Lancair Columbia 300 deposits hit 140
Wave of orders attributed to expected activity at AOPA Expo
O RLANDO, F LORIDA—The opening morning of AOPA Expo ’97 signaled a milestone for Lancair as the airframe manufacturer accepted the 140th deposit for its upcoming Columbia 300 certificated aircraft.
The deposit is the fifth in the last week and seventieth since the aircraft made its public debut at Oshkosh in July—a spike Lancair officials attribute to buyers wanting to secure their position before expected sales activity at AOPA Expo ’97.
“Several of the people who have made deposits on the Columbia 300 in the past three weeks have told us that they are putting their money down now because they don’t want to be any further back in line for delivery. They think we’ll see a lot of deposits coming in during AOPA Expo,” said Lancair sales manager Mike Schrader. “It’s very gratifying to hear that kind of prediction from our customers.”
The FAA awarded the Columbia 300 a provisional type certificate at Oshkosh and flight tests are ongoing. Lancair and the FAA are working together to finalize the FAR Part 23 type certificate in time for the Sun ’n Fun Fly-In in April 1998. The first production aircraft are expected to land in customers’ hands in third quarter 1998.
“Interest in the project has been strong since we first began working on the Columbia 300 two years ago, but it’s been overwhelming since Oshkosh,” said Lancair founder, president, and designer Lance Neibauer. “For the month of August, we averaged better than an order a day for the aircraft.”
The Lancair Columbia 300 is Lancair’s first certificated aircraft. The four-place, all-composite aircraft cruises at more than 220 mph.
October 23, 1997
Related Articles
