208:(AGATE) project in an attempt to re-energize the rapidly shrinking general aviation (GA) market. A series of factors, including new regulatory requirements and immense legal liability lawsuit settlements made the GA field unprofitable and most manufacturers had abandoned production of piston-engined light aircraft to concentrate on the business turbine aircraft market. As a result, GA design work had basically ended and aircraft for sale in 1990 were essentially the same as those from the 1970s. With a thriving market for used aircraft, American GA aircraft production numbers declined from 18,000 in 1978 to 954 in 1993, an all-time low.
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250:. Originally intended simply to spread out production of the existing Lancair aircraft product lines, the new factory was rechristened Lancair Certified and was used as the main site for what was then known as the Lancair LC-40, for "Lancair Certified, model 40". The first prototype flew in July 1996, followed by the certification prototype in early 1997.
322:. The two latter companies filed motions with the bankruptcy court stating that Cessna has been "getting preferential treatment in the process". On 20 November 2007 Cirrus Design announced that they would not pursue purchasing Columbia, citing Columbia's problems as being too serious and that resolving them would require excessive resources.
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had, and populated largely by experimenters looking for better performance, the kit market expanded rapidly in the 1980s. Designs available as kits often surpassed the performance of certified aircraft, while also being much less expensive. A leading kit manufacturer,
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257:. Lancair Certified was renamed Columbia Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation in 2005 to focus on the new design. Neibauer sold the kit-build portion of the company, Lancair International, to Joseph Bartels in March 2003.
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government and was incorporated in
November 1990 by Minister of Finance Malaysia Inc. CTRM's CEO is Retired Col. Rosdi Mahmud. CTRM became interested in selling its share of the company in 2006.
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On
November 27, 2007, Cessna's parent company Textron announced that Cessna Aircraft was the successful bidder for Columbia Aircraft, that the Columbia 350 and 400 are renamed the
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The fate of
Columbia Aircraft was complicated on October 14, 2007 when three additional companies entered the bidding for Columbia Aircraft. These were Columbia's competitor,
352:
On April 29, 2009, Cessna announced that it would close the former
Columbia plant in Bend, Oregon facility where the Cessna 350 and 400 were built and move production to
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After a lengthy development and certification process the aircraft was officially certified on
September 18, 1998, as the Model LC40-550FG and marketed under the name
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In
January 2003, Composite Technology Research Malaysia (CTRM) bought a controlling interest in Columbia for over $ 50 million. CTRM is owned by the
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243:. Lancair founder Lance Neibauer was encouraged to certify the design, which would make it one of the first all-new GA aircraft certified in years.
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division, including its line of high-performance single-engined aircraft. As part of the sale agreement
Columbia Aircraft was to enter Chapter 11
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developed under the AGATE program, which
Columbia refers to as the "Highway in the Sky" (HITS). The 400 was certified on March 30, 2003.
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The upgrades used in the
Columbia 400 were then incorporated in the original 300 design to create the Model LC42-550FG, marketed as the
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The 300 was the fastest fixed-gear aircraft in the world when it was released, but held this title only for a short period until the
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protection. The arrangement would be subject to approval of the bankruptcy court and also to a final agreement with Cessna.
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337:$ 26.4M for the company and committed to investing in the current company location on the southeast corner of
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On April 3, 1995, Lancair established a new company, Pacific
Aviation Composites USA, in
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and that all existing Columbia aircraft will be supported by Cessna. Cessna paid
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design set a number of records, including a long-range flight at 360–mph.
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Business Registry Business Name Search, Pacific Aviation Composites USA, LLC
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www.flycolumbia.com - the former location of the Columbia Aircraft website
673:"Textron's Cessna Aircraft Company to Acquire Assets of Columbia Aircraft"
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356:. The company laid-off all the remaining 150 employees at the Bend plant.
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All of the Columbia aircraft competed heavily with similar designs from
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fits. The ES was a version of the unpressurized Lancair IV with fixed
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267:(Model LC41-550FG) flew in June 2000. The 400 also featured a new
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599:"Cessna-Columbia Deal Confirmed; Cirrus Says That's a Good Thing"
278:. It appeared in April 2002 and was certified on April 8, 2004.
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General Aviation Manufacturers Association (January 2008).
