When Lancair began transforming the high-performance experimental aircraft world with its composite kits in the 1980s, who knew its advances would reverberate all the way into the backcountry? But with the optional Rough Service Landing Gear (RSLG) introduced last year, opening grass, gravel, and other non-paved surfaces to the turbine-powered and pressurized Lancair Evolution, the company has seemingly created the ultimate bush plane—a rugged four-place with a 1,800-pound useful load and a near 300-knot cruise speed.

Doug Meyer, Director of Sales and Marketing of the Redmond, Ore., company, chuckles at the suggestion—after all, you’re not going to squeeze an Evolution in and out of a 300-foot clearing like some light fabric aircraft on balloon tires. Besides, customers have been buying and building Evolution kits since 2007 for speed, performance and turbine reliability. But, Lancair has customers “in Brazil, Russia, the Czech Republic and South Africa who say, ‘I need to be able to land on the road,’ or wherever.” That’s what sparked development of the ruggedized gear.

Natural Adaptation
The RSLG puts the welcome sign on hundreds of turf fields and backcountry strips most thoroughbred aircraft would only be seen at in the event of an emergency. Like Airport Manatee (48X) on Florida’s Gulf Coast, a 3,500-foot turf strip—about 2,000 feet of which went unused when the Evolution’s reverse thrust was deployed after landing—that just about any GA pilot would enjoy dropping into. A dozen or so airport denizens gathered around N38SP. “It’s a little awe-inspiring,” airport manager Tom Reeder tells me. “Most of us down here in the grassroots, we’re not used to seeing something like that.”

Meyer fields questions he has heard many times, such as those about the distinctive ovoid windows. “The windows are for looking through, not for looking at,” Meyer says. “They’re shaped this way not because of pressurization, and not because they’re inspired by Burt Rutan, but because they provide the best visibility. It’s ergonomically correct. Some people don’t like the way they look, but as soon as they get in the airplane they say, ‘Oh, now I get it.'”

Warranties and insurance are other issues asked about; owners pour more than a million dollars into the build. What happens if something goes wrong with the airplane?

“You’ve got a Pratt warranty on the (750 hp PT6A-135A) engine, you’ve got a Hartzell warranty on the prop, you’ve got a Garmin warranty on all the avionics, and we, as the manufacturer, warranty all the mechanical parts,” Meyer says. But what about damage to the airframe? “It’s carbon fiber,” Meyer answers. “It’s going to be there when the dinosaurs come back.” He slams his arm into the fuselage like he’s blocking a 300-pound lineman and invites me to do the same—something you wouldn’t do to an aluminum airframe. “A hammer will bounce off of that, no problem,” Meyer says. This isn’t wet layup fiberglass, he adds, but high temperature-cured carbon fiber, the same material and process Boeing uses to build B787 Dreamliners.

Lancair Evolution co-owner Stuart Parker and N38SP

Yes, you can build this aircraft from a kit!

Hull insurance is available for the Evolution just like for any other aircraft, except that owners who have only flown fixed gear (“We see Cirrus guys with 3,000 or 4,000 hours and no retractable gear time,” Meyer says) pay a penalty until they’ve accumulated at least 200 hours of retract experience. For buyers with no turbine time, “We recommend taking a one-day turbine transition course with Simcom or FlightSafety.” Indeed, for anyone who flies a high-performance single, transition to the Evolution, with its 61-knot stall speed, is simple, Meyer says.

Buyers, Builders And Owners
But unlike high-performance turbine singles from Piper, Daher and Pilatus, the Evolution is a kit aircraft; if you want one, you’re supposed to build it. Surely not all the owners of these million-dollar- plus machines actually construct them?

They do, Meyer asserts, and the build time is about eight to 10 months, with buyers first participating in a two-week owner-assistance building program at Lancair’s Oregon factory. “After two weeks, you have the basic airframe from firewall aft sitting on the main gear, so everything critical for strength, aerodynamic safety and flying qualities is assembled,” Meyer said. From that point, most owners engage one of six authorized professional build centers to assist with the completion, and owners spend several weeks over the next few months working on the airplane to ensure they build at least 50.1% of the aircraft as mandated by FAA rules. “We do not mess with that system,” Meyer says. “We operate to the letter of the law, and the FAA inspectors who inspect the airplane understand that, and they’re happy with what we do.”

Doug Meyer, Lancair’s Director of Sales and Marketing, knows the Evolution inside and out.

But the kits and construction are simple enough that a professional builder isn’t required. N38SP, for example, was built by co-owner Neal Longwill, who got his pilot’s licenses after he retired and decided to build a kit airplane. “I’m not an engineer, I’m a sales and marketing person,” Longwill tells me on the phone. “Even though it’s the highest-performance and largest [of the Lancairs], it’s the easiest one to build.” In fact, N38SP is the third Evolution Longwill built. He’s now an Evolution sales rep, and this is his demo aircraft.

N38SP’s co-owner is Stuart Parker, CEO of a financial services firm and a former USAF T-38 instructor pilot who hankered to return to aviation after a 15-year hiatus. “You always have that bug in you of wanting to fly,” Parker says from his home in Texas. (He had stayed up in Destin, Fla., one of the stops on a family trip, the day we flew his aircraft.) Parker started searching the Internet and spent two years “daydreaming, thinking one day I might get an airplane” before he saw a picture and read a description of the Evolution. It was actually Longwill’s previous model, and a few days later, Longwill flew down to show it to Parker. “We flew for a few hours, and I fell in love. I said, ‘I’ve got to have one,'” Parker recalls. The two agreed to partner in the demo plane Longwill was about to build, and while awaiting completion, Parker logged high-performance single time and studied the Garmin G1000. “When I left the Air Force, everything was steam gauges,” he says.

Parker has about 150 hours on the Evolution, including a trip to Sun ‘n Fun this year where N38SP took “Outstanding Homebuilt” honors.

“You can see someone’s personality in every airplane,” Parker says of Evolutions, calling attention to his “subtly aggressive” silver paint scheme with red and black accents.

The Outside View
Weighing 4,550 pounds at gross, the Evolution is bigger than it appears from across the ramp. There’s not much to examine on the preflight, on or in during the mandated annual condition inspection, for that matter. The airframe has only one access panel, covering the yaw damper housing in the aft fuselage. The baggage compartment, accessible via a door on the starboard side that doubles as the emergency exit, holds 225 pounds.

