Aircraft model
LANCAIR COMPANY LC-40-550FG
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The LC40-550FG is the Columbia 300, the first certified aircraft from Lancair's certified division and the normally aspirated ancestor of the Columbia 400 and Cessna TTx. It is a composite four-seat single with a 310 hp Continental, fixed gear and a side-stick, cruising at 185 knots.
It is fast for a fixed-gear aeroplane and the airframe is excellent — stiff, well finished and aerodynamically very efficient. The complications are ownership ones: the design passed from Lancair through Columbia, bankruptcy, Cessna and out of production in 2018, and parts support, while stabilised through Textron, is not comparable to a Cirrus or a Bonanza. Composite repair requires a shop that knows the airframe. There is no airframe parachute, unlike the competing Cirrus, which matters to some buyers and insurers.
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Put LANCAIR COMPANY LC-40-550FG side by side with up to two other models.
- LANCAIR COMPANY LC-40-550FG
What it is
| Seats | 4 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | tricycle |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Continental IO-550-N |
| Horsepower | 310 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | FAR23 |
| Production start | 2000 |
| Production end | 2003 |
| Endorsements required | high-performance |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 185 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 1,000 nm |
| Service ceiling | 18,000 ft |
| Climb rate | 1,100 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 58 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | 1,850 ft |
| Landing over 50 ft | 2,200 ft |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 4 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 1,050 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 462 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 3,400 lb |
| Empty weight | 2,350 lb |
| Usable fuel | 98 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 17.4 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $180,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $240,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 1,900 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $55,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $78,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 71 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 64 |
| Median year built | 2002.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 0 · thin base (low)1 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 0 · thin base (low)2 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 8 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 12.5 · thin base (low)3 |
| Airworthiness directives | 6 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | low |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 64 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 64 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 64 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 3-4 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | —1 |
| Severity | —2 |
| Access | —3 |
| Support | 2.9 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 0.7 of 105 |
- 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.