Aircraft model
COLUMBIA AIRCRAFT MFG LC41-550FG
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The Columbia 400 is the fastest fixed-gear piston single ever certified: 235 knots at 25,000 feet from a turbocharged 310 hp Continental in a composite airframe, with no retractable gear to maintain. It was built in Oregon by a company that later failed and was bought by Cessna, who sold the design as the Corvalis and then the TTx before ending production.
The speed is genuine and the airframe is excellent — stiff, well finished, with a side-stick and a wing that gives it very high cruise efficiency. The complications are ownership ones. Columbia's collapse and the subsequent transfers of the type certificate left parts support uneven for years; it has stabilised through Textron but is not comparable to a Cirrus or a Bonanza, and composite repair requires a shop that knows the airframe. The turbocharged Continental runs hard at altitude and is expensive at overhaul. Unlike a Cirrus there is no airframe parachute, which matters to some buyers and to some insurers. Oxygen is required for the altitudes where it is fastest.
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Put COLUMBIA AIRCRAFT MFG LC41-550FG side by side with up to two other models.
- COLUMBIA AIRCRAFT MFG LC41-550FG
What it is
| Seats | 4 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | tricycle |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Continental TSIO-550-C (turbocharged) |
| Horsepower | 310 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | FAR23 |
| Production start | 2004 |
| Production end | 2009 |
| Endorsements required | high-performance |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 235 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 1,300 nm |
| Service ceiling | 25,000 ft |
| Climb rate | 1,340 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 60 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | 1,900 ft |
| Landing over 50 ft | 2,350 ft |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 4 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 1,100 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 512 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 3,600 lb |
| Empty weight | 2,500 lb |
| Usable fuel | 98 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 18 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $210,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $449,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 2,000 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $70,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $98,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 236 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 207 |
| Median year built | 2006.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 10 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 3 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 48.311 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 43.482 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 43 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 20.773 |
| Airworthiness directives | 8 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | ok |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 207 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 207 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 207 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 3-4 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | 5.6 of 101 |
| Severity | 3.8 of 102 |
| Access | 7.4 of 103 |
| Support | 7.7 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 4.7 of 105 |
| Overall (sum of the categories shown) | 29.2 out of 506 |
These record scores treat COLUMBIA AIRCRAFT MFG LC41-550FG as one design with the same aircraft registered under other names: it includes 132 aircraft registered under CESSNA AIRCRAFT CO; includes 122 aircraft registered under LANCAIR COMPANY; includes 12 aircraft registered under CESSNA. Prices are not combined.
- Accident record: class median 32.28 · 202 models in class.
- Severity: class median 12.5.
- Access: class median 775.
- Support: class median 147.5.
- Liquidity: class median 19.9.
- Each of the five categories places the model within its peer class, from 0 (the worst of the class) to 10 (the best): a position among comparable models, not a grade. The overall score is the sum of the categories shown that are scored, out of 10 for each (50 when all five are); it is given only when at least 4 of the five are scored, and it can be set against another model's only when both are in the same peer class and scored on the same categories.