The wing is elliptical, which Lancair says obviates the need for winglets, as the shape blends the wing vortex in the same manner. Each holds 84 gallons of fuel. Fowler flaps deploy to 25 and 50 degrees. The RSLG incorporates larger brake disc rotors, and bigger calipers and brake pads, and the tires are 6.5 inches wide versus the standard four inches.

The Evolution sits high off the ground, and it’s a big step up, but entry into the roomy cabin is easy. The armrest top of the console dividing the front seats flips up and back, revealing the circuit breakers while also allowing the right-seat occupant to easily slip into position. The forward seats and the rudder pedals are adjustable. The side-stick controls are big and have an authoritative feel.

The Garmin G1000 is the only avionics package offered, the PFD and MFD complemented by a proprietary Lancair touch-screen control on the right side of the panel for environmental, pressurization and lighting systems. Electrical and engine switches are over the PFD.

To get underway, pull down and latch the gull-wing door. Engage the fuel pump, the igniter and starter, monitor the percentage power and temperature on the MFD in the center panel, then engage the generator. The condition lever and fuel controls are kept full forward, and only the power lever, the black handle on the left of the trio, is used to control the engine. Take the prop out of feather, and the Evolution starts to move forward. Steering is by light toe pressure on the differential brakes. A trigger under the power lever allows it to move back, putting the prop into beta range, and ground movements are controlled by combining brakes, torque and reverse thrust.

The Rough Service Landing Gear (RSLG) system is an option. The Garmin G1000 avionics suite is standard.

The Evolution In Flight
We use a rolling takeoff with standard one notch of flaps, bringing the power up to 1,300-1,400 pounds of torque and relaxing the full right rudder as airspeed builds to 72 knots, where a bit of back pressure shoots us off the ground. The gear comes up at 100 knots and flaps at 120. Best rate of climb is 110 knots, which produces rates up to 4,000 fpm, “but nobody does that; it’s too steep,” Meyer says. “It will climb out light at 3,000, 3,500 feet per minute at a nice angle.” We climb at 160 to 165 knots, and ascend at 2,200 to 2,500 fpm when I check the VSI. Visibility is superb, out the sides and over the nose, where the cowl is barely visible.

“I call it a point-and-shoot airplane, because on a day like today, where you’ve got a broken-to-scattered layer and you want to go through it, you just pick your blue hole and go through it,” says Meyer. We pick a hole and climb to 16,500 feet. The pressurization system works automatically, and the cabin altitude is about 2,750 feet here.

Burning about 37 gph, we engage the GFC 700 autopilot for a speed run and see TAS in excess of 280 knots. “We advertise it as a 300-knot airplane,” Meyer says. “To be frank, a lot of people don’t get that because they put in a lot of cool options and amenities, and end up with a heavier airplane.” The RSLG comes with a 12-knot speed penalty, as the wider tires protrude two inches into the slipstream. “The laminar flow wing is very slippery, and any disturbance to that flow will bite you,” says Meyer.

Deice boots, introduced in 2014 along with the optional gear, come with a similar penalty but are proving popular nonetheless, with several aircraft slated for retrofit and new buyers ordering them. For both groups, the enhanced utility is clearly worth more than a round-number cruise speed. This August, Lancair will introduce an optional Ballistic Airframe Recovery Parachute System by BRS for the Evolution.

As impressive as the speed are the manual-handling characteristics. Early Evolutions had a reputation as being heavy on the stick. “It became an obstacle in the buying process, so we redesigned the ailerons so they’re more harmonious,” Meyer says.

The look of power—the engine is a 750 hp P&W PT6A-135A swinging a four-blade, 82-inch Hartzell propeller.

Even at cruise speeds, the controls are light and the Evolution well balanced. Maintaining altitude in a steep 360 holds no challenge. Meyer trimmed for a 30-degree banked turn, and it flew around hands-off, steepening only slightly before we finally took the airplane again for the fun of hand flying. Slow flight and 61-knot stalls affirmed its docile characteristics.

If you need to get down in a hurry, dirty up the plane, pull back the power and point the nose down. “When you pull the power back, the prop acts as a pretty good speed brake,” Meyer says. We descended at what seemed like a leisurely 5,000 fpm.

When nearing your destination, pull power and slow to the 160-knot flap speed and deploy the first notch. Like the unpowered spinning prop, the flaps are effective speed brakes, and you’ll have to throttle up again to maintain airspeed. Now, you can descend into the pattern whenever you want, already configured for landing. Fly the pattern at the numbers of any high-performance single. Put in the second notch of flaps and look for 85 on final. Don’t flare, but simply level the nose, and until then keep the power in. Pull the trigger, move the throttle back into the beta range and see the outside world suddenly come to a stop.

Meyer sums up the Evolutionary experience succinctly: “It’s the coolest thing you can fly that isn’t painted gray.”

The post The Lancair Evolution: An Evolving Standard Of High Performance appeared first on Plane & Pilot Magazine.

The piston-engine Evolution is powered by a Lycoming TEO-540-AE2A engine and has a max cruise of 270 knots. The carbon-fiber airframe combines light weight with high strength.

About a decade ago, I was hired to fly an Aerostar 700 from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, to London, U.K., with Captain Mike Miller, chief pilot for Cathay Pacific Airways. In a sense, the trip was a little uncomfortable for both of us, as my job was to serve as check pilot for Miller, a 20,000-hour 747 captain with time in practically everything—except the Aerostar.

Perhaps perversely, Miller’s insurance company insisted that he fly a few hours with someone who knew a little about the Aerostar, and since I knew as little as anyone, I was nominated. Miller was planning to fly the airplane in the upcoming London to Sydney Air Race, and he needed to relocate the finished Aerostar from Idaho to the U.K. The airline captain was absolutely positive he could win the big prize in the 16-leg, 12,000 nm race. (He did exactly that, averaging 274 knots.)

During our three-day, 5,200 nm trip across North America and the Atlantic, we luxuriated in the airplane’s near-turboprop cruise speeds en route to Biggin Hill Airport, starting point for the event. On each leg, we launched and climbed straight to 25,000 feet, maintained power at max cruise and saw consistent true airspeeds of 260 knots or better. One leg—Narsarsuaq, Greenland to Reykjavik, Iceland—yielded a spectacular 330-knot groundspeed.

