Lancair Tigress

The Lancair Tigress was an American homebuilt aircraft that was designed by Lance Neibauer and intended for production by Lancair of Redmond, Oregon. Introduced in mid-late 1990s, it was essentially a Lancair IV with a much more powerful engine. When the engine was canceled just as it was entering production, the Tigress project ended with it. Only prototypes were produced.

The concept of a higher-powered Lancair IV derivative was finally filled by the Lancair Propjet.

Design and Development
The Tigress was intended to be a development of the Lancair IV adapted to employ the 600 hp Orenda OE600 V-8 engine, giving it a cruise speed of 405 mph. To accept the higher power and the increased speeds the airframe was structurally strengthened. The engine was later cancelled by its manufacturer, Orenda Aerospace, and the Tigress kit was not produced as a result.

The aircraft featured a cantilever low-wing, a four-seat pressurized cabin, retractable tricycle landing gear and a single engine in tractor configuration.

The Tigress was made from composites, including graphite fiber. Its 30.20 ft span was 5.30 ft shorter than that used on the Lancair IV, mounted flaps and had a wing area of 98.00 sqft. The Tigress's wing used a McWilliams RXM5-217 airfoil at the wing root, transitioning to a NACA 64-212 at the wing tip, the same as employed on the Lancair IV.

The aircraft had a typical empty weight of 2400 lb and a gross weight of 3400 lb, giving a useful load of 1000 lb. With full fuel of 115 u.s.gal the payload for pilot, passengers and baggage was 310 lb.

Operational History
The sole prototype was deregistered on 27 June 2013 and sold, with the tail number (N750L) reserved through 2018. It is preserved on a concrete pad in front of the Civil Aerospace Medical Institute building at the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.