Lancair
Encyclopedia
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
manufacturer of general aviation
General aviation
General aviation is one of the two categories of civil aviation. It refers to all flights other than military and scheduled airline and regular cargo flights, both private and commercial. General aviation flights range from gliders and powered parachutes to large, non-scheduled cargo jet flights...
aircraft
Aircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...
kits. They are well known for their series of high-performance single-engine aircraft that offer cruise speeds that surpass many twin-engine turboprop
Turboprop
A turboprop engine is a type of turbine engine which drives an aircraft propeller using a reduction gear.The gas turbine is designed specifically for this application, with almost all of its output being used to drive the propeller...
designs. Along with the Glasair series, the early Lancair designs were among the first kitplanes to bring modern molded composites construction to light aircraft.
Introduction
The company was founded by Lance Neibauer in 19811981 in aviation
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1981:-January:* January 3 – Pan American World Airways makes its final Boeing 707 flight.* January 7 – A Boeing 747 of CAAC lands at John F...
as a producer of composite
Glass-reinforced plastic
Fiberglass , is a fiber reinforced polymer made of a plastic matrix reinforced by fine fibers of glass. It is also known as GFK ....
homebuilt aircraft
Homebuilt aircraft
Also known as amateur-built aircraft or kit planes, homebuilt aircraft are constructed by persons for whom this is not a professional activity. These aircraft may be constructed from "scratch," from plans, or from assembly kits.-Overview:...
kits. Neibauer had been introduced to aviation by his uncle Ray Betzoldt, who had collaborated with Al Meyers to build the Meyers 200
Meyers 200
The Meyers 200 was a single-engined light aircraft produced in the US in the 1950s and 1960s.-Design:It was the brainchild of Al Meyers and was a development of his Meyers 145 design. The holder of a number of speed records in its class, the Meyers 200 is widely admired for its clean lines, and is...
. Whenever he visited his aunt and uncle, he always took a ride in the Meyers. Hooked, he went looking for an aircraft twenty years later and found nothing that he liked, and decided to join the Experimental Aircraft Association
Experimental Aircraft Association
The Experimental Aircraft Association is an international organization of aviation enthusiasts based in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Since its inception it has grown internationally with over 160,000 members and about 1,000 chapters worldwide....
(EAA) and design his own.
Neibauer started work on the new design by asking every builder he could find what features they were looking for in a homebuilt design. Looking to improve performance with the latest possible features, he selected the new NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
NLF 0215-F airfoil designed by Dan Somers at Langley. The NLF, short for "Natural Laminar Flow", is a series of designs that replaced the older GAW series with more forgiving laminar flow
Laminar flow
Laminar flow, sometimes known as streamline flow, occurs when a fluid flows in parallel layers, with no disruption between the layers. At low velocities the fluid tends to flow without lateral mixing, and adjacent layers slide past one another like playing cards. There are no cross currents...
characteristics. By 1983 the aircraft's basic parameters were fixed, and Neibauer rented a shop in Santa Paula, California
Santa Paula, California
Santa Paula is a city within Ventura County, California, United States. The population was 29,321 at the 2010 census, up from 28,598 at the 2000 census...
and started work on the design.
Intending to introduce aircraft at Oshkosh in 1984, a minor fuel leak in the wing tanks forced them to miss the show in order to fix the problem. A modified version of the prototype with re-shaped cowling and some changes to the wing profile emerged as the "Lancer 200" in December 1984. Equipped with a 100 hp Continental O-200
Continental O-200
The Continental C90 and O-200 are a family of air-cooled, horizontally opposed, four-cylinder, direct-drive aircraft engines of 201 in³ displacement, producing between 90 and 100 horsepower ....
engine, the Lancer easily outflew anything powered by the same engine and generated intense interest at Oshkosh '85. However, a naming conflict forced the design to be re-christened, finally going on sale in 1985 as the Lancair 200.
The 200 was quickly replaced by the Lancair 235, equipped with the slightly more powerful Lycoming O-235
Lycoming O-235
The Lycoming O-235 is a family of four-cylinder, air-cooled, horizontally opposed piston aircraft engines that produce , derived from the earlier O-233 engine....
. Re-engined versions quickly followed; the Lancair 320
Lancair 320
-See also:-References:*Lambert, Mark. Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1993-94. Coulsdon, UK:Jane's Data Division, 1993. ISBN 0-7106-1066-1.* retrieved June 24, 2008* retrieved June 24, 2008...
with the 150 hp Lycoming O-320
Lycoming O-320
The Lycoming O-320 is a large family of 92 different normally aspirated, air-cooled, four-cylinder, direct-drive engines commonly used on light aircraft such as the Cessna 172 and Piper Cherokee. Different variants are rated for 150 or 160 horsepower...