Despite (or perhaps because of) his jet experience, Miller commented that this was pretty impressive for an airplane flying behind piston power. In fact, there has never been another production piston airplane capable of generating such speed, regardless of horsepower. Back in the ’60s, the Piper Comanche 400 employed a huge eight-cylinder Lycoming IO-720, essentially a pair of IO-360s welded together, but without a blower under the bonnet, that airplane was limited to 200 knots.

The current turbocharged, intercooled Mooney Acclaim S manages to score 242 knots on only 280 hp, but that’s as close as anyone has come to marketing another production, 260-knot piston machine.

Enter The Evolution
Now, Lancair International of Redmond, Ore., plans to certify an airplane capable of topping the Aerostar’s quick cruise, and with only one piston engine out front. Some astute readers may remember that the turbine version of the Lancair Evolution was introduced two years ago (see “Lancair Evolution: Revolutionary Homebuilt,” Pilot Journal Spring 2009). At this writing, both the turboprop and piston models are offered as homebuilts, but Lancair is actively pursuing certification on both airplanes.

Of course, there’s the inevitable question: Why build two versions of the same airplane? The two models are identical from the firewall aft. Lancair COO Tom Bowen explains: “The most obvious reason is price. The basic Evolution airframe package costs $495,000 to build, excluding paint, interior and a few other items. Then, you have a choice between a $115,000 Lycoming piston engine or a $445,000 Pratt & Whitney turbine mill. Add $32,000 for the prop and $84,000 for all hoses, baffling, engine exhaust, tubing, wiring and hardware, and the cost for a fully completed, painted Evolution with a leather interior will be approximately $750,000 for the piston model, $1,150,000 for the turboprop. Hourly operating costs also should be dramatically less costly with the avgas model, for those who don’t feel a need for high altitude and 300-plus-knot speed on every flight.

“Finally, and probably the best reason of all,” Bowen continues, “our customers asked for it. We surveyed many of our Lancair IV customers, and the feeling was almost unanimous that there’d be a major market for a piston version.”

Primed For Certification
The new Evolution was intended specifically for certification, so the airplane was designed to comply with all the standard parameters and flight tests required for Part 23 approval. The vision for the project came from Lancair owner and CEO Joe Bartels, who knew that standing by tradition means letting everyone else pass you by. Bartels knew his company needed a new product for the 21st century. The Lancair IV’s performance was spectacular, but that airplane was designed in the late 1980s. Bartels felt it was time for something new.

The Evolution is most emphatically “something new.” From spinner to tailcone, the design literally shouts speed and efficiency. The semicircular, swept, carbon-fiber fuselage also suggests pressurization, and that’s another important part of the design. This airplane specifically targets speed and comfort.

A 21st Century Design
By any measure, the Evolution’s carbon-fiber fuselage is an ecstatic shape, as smooth as Murano glass. The airplane looks like something Luke Skywalker would fly, full of consonant lines and completed ideas, like a good piece of music. The wing is a beautiful, quarter-elliptical design, an arcing, graceful planform unlike anything most pilots have seen before. In fact, it’s actually a combination of four distinct airfoils configured by aerodynamicist Greg Cole of Windward Aviation in Bend, Ore.

Cole’s credentials include a master’s degree in aerospace engineering from Notre Dame, plus design work at McCauley Propeller Systems, where prop designs nearly always incorporate multiple airfoils. In addition, Cole has participated in a variety of sailplane and other experimental aircraft projects. The engineer has been working with Lancair on development of everything from the two-seat Legacy to the Columbia 300/350 (back when the companies were combined—the airplane is now known as the Cessna Corvalis). Cole is considered especially adept at designing airfoils with low Reynolds numbers (read “laminar flow wings”).

Project Manager
Lancair General Manager Tim Ong was the ramrod on the Evolution project, and Ong deserves the lion’s share of credit for keeping the Evolution on track and driving it through to completion. According to Bowen, Ong is an expert designer and outstanding airframe stress engineer. Part of his job was weight reduction, generally regarded as the toughest mission in aviation, whether you’re building an airliner or an LSA. By a combination of black magic and collusion with the devil, Ong maintained the Evolution’s basic empty weight at 2,500 pounds against a gross weight of 4,300 pounds. With a standard 144 gallons of fuel on board, this means the basic payload remains well over 900 pounds.

Evolution Vs. IVP
It’s inevitable that the Evolution will be compared to the Lancair IVP, the company’s premier homebuilt product, but there’s very little similarity between the two airplanes other than carbon-fiber construction, side sticks and the nameplate.

In fact, the Evolution is an all-new, clean-sheet airplane deliberately intended to correct those features of the Lancair IVP that some owner/builders suggested needed revision. The Evolution’s pressurization system pumps up the cabin to a 6.0 psi differential compared to 5.0 psi on the IVP. The new model offers a 6,000-foot cabin at 25,000 feet and 8,500-foot atmosphere at the airplane’s 28,000-foot maximum approved altitude. Another benefit of the Evolution is that the baggage compartment is an integral part of the pressure vessel, so anything you store there will enjoy the same low-altitude benefits that you do. (In other words, no more exploding toothpaste.)

The Evolution’s fuselage is four inches wider and taller than the Lancair IVP’s cabin, a cylinder roughly 50 inches in diameter. Optimum build time on the Evolution is only 1,200 hours compared to a typical 3,500 to 4,000 hours for the IVP. Payload is 350 to 400 pounds more generous on the Evolution than on the IVP. Finally, the Evolution has conventional flight characteristics, whereas the IVP is a fully optimized experimental airplane, designed specifically for maximum speed, and that translates directly to a higher stall speed and higher approach speeds.

Twenty years ago, when I flew the Lancair IV for the first time with designer Lance Neibauer, I asked him what would be required to certify the IV. He laughed and commented, “There’s absolutely no way you could ever certify the Lancair IV. I designed it specifically as a high-performance homebuilt with speed as the primary goal. It’s not a dangerous airplane to fly, but the wing is optimized for cruise, and that means the stall is far too quick for certification.”

Power To The Pilot
Power for the avgas Evolution is provided by a modified version of the 540-cubic-inch Lycoming. The engine is an electronically controlled version of the same mill used in the Piper Mirage. Technically, its designation is TEO-540-AE2A, and it’s the first of Lycoming’s new computer- controlled iE2 engines. iE stands for integrated electronics, and the system relieves the pilot of practically all engine management responsibilities. Despite the powerplant’s size and complexity, operation is as simple as “push forward to go, pull back to stop.” The pilot need only decide how fast to fly and how much fuel to burn. The computer automatically monitors the EGT and CHT of each cylinder and adjusts mixture to optimize performance.

