Columbia 400, above, has a low-drag airframe, despite the fixed gear. With dual turbochargers and a large fuel capacity, it’s an above-the-weather, long-range cruiser.

by Rick Durden

If speed is indeed life, Lancair Columbia 400 owners are living large. We’ll say it up front; our speed runs indicated to us that Lancair’s eye-watering published cruise speeds for the airplane are accurate and possibly conservative. With that established, the question for our evaluation became whether the airplane is one-dimensional. In other words, must its speed buttress other shortcomings?

The answer is no. The 400 goes fast, handles well, is extraordinarily strong and looks good without shoehorning everyone into a tiny egg. Moreover, the 400 may be giving Lancair a needed boost to get its production numbers more in line with Cirrus, the current market leader in composite airplanes. …