First Seven 300 Knot Club Members Named

It didn't take long for Columbia 400 pilots -- eager to display the speed capabilities of their chosen aerial chariots -- to respond to the manufacturer's call for members into its new "300 Knot Club."

Randy Bolinger, VP of Marketing and Sales for the Bend, OR planemaker, tells ANN immediately following the announcement of the 300 Knot Club, Columbia Aircraft Manufacturing began receiving photographic evidence from Columbia 400 pilots who achieved the aeronautical feat of recording ground speeds in excess of 300 knots.

Consequently, the inaugural class of 300 Knot Members has been inducted into the exclusive club:

• Alex Hopmann, Columbia 400 N2545K -- Recorded Speed GS 310 KTS
• Richard Hille, Columbia 400 N40CX -- Recorded Speed GS 301 KTS
• James H. Pulju, Columbia 400 N234KT -- Recorded Speed GS 309 KTS
• Kel Jones, Columbia 400 N1416C --  Recorded Speed GS 322 KTS
• Michael Young, Columbia 400 N2522F -- Recorded Speed GS 325 KTS
• John Fellows, Columbia 400 N235DL -- Recorded Speed GS 334 KTS

"The 300 Knot Club is simply a way to celebrate what a purpose-built speedster can accomplish in the hands of a skilled aviator," said Bolinger. "People purchase a Columbia because they want to fly comfortably as fast, as far and as safely as possible in an aircraft that was engineered around a 310 horsepower twin-supercharged power plant all the way to the fringes of the envelope.

"But the bottom line is that flying a piston single should be fun. The 300 Knot Club is just another way for the Columbia community to bond and have fun while doing what they love to do --- flying the Columbia."

FMI: www.flycolumbia.com