The airplane I flew was the prototype, so it wasn’t in final configuration. It featured a prop control (that we never touched), but the production version will utilize a single-lever power control.

The engine will be rated for a max 400 hp for climb and 350 hp continuous. Tom Bowen says he expects Lycoming to certify the engine for five minutes at the 400 hp rating before reducing to METO power. Though the TEO-540 is fully electronically controlled, it’s not referred to as FADEC, as it does incorporate a mechanical throttle linkage. The Lycoming even includes an automatic run-up feature that checks all systems and advises the pilot if everything is within tolerances. Lycoming should have completed its final certification tests by the time you read this, and the finished Evolution should be available for purchase as a homebuilt about Oshkosh time.

A Study In Performance
Flying the Evolution is a different experience than aviating in the Lancair IVP. I’ve flown the IVP a half-dozen times, and I analogize it to flying a WWII fighter with three good friends along for the ride. The numbers are spectacular, handling is generally good and the airplane is reasonably comfortable, but I understand why some pilots regard its flight characteristics as a little too aggressive. Though the stall is only three knots above the FAA’s certified limit, stall characteristics are more abrupt, and recovery demands more altitude. If you’re looking for ultimate performance, the Lancair IVP is a great choice. If you’re seeking a more benign personality with still impressive climb and cruise numbers, Lancair hopes you’ll choose the Evolution.

Despite the massive injection of horsepower, the big Lycoming doesn’t exactly foam at the mouth. Still, there’s little question you’re going someplace when you put the big knob against the panel. You can plan on an easy 2,000 fpm initial climb under gross conditions, perhaps 2,500 fpm at light weights. Combine strong climb with the airplane’s stout pressurization system, and there’s little reason not to fly virtually any trip in the mid to high teens, where you’ll see an easy 220 to 230 KTAS. Ascend to the medium flight levels—the Evolution is approved for flight at FL280, the maximum non-RVSM height—and you should see the magic 270 knots. With a stall at only 61 knots, this means the Evolution enjoys a flight-envelope speed ratio of 4.4 to one.

Tom Bowen flew the prototype down from Oregon to the Sun ‘n Fun show in Lakeland, Fla., at 25,000 feet, and he saw a consistent 250 knots on 23 gph. Most weather tops at 15,000 feet or below, so you can plan on cruising in smooth air and sunshine 90% of the time, even if you only opt for the highest non-IFR altitude, 17,500 feet.

My first takeoff in the Evolution was a formation departure out of Plant City, Fla., on the wing of a 172, and it wasn’t a problem. The lead pilot kept the Skyhawk low after liftoff, and the Evolution maintained an easy 20- to 30-foot separation as we climbed out for Jim Lawrence’s camera. With one door off, the Skyhawk probably couldn’t manage more than 100 knots, but the Evolution didn’t seem to mind in the least.

Stalls in the newest Lancair are pretty much an anticlimax. The break is straight ahead, with little tendency to drop a wing. I tried stalls in a variety of configurations, and the airplane refused to do anything unusual.

Such gentle manners in down and dirty trim suggest good landing characteristics, and the Evolution doesn’t appear to have any bad habits. Stall speed is a docile 61 knots. Using 85 knots around the pattern and as little as 75 knots across the fence (roughly the same numbers you’d use in the old Columbias), the Evolution can easily handle 2,000-foot strips. Judging the flare is simple, and the Evolution’s trailing-beam landing gear eases the actual touchdown.

So far, only about a dozen Lancair Evolutions have been built, and those have all been turbine models. It may not be long before piston Evolutions begin construction at the company’s Oregon plant.

Make no mistake, these aren’t your typical homebuilts, but you can be guaranteed they’ll fly higher and faster than pretty much anything else in the piston world. Mike Miller would be proud.

The post Evolution Of An Original appeared first on Plane & Pilot Magazine.

2010 LANCAIR EVOLUTION
Base Price:	$750,000
Engine make/model:	Lycoming TEO-540-AE2A
Horsepower	400
Propeller type:	CS
Fuel Type:	100/100LL
Landing Gear Type:	Tri./Retr.
Max Takeoff Weight (lbs.):	4300
Empty Weight, std. (lbs):	2500
Useful load, std. (lbs.):	1800
Usable fuel, std. (gals./lbs.):	144/864
Usable fuel, extended (gals./lbs.):	168/1008
Payload, full std. fuel (lbs.):	936
Payload, extended fuel (lbs.):	892
Wingspan (ft.):	37
Overall length (ft.):	30
Overall height (ft.):	10
Wing area (sq. ft.):	131
Wing loading (lbs./sq. ft.):	32.8
Power loading (lbs./hp):	10.8
Seating capacity:	4
Cabin width (in.):	50
Cabin height (in.)	51
Baggage (lbs./cu. ft.):	225/39
PERFORMANCE
Cruise speed, max cruise (kts.):	270@FL280*
Cruise speed, economy (kts.):	243@FL240*
Fuel consumption, max cruise (gph):	22
Fuel consumption, economy (gph):	17
Best rate of climb, SL (fpm):	2000
Service ceiling (ft.):	28,000 (max non-RVSM altitude)
Takeoff ground roll (ft.):	1200
Landing ground roll (ft.):	1400
* Estimated
Source: Lancair International

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When I flew my first homebuilt in 1973, a VariViggen with designer Burt Rutan in the second seat, the whole point of homebuilt airplanes was innovation with economy. In those days, the apogee of GA four-seaters was the F33A Bonanza, a luxurious single that sold for $60,000. You could build a VariViggen for less than a tenth of that.

Times have changed. Certainly, economy is still a major goal of homebuilts— building the airplane yourself obviously saves most of the labor cost—but the industry has shifted its parameters toward the high end. Today, doctors, lawyers and captains of industry are buying extremely high-performance homebuilt aircraft, often in partnership with experienced builders, and that has fostered the upscale development of kit-built models that tip the economic scales to as much as $1.5 million. Homebuilt turboprops and jets are slowly emerging as a new wave in amateur-built aircraft.