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would purchase the company, which would be merged with its
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was an aircraft manufacturer that designed and built light
722:"Cessna Will Suspend Columbus Program, Close Bend Factory"
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On September 24, 2007 Columbia Aircraft announced that
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market was thriving. Free of some of the problems that
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For the Columbia Aircraft Corporation (1927-1947), see
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Defunct aircraft manufacturers of the United States
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511:"TYPE CERTIFICATE DATA SHEET A00003SE Revision 22"
206:Advanced General Aviation Transport Experiments
296:outsold the Columbia models by a wide margin.
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413:, NASA Langley, July 1996, FS-1996-07-02-LaRC
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447:"Columbia Aircraft: A Legacy Of Performance"
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188:. In November 2007 it became a division of
179:Columbia Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation
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544:"Cessna Reportedly Interested in Columbia"
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964:Privately held companies based in Oregon
486:"The Lancair LC-40 Columbia 300/350/400"
404:"AGATE -- Revitalizing General Aviation"
318:as well as Versa Capital Management and
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648:"Cirrus Won't Bid On Columbia Assets"
445:Sandhills Publishing Company (2008).
7:
16:American light aircraft manufacturer
626:"Cirrus Launches Bid for Columbia"
14:
597:Russ Niles (September 24, 2007).
542:Russ Niles (September 22, 2007).
698:Russ Niles (November 27, 2007).
646:Mary Grady (November 20, 2007).
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959:Companies based in Bend, Oregon
624:Russ Niles (October 14, 2007).
507:Federal Aviation Administration
231:As part of AGATE, NASA used a
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969:1995 establishments in Oregon
923:Pacific Aviation Composites
566:"2007 GAMA Shipment Report"
211:During the same period the
81:November 27, 2007
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720:Grady, Mary (April 2009).
235:as a testbed for advanced
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671:Textron (November 2007).
320:Park Electrochemical Corp
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66:April 3, 1995
700:"Cessna Gets Columbia"
368:- production completed
339:Bend Municipal Airport
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47:privately held company
21:Columbia Aircraft Corp
383:- later known as the
374:- later known as the
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224:'s high performance
99:& taken over by
605:on October 17, 2007
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913:Evolution Aircraft
428:2008-12-16 at the
409:2009-10-05 at the
217:certified aircraft
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933:Columbia Aircraft
928:Lancair Certified
880:Columbia aircraft
360:Columbia aircraft
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509:(January 2008).
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703:. Retrieved
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683:November 28,
681:. Retrieved
677:the original
653:November 24,
651:. Retrieved
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629:. Retrieved
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603:the original
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580:. Retrieved
573:the original
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547:. Retrieved
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518:the original
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451:the original
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381:Columbia 400
372:Columbia 350
366:Columbia 300
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298:
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276:Columbia 350
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265:Columbia 400
262:turbocharged
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255:Columbia 300
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241:landing gear
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178:
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167:Columbia 350
157:Columbia 400
129:Columbia 400
125:Columbia 350
121:Columbia 300
111:Bend, Oregon
107:Headquarters
43:Company type
25:
631:October 15,
948:Categories
391:References
385:Cessna 400
376:Cessna 350
331:Cessna 400
327:Cessna 350
309:bankruptcy
233:Lancair ES
226:Lancair IV
171:Sun 'n Fun
97:Chapter 11
85:2007-11-27
70:1995-04-03
906:Companies
836:Evolution
826:Barracuda
727:April 30,
432:, Lancair
283:Malaysian
213:kit-built
793:aircraft
791:Columbia
426:Archived
407:Archived
237:avionics
200:In 1994
186:aircraft
117:Products
53:Industry
918:Lancair
871:Tigress
866:Synergy
856:Propjet
787:Lancair
582:June 8,
301:Textron
222:Lancair
196:History
145:Textron
83: (
78:Defunct
68: (
63:Founded
861:Sentry
846:Legacy
354:Kansas
347:Oregon
305:Cessna
190:Cessna
141:Cessna
136:Parent
101:Cessna
576:(PDF)
569:(PDF)
521:(PDF)
514:(PDF)
851:Mako
729:2009
707:2007
685:2007
655:2007
633:2007
611:2007
584:2011
551:2007
529:2008
459:2008
343:Bend
329:and
294:SR22
202:NASA
177:The
173:2006
93:Fate
897:400
892:350
887:300
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816:320
811:235
806:200
341:in
335:USD
169:at
950::
841:IV
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