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We all know Lancair has gone through multiple owners in the past few years. This is not good for the Brand. The planes are unique and recognized as such in the aviation community, there is a pent-up demand for these planes, but now this is just being filled by rebuilds and sale for original planes to second and even third owners (with some related problems).
Meanwhile RV sales are going well and understand there is a backup demand for new The kits sold in a few days.
So why is RV doing well. I am pretty involved with EAA, and our local chapter. There are many reasons builders like the RV, but it is a different plane, than a Lancair. When I decided to build a plane, I took a flight in an RV9, then went over to Redmond Oregon and flew in a Lancair Legacy. The decision was made, there was not comparison. But one reason for the difference between sales of RVs and no sales of new Lancair's is that many experimental builders want to ease into a project by first buying a kit (or part of one), then they start looking around for a motor, then the last part is avionics with is understandable. They don't necessarily want to buy a total package from RV, as the current Lancair owner seems to be promoting (I may be wrong)
So how can we "save" the Lancair Brand:
1. Perhaps find an owner which understands experimental aircraft mentality better. - and offer an option of having builders make a down-payment on a kit (to cover most of the Lancair owner's upfront investment costs), and full payment on delivery of the kit to the builder. Offer but don't push in-house engine and avionics packages.
2. See how many Lancair owners, and even potential owners, would buy shares to support the Brand and a new Lancair owner. If 100 Lancair owners put in $5000 each, then the new owner would have $500,000 starting capital. If a new owner, who understands experimental aircraft and composite building turned up, I would be willing to put up the first $5000 for a share
Just a few thoughts, but the status quo is not good for the Lancair Brand
I am completely new at
Submitted by Fenderbean on
I am completely new at lancairs and still trying to find help before a possible buy of one but I been following Vans for awhile and have a 10 tail kit currently. The biggest thing I see is assemble ability, vans kits are relatively cheap and you can buy one part at a time and save up for the next. Composites are MUCCCCCHHHH harder to learn right, typically a bit heavier than aluminum. Plus if you screw up a vans part you just order the part and bam its on the way, not as easy with composite since one mess up can ruin a much larger and more expensive product. That being said if I was a betting man, the ease of building one, much safer than something like a IV and less complex of a build. That all being said I love the look of the IV and even the columbia, MAKO was cool but the retractable nose wheel only makes my OCD scream (most pilots tend to have these same thoughts) If they could make the IV again with the LX7 wing and tail in a kit I would 100% buy one, if they would make the columbia 400 in a kit I would 100% buy one, if they would make the MAKO a tri fixed I would probably buy one.
For the composite world to compete with vans you would have to develop a kit that was much easier to assemble, really good assembly instructions, solid tech support and a complete kit that you buy in either a kit or quick build for under 80-90k, the Velocity guys are the only thing close but even those are small fries compared to Vans due to price and again composite knowledge. Much easier to pound a few thousand rivets than, learn glassing, then throw in the monumental task of prepping it for Paint! Ask any Vans builder, their number one "hate" part of the build is the dealing with the composites like the cabin top and doors.
These are all my personal thoughts and opinions of course and mean absolutely nothing but I am trying to find my first airplane to build and these are things I have read a loooot of stuff. cheers and I wish this would happen I would love have a new updated kit to build!
Another problem I see, is
Submitted by Fenderbean on
Another problem I see, is lack of community. Go on the largest Lancair site and ask basic data or try to pull something specific and you get referred on how to post a better question, opposite on Vans airforce
As the current owner of
Submitted by markhuff on
As the current owner of Lancair International, we are very interested in the future of the brand. We bought the company because we LOVE the design and performance and felt like we could build a business around these products. We focused on improvements to both the ES and the Legacy and reintroduced them as the Mako and the Barracuda - much better aircraft!. Over the last 6 years a total of 11 New Lancair aircraft were sold with about half flying today and the other half soon to be flying. The unfortunate reality is that 2 large shifts in the market have caused the business case to challenge the production of new aircraft. The first is cost and the diminished market size as these go up and the second is the shift from a "builder" mindset to a "buyer" mindset. The bottom line is that there is no market-based business case for an aircraft kit that takes thousands of hours and years to build with an "all-in" kit price being north of $350,000. We are waiting for the EAA to complete their work with the FAA under the MOSAIC program as an opening for new opportunities. If the EAA is successful, there could be a return to production as a factory built aircraft. In the meantime, Lancair International continues to provide fleet support, MRO services, paint and aircraft sales and is alway open to constructive thoughts or partnerships to bring this awesome aircraft back to production.
Love the Mako but only way I
Submitted by Fenderbean on
Love the Mako but only way I personally would buy is if it had a fixed nose wheel or complete retracts. If you are going to have complexity of a retract you might as well do all three gear. Love the look of them just seeing the mains down with the nose turns folks off.
Numbers don't lie: As a
Submitted by Legacyl2k on
Numbers don't lie: As a builder of what may be the first Mako-like ES (pre-Lancair). In this case the buyer purchased an early ES that was damaged during a taxi test prior to first flight. When rebuilding I ran some number on structure and complexity and learned that the retract system for the nose gear on the ES and IV is very simple and operates with a failsafe concept. Now adding retracts to the mains is a whole different story. That is a complex system and would require much more time, and engineering for very little gain. The number we came up with by adding the retractable nose gear would yield 7~14kts TAS. We got 15+, that is huge. These are real numbers. Most ES's will fly at 8000 ft/da at 182~190kts TAS. We are seeing 202~205kts TAS. The other huge advantage which helps on mission in the ES is the ability to slow down when needed. Anyone that has flown a clean ES knows how difficult they are to slow down for flaps. Now we can use the nose gear as a speed brake. This mod also helps with glide distance. It is a win win for ES performance and after all, we fly Lancair's for performance! 8% performance increase is nothing to sneeze about. that's 8 gal for every 100 or at todays prices or aprox $52 per 100 gal or 24 minutes for every three hours of cruise flight.
Mark, I'm in San Antonio and
Submitted by irishpilot on
Mark, I'm in San Antonio and would be willing to help put together a Lancair factory fly-in. Factory support for the existing fleet is at the forefront of current owners minds, and having a strong tie is important. What better way to grow that conversation by a Uvalde fly-in? Let me know if ya'll are interested!
-Ryan
It would help if Conrad
Submitted by bcn0209 on
This post has been removed by the moderator.
Ryan, give me a call and we
Submitted by markhuff on
Ryan, give me a call and we can discuss this concept. Thanks for your interest.