AOPA Pilot Magazine - June 2018 - 61

and the wide main gear kept the airplane
tracking straight on the ground.
Shutdown was a simple matter of flipping
the five switches to the Off position. Deflate
the door seals, open the handle, and fresh air
swirls in through the broad opening.
MORE THAN A MUSTANG

Lancair designs have a well-earned reputation for being fast, efficient, and demanding
to build and fly. The company sold about
2,250 kits, and roughly 1,100 of them have
been completed and flown.
The ES, the platform on which the
Mako is built, marked a break from that
tradition. Its fixed landing gear and longer
wing were meant to appeal to a broader
market-and they did. The ES was on track
to become one of the company's best-selling models, but it got short shrift when
the company pursued FAA certification.
Then, Lancair recognized the same thing
the Huffstutlers do now: The ES would cut
into the market for FAA-certified airplanes.
The Mako is sleek and appealing on the
outside-and it's comfortable, roomy, with
good visibility and terrific avionics on the
inside.
The retractable nosewheel is an interesting concept that the company says
increases cruise speed by up to 12 knots.
The nosewheel is particularly draggy
because it's located in the center of the
slipstream where accelerated air from the
propeller imposes an especially high drag
penalty. Personally, I'd prefer either fixed or
fully retractable landing gear. Call me oldfashioned, but if the gear moves, I want to
have a lever for that-even though I recognize I'm less reliable than software.
Lancair likes to compare its Mako to
much more expensive, factory-built Cirrus
SR22s. The Mako shines in those comparisons because of its thoroughly impressive
speed, range, payload, and relatively low
price-and those are the things pilots talk
(and care) about most. Lancair isn't as anxious to talk about its main Experimental
competitor, the metal Van's RV-10. Both are
four-seat, tricycle-gear, six-cylinder travelers. But the comparison isn't as one-sided.
The Mako beats the RV-10 in speed and
range, but payload (depending on engine,
fuel capacity, and other options) is close,
and the RV-10 could win on price.
But even when compared to other kit
manufacturers, Lancair sees its evolving

factory assist program as a key differentiator. Owners can help as much, or as little, as
they want, and they can finish their airplanes in as few as six months.
Lancair's future also depends on broad customer acceptance of the Experimental
category. For many, it depends on their willingness to come to Uvalde and invest sweat
equity in their future airplane. (And if they come in the summer, that sweat equity could
be considerable!)
There's no doubt, however, about the airplane. The Mako, like the Lancair ES (and
the turbocharged, pressurized ES-P), is a proven design, an impressive traveler, and joyful to fly.
The Huffstutlers are focused, determined aviation entrepreneurs, and they're remarkably adept at spotting aviation niches where they can make meaningful improvements.
They're so committed to making Lancair work that they sold their beloved P-51 Mustang to
come up with the capital to buy Lancair-and that's a move that no pilot would make lightly.
"We absolutely loved the Mustang," Conrad said. "It was a privilege to own and fly.
But selling it allows us to launch Lancair [with] no debt. Making Lancair a success means
even more to us than having a Mustang."
AOPA
EMAIL dave.hirschman@aopa.org

A SENSOR on the nosewheel (far left) helps it know when to
retract, and gull-wing doors make it easy to climb in and out. The
airplane's sleek lines have been a Lancair trait from the beginning.
The company has always been synonymous with speed.

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AOPA Pilot Magazine - June 2018

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