergonomically, the Brasilia was the best cockpit layout and the Jetstream the worst. I trained on the 737 and liked it, but I've not flown it since the rating.
I left out the B1900 series because they were not transport catagory aircraft. For that matter, I'm not sure that the J31 is either, but it is such a piece of cra* that I had to include it for the sake of comparison. For the record, had the 1900 been a part 25 aircraft, it would rank an average of eight.
regards
8N
BTW, your buddy is correct about the DC9 series leaking liquid into the cockpit. The pilots will get wet if you sit on the ramp in a rain shower.
CRJ-SWEEEEET, easiest ever. 1200hrs.+
EMB- sweeeet, great a/c + all the bugs you could imagine, 1500hrs.+
J-32- hardest yet, this a/c will make you work harder, for every nm 