The Evolution’s tall and wide cabin features a flat-panel Garmin G900X avionics suite, the experimental aircraft version of the G1000. All information is presented on two 10.4-inch, high-definition LCDs. Photograph By: John Parker

Lancair International of Redmond, Ore., has always been near the head of the pack, and the company’s new Evolution may be the ultimate high-end, four-seat, single-engine turboprop—especially considering that there are no others. The Evolution represents a definite paradigm shift. It’s certainly the most aggressive four-place airplane on the market today, certified or experimental. It effectively expands turboprop technology and performance into a new regime.

I flew the Evolution with Lancair’s general manager, Tim Ong, the man primarily responsible for the development of the new airplane. I met Ong at the 2008 Reno Air Races, and had a chance to play with the airplane in conjunction with a short test-flight and the air-to-air photo session that produced the images accompanying this story. Interestingly, Ong couldn’t run the airplane in the Sport Class because of the piston limitation, but he did fly it on some air-to-air missions and easily kept out in front of the field.

Clean-Sheet Design
Contrary to what you might imagine, the Evolution has very little mechanical similarity to Lancairs of old, though it’s true that several of the company’s previous homebuilt airplanes have been converted to turboprop power. There is some slight family resemblance to the other four-seat Lancairs—swept fuselage, waspish empennage—but it’s purely coincidental. Lance Neibauer, father of the original Lancairs, had no input on the new airplane.

The Evolution is pretty much a clean-sheet design, specifically configured for pressurized, high-altitude flight and turbine power. It’s a product of 21st-century CAD/CAM (computer-aided design and manufacturing) technology, plus modern safety features such as a BRS parachute, AmSafe seat belts and 26-G-energy- absorbing seats.

Rocket Engineering AirBoom Cannula www.rocketengineering.com The AirBoom Cannula headset accessory dispenses with bulky masks and offers oxygen delivery to 18,000 feet. The moist-air/oxygen blend eliminates dry nose while conserving oxygen.

Bill Cox and Tim Ong fly the Lancair Evolution in formation with Bob Jeffery and Ernie Sutter in their Lancair Legacy race planes.

In fact, Lancair went the extra mile to design and build the Evolution to comply with FAA Part 23 production aircraft standards. The Lancair IVP, the company’s previous flagship design, was a brilliantly executed airplane, but, perhaps incredibly, it’s now nearly 20 years old. It was designed with a small wing configured for a maximum 3,550 pounds. With only 108 square feet of area (including winglets) to support the weight, wing loading on the IVP was a high 32.9 pounds per square foot. That’s a fairly stout wing loading that helps generate a smooth ride in turbulence, but also can precipitate a fairly abrupt stall.

The goals of the Lancair Evolution were to upgrade performance while matching airframe and powerplant to the wing and guaranteeing a relatively benign stall. To that end, the new airplane sports more span and a longer chord to generate about 35 square feet more wing area. Aspect ratio increases from 9.0 on the IVP to 10.3 on the Evolution. All other factors being equal, a higher-aspect-ratio wing contributes to better climb and glide and improved high-altitude performance.

Additionally, the Evolution incorporates a new airfoil that’s totally divergent from the wing on the IVP. It’s a proprietary section designed to help tame the stall while preserving high-cruise capability. As with all previous Lancairs, the airplane’s composite construction results in a beautifully smooth and consistent wing and fuselage surface, with no rivet heads or section lines to reach out and grab the wind. If there was ever an airplane that reduced parasite drag to the absolute minimum, this is it.

The Evolution’s cabin is tall and wide, roughly four feet by four feet, resembling the production Columbia 400 (now Cessna 400 Corvalis TT) built across town in Redmond’s sister city of Bend, Ore. This is a true four-place airplane, willing to transport a full string quartet and their instruments (though you might want to forget the bass) for the long haul. Lancair’s goal was a 957-pound payload with a full 146 gallons of Jet A in the wet wing tanks (optional fuel is 169 gallons). In theory, this should allow for four full-sized folks plus 120 pounds of baggage, two violins and a cello.

The panel on the airplane features the Garmin G900X flat-panel display, essentially the experimental aircraft version of the popular G1000 installed in Mooneys, Cessnas, Beechcrafts, Diamonds, Cirruses and some Pipers. The G1000’s primary mission is to simplify the processing of all relevant attitude, position and system information, and that becomes more critical on turbine and jet aircraft. If you’re traveling at five miles a minute, anything you can do to simplify the panel and instrument readout is a welcome improvement.

Nonin FlightStart Pulse Oximeter www.flightstat.nonin.com FlightStat is an oximeter that’s small enough for practical use in the cockpit (it’s not much bigger than your thumb). Two AAA alkaline batteries provide power for about 18 hours of continuous operation, or 1,600 spot checks.

Power & Thrust
The launch control system on the Evolution is a Pratt & Whitney PT6A-135A turboprop, limited to a max 750 shp in flight and 550 shp for takeoff. The engine is recommended for a 3,600-hour TBO. Like most P&W PT6s, the 135A is dramatically underworked, and it’s reasonable to assume a well-treated engine will last longer than you will. Typical of turbines, the Evolution’s powerful turbine mill is uncannily smooth and powerful, and it makes virtually any piston engine feel like the paint-shaking machine at Home Depot. Response isn’t quite as instantaneous, and there’s copious power.

The Evolution is otter-sleek and one of the most aerodynamically clean homebuilts you’ll find, constructed almost entirely of carbon fiber. The prototype is pure white with a few stripes, and that tends to accentuate the airplane’s low-drag profile. The white overall color, though not mandatory, is a strong recommendation on most composite designs to keep internal structural temperatures in check. Composite materials tend to destabilize at sustained extremely high temperatures. You’d probably need to park the airplane for a week in August at Death Valley to exceed the allowable limits, but aluminum airplanes don’t suffer the same limitations.

Payload For All
At a 4,300-pound gross weight, the Evolution offers a low power loading of 7.8 pounds/shp for takeoff. That translates to acceleration that’s nearly automotive. Okay, so it won’t snap your neck like a Corvette ZO6 or Dodge Viper, but it will definitely get your attention. Push the thrust to the limit with dispatch, and the Evolution accelerates as if it’s being shot at.

