Lancair IV

The Lancair IV and IV-P are a family of four-seat, low-wing, retractable-gear, composite monoplanes powered by a 550 in3 Continental TSIO-550 twin-turbocharged piston engine.

Production of the aircraft kit was ended in 2012.

Development
The Lancair IV and IV-P were designed by Lancair around the Continental TSIO-550 — a twin turbocharged engine that is capable of developing 350 hp at sea level, and capable of operating at altitudes as high as 29000 ft.

By the fall of 2011, 110 Lancair IVs and 250 IV-Ps had been completed and were flying.

In July 2016, the company announced it would sell the older Lancair lines of aircraft, including the Lancair IV, to concentrate on the Lancair Evolution instead. Once the transition was complete, the company changed its name to the Evolution Aircraft Company. The buyer of the old lines of aircraft continued in business as Lancair International, LLC.

Operational history
In 2014, Bill Harrelson piloted a Lancair IV, and set a world speed record for solo flight between the earth's poles for an aircraft under 3000 kg in a 175-hour-long series of flights. The flight also broke a record from Fairbanks, Alaska to Kinston, North Carolina. The aircraft was modified to hold 361 u.s.gal of fuel.

Variants

 * Lancair IV
 * Unpressurized four seat kit-plane, powered by a 350 hp Continental TSIO-550 engine


 * Lancair IV-P
 * Pressurized four seat kit-plane, powered by a 350 hp Continental TSIO-550 engine


 * Lancair Propjet
 * Pressurized four seat kit-plane, powered by either a Walter or a PT6 Pratt & Whitney turboprop, that can achieve cruise speeds in excess of 300 knots (556 km/h) at altitudes up to 30,000 feet (9,140 m).


 * Lancair Tigress
 * A proposed pressurized version using the 600 hp Orenda OE600 V-8 engine, giving it a cruise speed of 405 mph. The engine was later cancelled, and consequently, only prototypes of the aircraft were completed.


 * RDD Enterprises LX7
 * A re-manufactured version that converted an existing IV-P by replacing the wing with one with a new airfoil to reduce stall speed, a new fuel system, new interior, and avionics.

Accidents
On November 11, 2023 a Lancair IV-P overran the runway at Aero Country Airport (T31) in McKinney, TX.

As of June 2014, the NTSB Aviation Accident Database recorded 20 crashes involving 18 fatalities across all IV variants.

On February 3, 2012, Steve Appleton, CEO of Micron Technology, Inc., was killed while attempting an emergency landing in a Lancair IV-PT turboprop at the Boise Airport in Boise, Idaho, moments after takeoff. He had aborted a take off a few minutes earlier.