, and the Lancair 360
Lancair 360
The Lancair 360 is a two-seat aircraft marketed in kit form. It is a low-wing monoplane of conventional configuration with retractable tricycle undercarriage....
with the 180 hp Lycoming O-360. A new tail was introduced for the later models in order to address stability problems at low speeds with the larger engines.
The Lancair designs provided the highest performance in the single-engine GA class, and as the kit-build market was dominated by pilots looking to outperform existing "off-the-shelf" designs, the Lancair's kits sold well. By the end of 1990 they had sold over 600 kits for the various two-seat models, giving them what Neibauer claimed was 30% of the kit-built market.
A Lancair 320 appeared in a 1995 exhibit at the New York Museum of Modern Art.
New models
Starting in 1990, Neibauer turned his attention to a four-seat design that would retain the qualities of the earlier two-seaters. These efforts culminated in the Lancair IVLancair IV
-External links:*...
, a four-seat optionally pressurized (IV-P) single-engine aircraft with a high cruise speed. The IV broke all existing speed records in February 1991 when it averaged 360.3 mph between San Francisco and Denver.
Already stretching the limits of their existing facilities, the company started looking for a new factory and after examining 200 potential sites they moved to Roberts Field
Roberts Field
Roberts Field , also known as Redmond Municipal Airport, is a public airport in the city of Redmond, Oregon, United States. Consisting of two runways, the airport is the primary commercial airport serving Central Oregon, offering commercial flights on regional airlines and a low-cost carrier to...
in Redmond, Oregon
Redmond, Oregon
Redmond is a city in Deschutes County, Oregon, United States. Incorporated on July 6, 1910, the city is located on the eastern side of Oregon's Cascade Range, in the High Desert, and is considered the geographical heart of Central Oregon...
in 1992. The company became Lancair International with the move. As of August 1998, according to Flight International
Flight International
Flight International is a global aerospace weekly publication produced in the UK. Founded in 1909, it is the world's oldest continuously published aviation news magazine...
, Lancair had sold 1,400 kits, 300 of them the Lancair IV model. Soon after the IV was introduced, Neibauer started work on a simpler fixed-gear version that emerged as the Lancair ES
Lancair ES
-External links:*...
.
Columbia Aircraft
In 1994 NASA launched the Advanced General Aviation Transport ExperimentsAdvanced General Aviation Transport Experiments
The Advanced General Aviation Transport Experiments project was a consortium of NASA, the FAA, the general aviation industry and a number of universities which was shut down in December 2001. Its goal was to create a Small Aviation Transportation System as an alternative to short-range automotive...
(AGATE) project to re-energize the rapidly downsizing general aviation market. A series of factors, including new regulatory restrictions and immense liability claims rendered the GA field unprofitable, and most manufacturers had abandoned the "low end" to concentrate on the business aircraft market. American GA aircraft production numbers had declined from 18,000 in 1978 to 954 in 1993, an all-time low. The only area that seemed to be vibrant was the home-built market, where the liability issues were not as much of a factor.
Prominent among the homebuilt market was Lancair, and in 1994 NASA and others encouraged Neibauer to develop an FAA
Federal Aviation Administration
The Federal Aviation Administration is the national aviation authority of the United States. An agency of the United States Department of Transportation, it has authority to regulate and oversee all aspects of civil aviation in the U.S...
-certified aircraft. On 3 April 1993 he spun off a new company, Pacific Aviation Composites USA, in nearby Bend, Oregon
Bend, Oregon
Bend is a city in and the county seat of Deschutes County, Oregon, United States, and the principal city of the Bend, Oregon Metropolitan Statistical Area. Bend is Central Oregon's largest city, and, despite its modest size, is the de facto metropolis of the region, owing to the low population...
. The new Lancair LC-40 was based on the fixed-gear ES. The first prototype flew in July 1996, followed by the certification prototype in early 1997.
After a lengthy certification
Type certificate
A Type Certificate, is awarded by aviation regulating bodies to aerospace manufacturers after it has been established that the particular design of a civil aircraft, engine, or propeller has fulfilled the regulating bodies' current prevailing airworthiness requirements for the safe conduct of...
process, the design emerged as the Columbia 300 in 1998, followed by the turbocharged
Turbocharger
A turbocharger, or turbo , from the Greek "τύρβη" is a centrifugal compressor powered by a turbine that is driven by an engine's exhaust gases. Its benefit lies with the compressor increasing the mass of air entering the engine , thereby resulting in greater performance...