Rotate, hide the gear and point the nose uphill at Vy (and that means way uphill), and the comparatively big wing provides near-jetlike climb, 4,000 fpm from sea level. More realistically, if you’d rather see what you’re about to hit, you can drop the nose to hold 170 knots and still score an easy 2,000 to 2,500 fpm. If you’re in a hurry to reach the flight levels, keep advancing the thrust to maintain max climb and you’ll level at 24,000 feet, the optimum cruise height, in well under 10 minutes.

Technically, the plane is RVSM-limited to 28,000 feet, but it’s important to remember that it is a homebuilt, so it wouldn’t be a big surprise if an affluent builder opted for certification to higher altitude. Pressurization differential is 6 psi, however, so higher may be somewhat self-limiting above 30,000 feet. Cabin altitude at an actual 28,000 feet works out to about 8,000 feet.

Aerox Oxysaver www.aerox.com The Oxysaver cannula conserves oxygen and provides passengers and pilots with extended-use portable oxygen during high-altitude flights, thus preventing fatigue and drowsiness.

Speed In Spades
Speed is what the Evolution is all about. The new propjet is the most hard-core Lancair ever to wear an N-number, and that’s saying a lot. It’s basically bonkers-fast, sizzling along at 330 knots at optimum altitude (FL280) and max cruise. That 330 knots is a significant number, as the Lancair IVP bragged of 330 mph cruise, about 287 knots. In other words, the new turbine Lancair Evolution is more than 40 knots quicker than the piston-powered IVP, already the fastest four-place single.

Just as with the six-place Epic LT propjet, the Evolution posts near-VLJ cruise numbers, but the newest Lancair is more efficient than anything in the speed category. Max cruise extracts about 39 gph, and total fuel is 146 gallons (with an optional capacity of 169 gallons). For that reason, it’s unlikely that most pilots will cruise so aggressively unless the trip is short and the schedule is tight.

Mountain High EDS-O2D1 & EDS-O2D2 www.mhoxygen.com The digital EDS-O2D1 and EDS-O2D2 FADOC “Pulse Demand” oxygen-delivery systems allow pilots to operate safely and comfortably up to 25,000 feet. Two buttons cycle the EDS systems through the various modes that automatically deliver the required supplemental oxygen pulses for various altitudes.

In an airplane with such strong climb, there’s no reason not to fly high on every trip. Pulled back to economy cruise at the maximum FL280, the newest Lancair offers 270 knots on about 23 gph. At this burn, the Evolution has an easy 4.5 hours of endurance plus alternate plus IFR reserve for a range well over 1,300 nm.

You could easily fly from Dallas to Jacksonville between lunch and dinner in the Evolution, then divert to Miami without any concern for fuel reserve. I suspect many Evolution builders will opt for a power setting somewhere in between, logging 300 knots on perhaps 30 gph. In this time of high fuel costs, that may offer the optimum combination of cruise versus burn. Sacrificing 30 knots in the 300-knot range isn’t nearly as significant as it is at 200 knots or less.

Handling With Ease
In-flight handling at a gross weight well above two tons is lighter than you might expect, partially because of the Frise ailerons and cruise speeds that impart plenty of bite to the control surfaces. Roll rate is surprisingly quick, and pitch authority is excellent with the larger tail surfaces. Trim is available for ailerons and elevator through a “Chinese hat” pipper switch atop the side stick. Adverse yaw is virtually nonexistent, and the airplane makes coordinated turns to 45 degrees of bank with feet on the floor.

With that fat, four-blade Hartzell out front, coming down is as easy as going up. The Evolution doesn’t employ speed brakes for descent, because it doesn’t need them. Pull the thrust to idle, hold the speed, and the airplane will drop earthward at 3,000 fpm. The universal rule with turbines is to stay as high as possible for as long as possible, and the huge paddle blades out front help expedite that process.

In landing mode, you can fly the Evolution pretty much as you would any heavy single or light twin. That means with some power down to the flare and then a reduction to flight idle as the airplane touches down. The Fowler flaps are large and effective, and at a full 50 degrees of travel (yes, 50 degrees), they reduce stall from 75 knots down to 61 knots, again in compliance with Part 23 standards. This means 85 or even 80 knots is plenty across the fence when you’re fully configured.

The actual touchdown is an anticlimax, a result of long-throw, trailing-beam gear that forgives even the klutziest approaches. The Evolution can land and grind to a stop in 1,000 feet with help from reverse thrust. That’s roughly the same horizontal distance as for takeoff.

Evolutionary Price
As you might imagine, a turbine-powered, four-seat, pressurized single doesn’t come cheap, even a homebuilt one. Airframe kit price is $250,000, and if you opt for a new PT6A, expect to pay about $435,000 more. Counting a reasonable stack of avionics and all the usual add-ons, Lancair suggests you’ll be into a turbine-powered Evolution at just under $1 million when you’re done. If you choose a smaller mid-time PT6A, such as a 21, you could build an Evolution for around $700,000. (You can also build the Evolution with a piston engine, an electronically controlled 350 hp Lycoming TIO-540A.)

While $1 million isn’t as intimidating a number as it was in the days of the VariViggen, it won’t produce a finished machine. You do still have to build the airplane. In this age of quick-build kits, construction time is estimated at 1,000 hours for the airframe, plus another 200 hours for the panel and engine mount. If you build the airplane yourself on a part-time basis, working 20 hours a week, you’d need about 60 weeks to complete the project. Lancair’s two-week build shop program completes the more difficult tasks and trains you in composite construction.

That’s a sizeable investment of both time and money, but it produces an airplane with performance well above anything imaginable in the homebuilt world a few years ago. The Evolution is one of a new generation of homebuilts, designed and constructed to compete head-on with the highest-performance production models of the 21st century.

