Lancair introduces its latest kit design, the four-place, pressurized Evolution. Photo by Dave Higdon

Lancair International, which helped pioneer the high performance kit aircraft industry in the 1980s with its composite aircraft, introduced the Lancair Evolution, the latest and highest performing member of its family, at a ceremony at the company’s display area at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2007 yesterday.

More than three years in development, the Evolution is a four-place single-engine turboprop with a projected top speed of 385 mph.

"We did not take the fast-track approach with this design," said Lancair International president and CEO Joe Bartels at the unveiling ceremony, contrasting the Evolution’s development timeline with that of aircraft such as the Eclipse Concept Jet and the Epic Victory personal jet, which were also introduced this year at AirVenture. "I can’t tell you we went from concept to development in six months, nor would I want to. I can tell you we took the time necessary to come up with the best and safest four-place turbine powered aircraft available today."

Powered by a Pratt & Whitney PT6A-135A engine developing 927 hp, the Evolution is projected to have a maximum cruise speed of 338 knots at 25,000 feet while burning 35 gallons of Jet A per hour. An economy cruise setting yields 270 knots at 28,000 feet with a 23 gallon-per-hour fuel burn. With full fuel (140 gallons), the Evolution will be able to carry 814 pounds.

"We could have made more seats, but we chose to make a four-place that could truly handle four passengers, a full load of fuel and 150 pounds of baggage," Bartels said.

The baggage area, like the rest of the aircraft, is pressurized.

"We found quite a few of our customers have dogs they like to bring with them so we wanted to make that [part of the aircraft] pressurized," said Tim Ong, Lancair’s general manager and chief engineer. "And it also allows toothpaste not to mess everything up every time you put it in the back."

The Evolution can be equipped with either a Chelton EFIS or Garmin G-900X avionics suite.

With safety a primary design concern, the Evolution is built to FAA Part 23 standards, including a 61-knot stall speed, and is equipped with a BRS parachute system. The company also worked to simplify construction and estimates build time is about 1,000 hours. Five kits are expected to be completed for sale by the end of the year and, at the new model’s introduction, Bartels announced the company has already sold four of them.

The kit is priced at $250,000. The first 10 will be available at a 10 percent discount of $225,000. Powerplant and avionics are sold separately, and the company estimates the completed aircraft will cost from $750,000 to $1 million, depending on whether customers buy a new or used engine.

Absent from the ceremony was Lance Neibauer, founder of the Bend, Oregon-based company, who sold Lancair to Bartels, a Lancair IV-P customer, in 2003. However, Neibauer retains emotional ties to the company. Ong noted that Neibauer examined the mockup of the Evolution at the company’s factory before it was shipped to Oshkosh for the unveiling.

"He sat in the airplane right before we left and he said, ‘Wow, it’s a lot bigger than I thought it was going to be,’" Ong related Neibauer saying. "’It looks good.’"

The mockup of the Evolution is on view at the Lancair International display, Booths 448, 449, 456, 457.