233 Kts, FL230, 26 Minutes From Brake Release... Wow! Part
Five
While tanking up for
the flight back to GIF and the run to altitude, Mark made
arrangements to load up on some oxygen at a local FBO. What
happened next was worrisome. Some greasy (and I do mean, greasy)
kid walked a poorly restrained oxygen bottle out to the aircraft,
on a rickety trolley and proceeded to wrench the connections
together. Let me fill you in on something… greasy/oily
conditions in the close proximity of breathing oxygen is an
accident waiting to happen. I was amazed that this kid wasn’t
aware of the hazards he was imposing on this operation and the way
he shrugged me off when I inquired as to whether he planned to
clean up before attempting a hook-up. He shot me a dirty look, made
a half-hearted attempt to wipe himself off… while I stepped
a ways back… a long ways back since he was bound and
determined to do his impression of a grease monkey and there was
nothing I could do about it (except run for cover). If you own an
oxygen equipped aircraft, be sure to take the time to learn its
handling requirements and supervise unknown personnel as they
service your systems. One false move can cost you an airplane and
hurt a few people, as well. You would not believe the destructive
potential contained in just one modestly full oxy bottle…
it’s a terrifying proposition. You’ve been warned.
Back In The Air
After another quick jaunt (back to GIF), our next flight gave me
the chance to reacquaint myself with the “Lancair
Personality.” There is precious little difference between any
of the Lancair series, in terms of over all handling, and I have to
tell you that this is a very good thing, indeed.
The aircraft’s side stick controllers generally require a
light to moderate touch to motivate. A very handy trim button
handles trim chores at a slow rate that could still use a little
speed-up, since the C400 does load up a bit, pitch wise, when you
slow it down or when you drop full flaps where the electric trim
lags behind what you need to keep things trimmed out. The pitch
profile is a pretty docile one... in cruise configuration, we tried
a ten degree and a fifteen degree pitch displacement, stick free,
and were rewarded with a tightly convergent dynamic response that
was pretty much damped within a cycle and totally back to business
within two. The dynamic response was slow and steady, the static
profile boasted tight adherence, and the aircraft boasts excellent
speed stability. In short period mode, we excited a tightly varying
oscillation until our control inputs lagged the response by a full
opposing cycle (180 degrees out of phase) and were rewarded by a
near instantaneous return to the trim configuration. In other
words... deadbeat (very cool). Pitch response is quite good and the
force build-up follows a very sensible force/response curve,
loading up only at the low end when you're cranking in as much aft
pitch as possible to keep the nose up, near stall.
The rudder is powerful and is a little lighter in overall force
than I expected. There is minimal breakaway and a nice damping
ratio in regards to airspeed. Rudder picks up a wing pretty well,
even from banks exceeding 35 degrees. A proper coordinated turn
produces an agile but hardly sensitive roll rate that benefits from
a bit of rudder inducement upon initiating the roll input, but the
need to lead with the rudder is pretty modest. Laterally, the
aircraft wanders a touch in roll, but not enough to be really
annoying. Thankfully there is little Dutch roll evident while
riding out turbulence. Roll forces are light, stiffen up properly
at cruise (about double the climb/approach forces) and the roll
rate is obedient but will not give a Sukhoi any competition (nor
should it...).
In cruise, the visibility is excellent, both forward and to the
immediate side, as the wing leading edge appears quite aft of where
I was sitting, offering great peripheral lower visibility (just the
thing for cranking a tight turning descent)—while the upper
edge of our peripheral is somewhat clouded by aircraft structure.
Cockpit ergonomics are comfy and when sitting back to dig life and
monitor a cruise flight, the effect is pretty friendly. Internal
noise issues are modest… though there’s still a lot of
ponies up front growling away and the wind noise at nearly 200
knots is not something that can easily be countered. Still, the
cabin is quieter than I imagined, and a pair of good headsets
won’t have to work miracles to handle proper comm chores.
In the “regular” altitudes, the C400 is still one
smokin’ mutha. In the 5000-6000 foot range (down with the
“normal folk”), I had no problem truing out at nearly
180 knots while carrying a little over 25 “square.”
That will cost you at least 16-18 GPH, and if you really want to
hammer the TCM, a little over 30 inches will get you close to (or
even more than) 190 knots… but do so at 22-24 GPH. But
damn… it sure is fun having center ask you what you’re
flying that’s showing them well over a 200 knot groundspeed.
Lancair flyers are just going to have to get used to that chore
(bummer, eh?).
Lancair Columbia 400
Engine, Propeller and Airframe Data
|
Engine |
TCM
TSIO-550, |
HP |
310 hp |
Propeller |
Hartzell 3 Blade |
Length |
25.5 ft |
Height |
9 ft |
Wingspan |
36 ft |
Wing Area |
141.2 sq ft |
Wing Aspect Ratio |
92 |
Wing Loading |
24 lbs/sq ft |
Power Loading |
11.61 lbs/hp |
Maximum Fuel (US Gallons) |
98 Usable |
|
Lancair Columbia 400
Weight Data
|
Takeoff Weight (Maximum) |
3600 lbs |
Ramp Weight (Maximum) |
3612 lbs |
Empty Weight (Approximate) |
2500 lbs |
Useful Load (Approximate) |
1100 lbs
|
Landing Weight (Maximum) lbs |
3420 |
Baggage Weight (Maximum) |
120 lbs |
|
Lancair Columbia 400
Speed Data
|
VO Maximum Operating Maneuvering Speed
(3600 lbs gw) |
158 KIAS |
VFE Maximum Flap Extended Speed (Full Flaps) |
119 KIAS |
VFE1 Maximum Takeoff Flap Extended Speed
(Takeoff Flaps) |
129 KIAS |
VNO Maximum Structural Cruising Speed |
181 KIAS |
VNE Never Exceed
Speed |
235 KIAS |
VSO Stall Speed in the Landing
Configuration |
60 KIAS |
VS1 Stall Speed (Takeoff Flaps) |
65 KIAS |
VSN Stall Speed (No Flaps) |
71 KIAS |
|
|
Lancair Columbia 400
Cruise Data
|
Maximum Power Speed (FL180) |
230 KTAS (265 mph) |
Maximum Recommended Cruise Power Speed (FL250) |
235 KTAS (270 mph) |
Maximum Range (65 %Power,
FL180, 200 KTAS) |
908 Nautical Miles* |
Maximum Endurance
|
6.4 Hours* |
|
Lancair Columbia 400
Performance Data
|
Takeoff Distance (Sea Level – Standard Temp)
Ground Run (No wind at 3600 lbs gw) |
1200 ft |
Over 50 ft Obstacle (No wind at 3600 lbs
gw) |
1800 ft |
Landing Distance (Sea Level – Standard Temp) Ground Run
(No wind at 3400 lbs gw) |
1900 ft |
Over 50 ft Obstacle (No wind at 3400 lbs
gw) |
2350 ft |
Maximum Rate of Climb |
1300 fpm |
|
*Includes climb, descent and 45 minute
reserves
|
To Be Continued...