Lancair LC-41 Columbia 400

Overview

The Columbia 400 is a four-seat, fixed-gear, low-wing composite single, and the fastest FAA-certificated fixed-gear piston single ever built. It cruises at 235 knots true at 25,000 feet on a twin-turbocharged Continental TSIO-550-C, a figure no other certified fixed-gear single approaches. The airframe began as The Lancair Company’s LC40 Columbia 300 in the late 1990s; the turbocharged LC41 Columbia 400 followed in 2004, built by Columbia Aircraft Manufacturing in Bend, Oregon.

Cessna acquired the Columbia assets out of bankruptcy in 2007 and continued the 400 under its own badges: Cessna 400, then Corvalis TT, then Corvalis TTx, and finally the Cessna TTx (T240), which stayed in production until Textron closed the line in 2018. A buyer shopping any of those names is looking at the same fundamental aircraft, with avionics and cabin refinements layered on across the Cessna era. The carbon-fiber structure is certified in the Utility category to plus 4.4 g, a stiffer limit than the Normal-category singles it competes with.

Its natural rival is the Cirrus SR22T. The Columbia trades the Cirrus airframe parachute and a fifth seat for more speed, more fuel, and a stiffer, more conventional control feel. The used market is thinner and less liquid than the Cirrus fleet, which tends to be the central ownership consideration rather than the flying.

Key Features for GA Buyers

• Class-leading speed. 235 KTAS at 25,000 feet on 310 turbocharged horsepower. On long cross-country legs the Columbia 400 competes with light twins on block time, from a single-engine fuel bill.
• Turbocharged altitude capability. The twin-turbocharged TSIO-550-C holds power to a 25,000-foot service ceiling, well above the naturally aspirated Columbia 300 and on par with the SR22T.
• Fixed gear, high performance. No retractable-gear complexity or insurance penalty, though the 310-hp engine requires a high-performance endorsement.
• Utility-category composite airframe. Certified to plus 4.4 g with a long certified airframe life, the carbon-fiber structure is aerodynamically clean and corrosion-free.
• Long legs. 98 usable gallons standard gives roughly 1,100 nm of range with reserves, more than most piston-single peers.

Trade-offs

• Thin used market. Production was modest and split across Columbia and Cessna badges, so fewer airframes trade hands than in the Cirrus fleet. Finding a specific configuration takes patience and values are less predictable.
• Composite maintenance specialization. Carbon-fiber repair and inspection need shops with composite experience, which are less common than metal-airframe shops.
• Turbocharged operating cost. The turbo system shortens engine TBO to 1,700 hours against the naturally aspirated 300’s 2,000, and raises fuel burn to around 21 gph at high cruise.
• Four seats, real-world payload. With full fuel the cabin load is limited. The four seats are best understood as two adults plus baggage on a long leg, more on shorter trips.
• No airframe parachute. Unlike the Cirrus it competes with, the Columbia has no whole-airframe parachute system, a consideration for some buyers and their families.

See Also

• Cessna TTx Model T240 – the same airframe’s final Cessna-era evolution, with Garmin G2000 avionics. Compare
• Lancair LC-40 Columbia 300 – the naturally aspirated predecessor on the same airframe. Compare
• Cirrus SR-22 Turbo – the direct turbocharged competitor, with a parachute and a fifth seat. Compare
• Mooney M20TN Acclaim – a turbocharged retractable that rivals it on speed. Compare