Lancair IV
These figures describe a typical build. Each aircraft of this design was built by its owner, and the one you are looking at may differ.
The Lancair IV is the unpressurised version of Lancair's four-seat composite retractable of 1991, a 35 ft 6 in wing at 3,550 lb gross with a 350 hp twin-turbocharged Continental TSIO-550, with a quoted 71 mph stall and 3,000 fpm (the maker publishes no 75 %-power cruise or range figure); a IV set the solo pole-to-pole speed record in 2014.
The IV is the fastest piston aeroplane most buyers will ever be offered and it has the fatal-accident history to go with it: a 98 sq ft wing carrying 3,550 lb stalls at 71 mph with little warning, the approach is flown at jet-like speeds, and the type's record led insurers to demand type-specific training that is now effectively mandatory. The unpressurised IV gives up the IV-P's cabin pressure but keeps the turbocharged engine, oxygen requirement at the altitudes where it is efficient, hydraulic retractable gear and a 1,100-1,350 lb useful load that full 90-gallon tanks eat into; it is complex and high-performance for endorsement purposes. Composite quality, the fuel system, the gear and the turbo installation are the pre-buy items and the builder's log the history. Kits ended in 2012; the owners' community is strong. The owner may maintain it and the condition inspection needs an A&P or the repairman certificate.
Variants of the Lancair IV / IV-P
- Lancair IV · 1991 · 56 active · this page
- Lancair IV-P · 162 active
Also consider
TAILFAX SCORE
Partial: 9.9 out of 30 (safety not scored, too few records)
Among 3–4 seat pistons (223 models)
Compare with…
Put Lancair IV side by side with up to three other models.
- Lancair IV
Watch this model
One email a day if anything changes: new ADs and NTSB records.
What it is
| Seats | 4 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | tricycle |
| Engines | — |
| Engine | Continental TSIO-550 (350 hp) |
| Horsepower | 350 hp |
| Fuel | — |
| Certification basis | amateur-built |
| Production start | 1991 |
| Production end | — |
| Endorsements required | — |
Performance
| Cruise (75 % power) | — |
|---|---|
| Range (75 %, standard fuel, 30-min reserve) | — |
| Service ceiling | — |
| Climb rate | 3,000 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 62 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | — |
| Landing over 50 ft | — |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 4 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 1,350 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | — |
| Max takeoff weight | 3,550 lb |
| Empty weight | 2,200 lb |
| Usable fuel | — |
| Fuel burn at cruise | — |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | — |
|---|---|
| Price, high | — |
| Prices as of | — |
| Engine TBO | — |
| Overhaul cost, low | — |
| Overhaul cost, high | — |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 105 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 56 |
| Median year built | 2001 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 4 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 1 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 71.43 · thin base (low)1 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 35.71 · thin base (low)2 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 12 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 21.43 · thin base (low)3 |
| Airworthiness directives | 9 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | low |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 56 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 56 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 56 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 3-4 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | —1 |
| Severity | —2 |
| Access | 0.8 of 103 |
| Support | 2.5 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 6.6 of 105 |
| Overall (sum of the categories shown) | Partial: 9.9 out of 30 (safety not scored, too few records)6 |
- Accident record: class median 33.21 · 223 models in class.
- Severity: class median 12.5.
- Access: class median 796.
- Support: class median 131.
- Liquidity: class median 19.89.
- 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. When accident record and severity cannot be scored because the model has too few records, the other three give a partial score out of 30, labelled as such; it is never set against a full score.
Data as of: FAA registry Sep 28 · NTSB Oct 2 · ADs Oct 8 · scores Sep 30