Hands Over First Customer Aircraft

A new speed king was crowned today when officials from the FAA presented The Lancair Company with the paperwork certifying the new turbocharged Lancair Columbia 400.

The Columbia 400 is The Lancair Company's third certified aircraft, following the normally aspirated Columbia 300 and 350. With its 310-horsepower Continental TSIO 550, the 400 speeds through the sky at 220 KTAS at 18,000 feet and 235 KTAS at 25,000 feet. Though turbocharged engines tend to reward flying at higher altitudes, the Columbia 400's performance advantage is also realized lower down with a cruise speed of 210 KTAS at 12,500 feet. This performance makes the Columbia 400 the fastest certified piston powered aircraft in production today - single or twin, fixed gear or retractable.

"The Columbia 400 is fast, no doubt, but that's only part of what makes the 400 such a special aircraft" said Lancair Co-Founder Lance Neibauer. "The Columbia 400 is the first certified aircraft to fly as fast as it does while still maintaining such excellent low speed manners. The stall behavior is very benign and the controls have a positive, direct feel in all flight conditions. It's an astonishing aircraft to fly." 

With certification in hand, Lancair Company President Bing Lantis then turned to Columbia 400 customer number one Paul Duckett and handed him the keys to his aircraft. The company plans to begin delivering additional Columbia 400s to customers beginning in May.

In addition to performance, those who take delivery will get a very well appointed aircraft with an Avidyne FlightMax Entegra panel, dual Garmin 430s, autopilot and traditional gauges as back ups to the glass panel. The aircraft also sports high-grade leather seats and cockpit trim as standard.

"Our focus at The Lancair Company is to create very fast, very safe, very high quality certified aircraft that pilots will actually use for long-distance, cross country travel. With the Columbia 400, a 1,000-mile trip is non-stop, around four hours. You simply can't get what the Columbia 400 offers in any other certified aircraft on the market at anything even close to the price," Lancair Co-Founder and Vice President Mark Cahill said.

FAA Deputy Administrator Robert Sturgell of Washington DC, as well as Jeffery Duven and Jeff Morfitt of the administration's Seattle Aircraft Certification Office, presented the Columbia 400 type certificate to Lancair President Bing Lantis and Vice President Mark Cahill in a ceremony at Lancair's exhibit at the Sun'n Fun Fly-In. Following the presentation, Erik Lindbergh, grandson of Charles Lindbergh, turned heads with a pair of low passes in the New Spirit of St. Louis, the Lancair Columbia 300 that he used to recreate his grandfather's historic flights back in 2002.

"This is a great moment for The Lancair Company," said President Bing Lantis. "Our customers have been really supportive through the certification process and they're about to be rewarded with a truly astonishing airplane."

FMI: www.lancair.com