Lancair has revised certification plans for the Columbia 300 piston single, in a bid to keep first deliveries on schedule for year end. The company received a provisional type certificate for the all-composite four seater in July last year, and had planned for full instrument flight-rules (IFR) certification in April. It now says that sticking to this schedule would delay production efforts.
The revised schedule calls for IFR certification and the production certificate to be achieved simultaneously in August, allowing deliveries to begin in December. Lancair plans to move into its new Bend, Oregon, production plant within the next few weeks and expects to build 60 aircraft in 1999, with the capacity to increase production to 150-200 a year.
Two Columbia 300s are being flight tested and two more are being built using production tooling, which is being developed simultaneously. The third aircraft will be used for US Federal Aviation Administration flight testing beginning in May. It is the first to incorporate design changes to make the aircraft spin-resistant.
The second Columbia 300 has been modified to demonstrate the spin-resistant design and provides full aileron authority throughout the stall, says marketing director Mike Schrader.
Source: Flight International