Columbia 400 in 2000. The 400 included a new glass cockpit
Glass cockpit
A glass cockpit is an aircraft cockpit that features electronic instrument displays, typically large LCD screens, as opposed to the traditional style of analog dials and gauges...
that was developed on NASA's own 300 under the AGATE program, and was later put into the production model 300 to produce the Columbia 350 in 2002. The Lancair Company was formed as a separate entity on 7 April 2000, and Pacific Aviation Composites was merged into The Lancair Company on 4 May 2000.
Deciding to focus on the Columbia models, in March 2003 Neibauer sold the kit side of the company to Joseph Bartels, a Louisiana attorney and Lancair IV-P builder and owner. Bartels had already formed Aero Cool to sell air conditioners for the various Lancair models. On 15 July 2005 Neibauer's portion of the company became Columbia Aircraft
Columbia Aircraft
The Columbia Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation was an aircraft manufacturer that designed and built light general aviation aircraft. In November 2007 it became a division of Cessna.-History:...
. The Columbias competed relatively unsuccessfully with the new and first-to-market Cirrus SR22
Cirrus SR22
The Cirrus SR22 is a single-engine, four-seat, composite aircraft, built by Cirrus Aircraft starting in 2001. It is a more powerful version of the Cirrus SR20, with a larger wing, higher fuel capacity, and a 310 horsepower engine...
.
Following its entry into bankruptcy in 2007, Columbia Aircraft was sold to Cessna
Cessna
The Cessna Aircraft Company is an airplane manufacturing corporation headquartered in Wichita, Kansas, USA. Their main products are general aviation aircraft. Although they are the most well known for their small, piston-powered aircraft, they also produce business jets. The company is a subsidiary...
in November 2007. Cessna produces their models as the Cessna 350 and Cessna 400.
2008
Bartels has continued sales of the latest Lancair designs, including the IV and IV-P, ES and ES-P, and the Legacy and fixed-gear Legacy FG. The Lancair Legacy is the latest version of the original two-seaters, offering increased interior size and even higher performance. The latest kit model is the Lancair EvolutionLancair Evolution
-External links:****...
, which was unveiled at Sun 'n Fun
Sun 'n Fun
Sun 'n Fun is a "Fly-in" and airshow held annually at Lakeland Linder Regional Airport in Lakeland, Florida, usually during the second or third week of April....
at Lakeland Linder Regional Airport
Lakeland Linder Regional Airport
Lakeland Linder Regional Airport is a public airport located four miles southwest of the central business district of Lakeland, a city in Polk County, Florida, United States...
, FL on April 8, 2008. It is powered by a choice of either Lycoming TIO 540 piston engine or Pratt and Whitney turboprop
Turboprop
A turboprop engine is a type of turbine engine which drives an aircraft propeller using a reduction gear.The gas turbine is designed specifically for this application, with almost all of its output being used to drive the propeller...
.
2009
On 4 February 2009 the company announced that it is relocating to a new and larger building near the Redmond Airport. The new facility is 38000 sq ft (3,530.3 m²), or 50% larger than the old building. The company reports that despite the economy the demand for kits and in particular the Lancair EvolutionLancair Evolution
-External links:****...
is strong. The company also signed an agreement to provide 25 modified Lancair Legacy FG kits to the Colombian Air Force
Colombian Air Force
The Colombian Air Force or FAC is the Air Force of the Republic of Colombia.The Colombian Air Force is one of the three institutions of the Armed Forces of Colombia, charge according to the 1991 Constitution of the work to exercise and maintain control of Colombia's airspace to defend the...
for the primary flight training role.
Lancair kits
- Lancer 200 2-seat prototype powered by a Continental 0-200 engine, flown in 1984
- Lancair 200 2-seat kit powered by a Continental 0-200 engine, released in 1985
- Lancair 235 2-seat kit powered by a Lycoming O-235 engine, released in 1986
- Lancair 320Lancair 320-See also:-References:*Lambert, Mark. Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1993-94. Coulsdon, UK:Jane's Data Division, 1993. ISBN 0-7106-1066-1.* retrieved June 24, 2008* retrieved June 24, 2008...
2-seat kit powered by a Lycoming O-320 engine, released in 1988 - Lancair 360Lancair 360The Lancair 360 is a two-seat aircraft marketed in kit form. It is a low-wing monoplane of conventional configuration with retractable tricycle undercarriage....
2-seat kit powered by a Lycoming O-360 engine, released in 1988 - Lancair ESLancair ES-External links:*...
- Lancair IVLancair IV-External links:*...
- Lancair IV-P
- Lancair Legacy
- Lancair PropjetLancair Propjet-External links:* -See also:...
- Lancair Sentry
- Lancair EvolutionLancair Evolution-External links:****...