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2009 LANCAIR EVOLUTION
Approximate total price:	$980,000
Engine:	Pratt & Whitney PT6A-135A
Shaft Horsepower:	750 (flat rating)
Propeller type:	Sensenich
Gross weight (lbs.):	4300
Useful Load, Std. (lbs.):	1950
Usable Fuel, Std. (gals.):	146
PERFORMANCE
Vso (kts.):	61
Max Cruise Speed (kts.):	330
Economy Cruise Speed (kts.):	270
Fuel Consumption, Max Cruise (gph):	39
Fuel Consumption, Economy Cruise (gph):	23
Range, Max Cruise (nm):	886
Max Range (nm):	1314
Rate Of Climb, SL/Vy (fpm):	4000
Max Certified Altitude (ft.):	28,000 (RVSM-limited)
Source: Lancair Performance Aircraft

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Columbia 400
Base/used Price:	$349,000
Engine make/model:	Continental TSIO-550-N1B
Horsepower@rpm@altitude:	310@2600@SL to 25,000 ft.
Horsepower for takeoff:	310
TBO hrs.:	2000
Fuel type:	100/100LL
Propeller type/diameter:	Hartzell CS / 76
Landing gear type:	Tri/Fixed
Max ramp weight (lbs.):	3400
Gross weight (lbs.):	3400
Landing weight (lbs.):	3400
Empty weight, std. (lbs.):	2100
Useful load, std. (lbs.):	1300
Payload, full std. fuel (lbs.):	700
Usable fuel, std. (gals.):	100
Oil capacity (qts.):	12
Wingspan:	36 ft. 1 in.
Overall length:	25 ft. 2 in.
Height:	9 ft.
Wing area (sq. ft.):	142
Wing loading (lbs./sq. ft.):	24
Power loading (lbs./hp.):	11
Wheel track:	9 ft. 6 in.
Wheel size (in.):	6.00 x 6
Seating capacity:	4
Cabin doors:	2
Cabin width (in.):	49
Cabin height (in.):	51
Baggage capacity (lbs.):	120
PERFORMANCE
Cruise speed (kts.):
75% power @ 18,000 ft.:	230
75% power @ 25,000 ft.:	245
Max range (w/ reserve) (nm):
75% power:	1000
Fuel consumption (gph):
75% power:	18
65% power:	16
55% power:	14
Estimated endurance (65%) (hrs):	5.0
Stall speed (gear, flaps down) (knots):	57 (est.)
Best rate of climb (fpm):	1340
Service ceiling (ft.):	25,000

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Lancair 1994 IVP
Engine make/model:	Cont. TSIO-550B1B
Horsepower:	350
TBO hrs.:	1600
Propeller:	Const. spd.
Landing gear type:	Tri/Retr.
Gross weight (lbs.):	3200
Empty weight, std. (lbs.):	2200
Useful load, std. (lbs.):	1000
Fuel (gals.):	88
Wingspan:	30.2 ft. (w/winglets: 32.6)
Overall length:	25 ft.
Height:	8 ft.
Wing area (sq. ft.):	98 (w/winglets: 108)
Seating capacity:	4
Cabin width (in.):	46
Cabin height (in.):	48
Baggage capacity (lbs.):	150
PERFORMANCE
Cruise speed (kts.):
75% power:	300
Max range (w/ reserve) (nm):
75% power:	1050
Fuel consumption (gph):
75% power:	18
Estimated endurance (65% power with 1-hr. reserve):	3 hrs. 30 mins.
Stall speed (gear, flaps down) (knots):	73
Best rate of climb (fpm):	2500
Service ceiling (ft.):	25,000
Takeoff ground roll (ft.):	800
Landing ground roll (ft.):	1700

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Lancair 1998 Columbia 300
Engine make/model:	Cont. IO-550-N1B
Horsepower:	310
TBO hrs.:	2000
Propeller:	Const. spd.
Landing gear type:	Tri/Fixed
Gross weight (lbs.):	3400
Empty weight, std. (lbs.):	2045
Useful load, std. (lbs.):	1355
Fuel (gals.):	100
Wingspan:	36 ft. 1 in.
Overall length:	25 ft. 2 in.
Height:	9 ft.
Wing area (sq. ft.):	142
Seating capacity:	4
Cabin width (in.):	49
Cabin height (in.):	51
Baggage capacity (lbs.):	120
PERFORMANCE
Cruise speed (kts.):
75% power:	191
65% power:	185
Max range (w/ reserve) (nm):
75% power:	915
65% power:	1000
Fuel consumption (gph):
75% power:	17
65% power:	15
Estimated endurance (65% power with 1-hr. reserve):	6 hrs. 42 mins.
Stall speed (gear, flaps down) (knots):	60
Best rate of climb (fpm):	1340
Service ceiling (ft.):	18,000
Takeoff ground roll (ft.):	700
Landing ground roll (ft.):	1500

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Lance Neibauer never set out to certify an experimental airplane, and technically, he still hasn’t. A graphic designer with an eye for form and function, Neibauer designed his first airplane, the Lancair 200, back in the early ’80s simply because he thought he had a better idea. He certainly never would have considered certifying it or any of its direct descendants.

What he has done, however, is adapt one of his later existing homebuilts to meet certification standards. The resemblances between the Lancair ES and the Columbia 350 are more than coincidental, though the two airplanes have no common parts and share little more than the same concept and a similar appearance.

Still, Neibauer used the homebuilt Lancair ES as inspiration for the certified Columbia design. Even to him, that seems more than a little ironic considering that he never planned to be in the aircraft kit business.

A fine arts graduate from Michigan State, Neibauer grew up around airplanes, specifically the Meyers designs. “My uncle, Ray Betzoldt, worked with Al Meyers on the creation of the Meyers 145 and, later, the Meyers 200. Meyers would design the airplanes, and my uncle would help get them built.”

Neibauer loved flying, but existing production designs didn’t interest him. He felt most production airplanes were boring, me-too machines. “That was my primary motivation for starting on the Lancair 200 in the first place,” he says, “to build what I hoped would be an aesthetically more pleasing design with better performance and handling.”

Using his natural talent for lines and symmetry, Neibauer conceived a two-seat, composite airplane that was as wide as a Bonanza and almost as fast—on nearly 200 less horsepower. The first Lancair 200 was a lightweight work of art with a gross weight of only 1,275 pounds. It featured a DuPont NOMEX honeycomb structure with epoxy-impregnated glass cloth covering.

The wing was a minimalist 76-square-foot, NASA NLF airfoil designed by Dan Sommers of the Langley Research Center. Neibauer comments, “That first airplane was intended as a one-off machine, and I never assumed I could build a business around it. To start the process, I bought a Cessna 150, gutted it, sold the airframe and kept the engine, instruments and avionics. I wanted to see how much performance I could wring from the little 100 hp Continental O-200 engine by using an extremely light, low-drag airframe and wing.”

The answer was 167 knots (192 mph), totally obliterating the old aerodynamic rule that suggested an airplane could be considered efficient only if it could generate 1 mph for each horsepower. At a typical 8,000-foot density altitude, the little Continental engine develops perhaps 75 hp, yet the Lancair delivers a stunning 2.5 mph per horsepower. “In fact, we saw top speeds of nearly 210 mph on that airplane, but 190 was a more reasonable cruise number,” says Neibauer.

