Lancair has flown a prototype of its next piston single, the Columbia 400. The 400 is a turbocharged version of the Columbia 300, the company's first certificated light aircraft.
A Columbia 300 has been fitted with a 230kW (310hp) twin-turbocharged Teledyne Continental TSIO-550 for flight tests of the 400 configuration. The engine has the same sea-level output as the Columbia 300's normally aspirated IO-550, but will produce substantially more power at altitudes above 8,500ft (2,600m), says Lancair.
The Columbia 400 retains the 300's four-seat, fixed-gear airframe and both versions will be assembled on the same line at the company's Bend, Oregon, plant. Deliveries are due to begin in 12 months, by when Lancair plans to be building four Columbia 300/400s a month.
Lancair is completing one aircraft every six weeks, and is working to ramp up production following the resolution of a funding dispute with its Malaysian financial backer. Production certification from the US Federal Aviation Administration is due within weeks.
Lancair is to outsource manufacture of the wing and other parts for the all-composite Columbia to release capacity at its Bend plant for fuselage fabrication and final assembly. The company has 120 orders for the Columbia 300.
Source: Flight International
