Lancair ұшақтары: Тарихы мен дамуы

Lancair International, Inc. (pronounced "lance air") is a U. S. manufacturer of general aviation aircraft kits. They are well known for their series of high performance single engine aircraft that offer cruise speeds that surpass many twin engine turboprop designs. Along with the Glasair series, the early Lancair designs were among the first kitplanes to bring modern molded composites construction to light aircraft. In early 2017 the company, including all the older aircraft designs, was sold and moved from Redmond, Oregon to Uvalde, Texas under the name Lancair International, LLC. The newest model, the Lancair Evolution was retained by the existing company, Lancair International, Inc, which changed its name to the Evolution Aircraft Company.

The company was founded by Lance Neibauer in 1981 as a producer of composite homebuilt aircraft kits. Neibauer had been introduced to aviation by his uncle Ray Betzoldt, who had collaborated with Al Meyers to build the Meyers 200. Whenever he visited his aunt and uncle, he always took a ride in the Meyers. Hooked, he went looking for an aircraft twenty years later and found nothing that he liked, and decided to join the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) and design his own. Neibauer began working on the new design after asking every builder he could find what features they were seeking in a homebuilt design. Looking to improve performance with the latest possible features, he selected the new NASA NLF 0215 F airfoil designed by Dan Somers at Langley. The NLF, short for "Natural Laminar Flow", is a series of designs that replaced the older GAW series with more forgiving laminar flow characteristics. By 1983 the aircraft's basic parameters were fixed, and Neibauer rented a shop in Santa Paula, California and started work on the design. Already stretching the limits of their existing facilities, the company started looking for a new factory and after examining 200 potential sites they moved to Roberts Field in Redmond, Oregon in 1992. The company became Lancair International with the move. As of August 1998, according to Flight International, Lancair had sold 1,400 kits, 300 of them the Lancair IV model. On 3 April 1993 he spun off a new company, Pacific Aviation Composites USA, in nearby Bend, Oregon. The new Lancair LC 40 was based on the fixed gear Lancair ES. The first prototype flew in July 1996, followed by the certification prototype in early 1997. After a lengthy certification process, the design emerged as the Columbia 300 in 1998, followed by the turbocharged Columbia 400 in 2000. The Lancair Company was formed as a separate entity on 7 April 2000, and Pacific Aviation Composites was merged into The Lancair Company on 4 May 2000. Cessna introduced their models as the Cessna 350 and Cessna 400.

In July 2016 Lancair announced it would be selling the older Lancair lines of aircraft to concentrate on the Lancair Evolution instead. In February 2017 the 200, 360, IV, IVP, IVPT, ES, ESP, and Legacy designs were sold to Mark and Conrad Huffstutler, who now operate the company as Lancair International, LLC, in Uvalde, Texas. They purchased all the assets, intellectual property and will provide parts and other support for all the older Lancair models. They plan to resume production of some of the older models and will develop new models as well. With the sale announced Lancair changed its name to Evolution Aircraft.