Neibauer introduced the Lancair 200 at Oshkosh 1985 and quickly had more demand than he could handle. There was so much interest in his first homebuilt airplane, “I wound up backing into the homebuilt business,” says the designer.

Powered by a 310 hp Continental IO-550, the two-place Lancair Legacy cruises up to 276 mph at 8,000 feet.

Neibauer quit his job, established his first company, Neico, on Santa Paula Airport, which is 50 miles northwest of Los Angeles, and immediately began improving the breed. Inevitably, the Lancair 200 led to the 235, the same machine with a 118 hp Lycoming O-235 powerplant out front. Neibauer followed up with the stretched-fuselage Lancair O-320 and O-360, featuring Lycomings of 150/160 hp and 180 hp respectively.

Meanwhile, Neibauer’s personal family was expanding at the same time his aircraft line was filling out. The designer found he needed more than two seats, so he built his own four-seat retractables, the Lancair IV and IVP (pressurized). A variety of engines could be adapted, but the top models used the relatively new Continental TSIO-550, rated for 350 hp.

These IVs offered the best performance of any homebuilt in the industry. Climb was elevated to 3,000 fpm and cruise was nearly 300 knots at 25,000 feet. While the four-place airplanes retained a deliberate family resemblance to Neibauer’s line of two-seaters, the IV had practically nothing else in common with its predecessors. It was a totally different machine.

“Anyone who thinks you can simply scale everything up to go from two to four seats doesn’t really understand the problem,” laughs Neibauer. “There are so many other changes necessary to double the number of seats, that it’s practically impossible to retain anything from the smaller airplanes other than the company nameplate.”

Never one to rest on his laurels, the designer next developed a fixed-gear version of the IVP, the Lancair ES and, later, the ESP, again a turbocharged and pressurized version of the same airplane. Along the way, he also designed a fixed-gear homebuilt that could use the comparatively inexpensive 200 hp Lycoming IO-360 engine. The design was dubbed the Legacy.

Meanwhile, Lance’s little company had rapidly outgrown its facilities in Santa Paula. Neibauer moved the homebuilt operation to larger facilities in Redmond, Ore., but soon began considering a further expansion.

Despite his success in the homebuilt field (or perhaps because of it), Lance couldn’t help but notice that there was nothing new in the production ranks. “There’d been no all-new production singles certified since the Piper Malibu,” says Neibauer. “That had been a very popular airplane, but we felt we could do better. It seemed there was a definite hole in the market for an airplane that would incorporate composite design, modern avionics and improved performance.”

Accordingly, Lancair began evaluating proposals from some 100 different economic development councils from all over the country, including several from Alaska. “The pipeline was winding down up there,” says Lance, “the oil companies were laying off, and cities such as Anchorage and Palmer were looking for new businesses to bring jobs to the area.”

Neibauer flew up to take a look at South Central Alaska. He really liked the area around Anchorage, but in the end, he decided to establish the production company in nearby Bend, Ore., only 10 miles from Redmond.

Neibauer and his team launched an effort to design and build a production airplane that would draw on the company’s experience with proven homebuilt designs. “Given our druthers, we would have adapted a production version of the IVP,” Neibauer explains, “but that’s a very complex airplane with a high-speed wing. It probably would have demanded significant modification that would have seriously compromised performance, and it would have been a bear to certify. As a result, we elected to go with something simpler, a modified version of the ES.”

At the time, the FAA was encouraging the development of new aircraft for the Small Aircraft Transportation System, better known by its inevitable abbreviation, SATS. To that end, the feds were offering certification under what it dubbed “simplified criterion.”

“We took a serious look at the ’simplified’ certification,” Neibauer comments, “and decided it was too restrictive. It wouldn’t have qualified for reciprocal certification overseas, and there were some other limitations we didn’t like. As a result, we elected to go with a standard Part 23 development program.”

Lancair Certified Aircraft was created specifically to handle the expanding company’s production aircraft requirements, but Lance acknowledges the challenges of certification left little time for speculation about anything beyond the basic, normally aspirated Columbia 300. “I designed the 300 to accept the Lancair IV retractable gear, and we hoped we’d someday be able to adapt the same basic airplane for turbocharging. Initially, though, I had a tiger by the tail just trying to get the first airplane certified. Money was always a problem, and higher performance versions were the farthest things from our minds,” Neibauer remembers. “Everything cost more than we’d planned. There never seemed to be enough cash to cover development expenses.”

The problems of certification began demanding more and more of Neibauer’s attention, and he found he had less time to spend on his first love, the homebuilt company. Eventually, he decided to sell Lancair to Joe Bartels, an enthusiastic Lancair IVP builder who’d developed an air-conditioner for the airplane and had been interested in acquiring the company for several years. This left Neibauer free to work on converting the 300 to the all-electric 350 and the turbocharged Columbia 400. To help separate the two companies and dispel any belief that the Columbia was a homebuilt, Lancair Certified became Columbia Aircraft in 2003.

The top-of-the-line, twin-turbocharged Columbia 400 features the 350 hp Continental TSIO-550 engine derated to 310 hp. “The derating has several advantages,” Neibauer explains. “We can maintain full power all the way to 25,000 feet, and when we get there, we can throttle back to 75% of the 350 hp limit, not 310 hp. That means we can still pull 263 hp or about 85% of the derated horsepower at cruise. That allows us to cruise at speeds of 230 knots, and that’s with fixed gear.”

As one who has been designing futuristic airplanes for 20 years, Lance Neibauer inevitably faces questions about what’s next. Though he’s retired from day-to-day operations at Columbia Aircraft, he still owns a large block of stock and maintains contact with Columbia officials, occasionally consulting about future products.

“We’re primarily just trying to deliver the products we have now, rather than concentrating on new designs,” says Neibauer. “Remember, though, the Columbia line was designed with the Lancair IV retractable gear in mind for some time down the road. Also, it’s important to note that both the Lancair IV and ES offer pressurized versions, if that gives you any hint of what might be next.”

Let’s see, add 15 to 20 knots for retractable gear, and you just might see something like a Lancair 500 delivering 250 knots while cruising in pressurized comfort at 25,000 feet. Then again, there’s also the possibility of a turboprop version…

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