Lancair completes historic first flight in Colombia

The first of 25 Lancair Synergy aircraft built by the Colombian Air Force flew on Sept 29. Flown by test pilot Pete Zaccagnino the Synergy performed well and met expectations. The Lancair team in attendance included Lancair CEO, Bob Wolstenhome, Robert Williams, who heads Lancair Division Innovative Composite Structures, Lt. General Mark Schmidt, USAF (Ret.) and Yaro Degani, Pulsar Aircraft, as interpreter and consultant.

The Synergy is a variant of the well known Lancair Legacy kit that has been re-designed by Lancair for a high performance training mission. Lancair International is supplying the kits to CIAC (Corporation De La Industria Aeronautica Colombiana S.A.) for the Air Force. These kits are to be built by CAF technicians and then flown by the Air Force's pilot trainees for instruction. The CAF needed to update their training fleet and partnered with Lancair in an innovative approach to training technicians and pilots with the Synergy kits.

The Synergy is a fixed gear, all composite, two place aircraft powered by a Lycoming IO-390, 210 hp, four cylinder fuel injected engine. In comparison to the very high performance Legacy, the Synergy has a 20% larger wing, longer flaps and a redesigned vertical stabilizer and rudder, similar in shape to that on the Lancair Evolution. These changes yield a high performance aircraft that is a stable, easy to fly training platform with a low stall speed. The canopy design and center stick helps to better acclimate the pilot trainees for the next aircraft in their program.

The Colombian Air Force expects to have two more Lancair Synergies flying before the end of 2010 and all 25 in the air during 2011. This flight marks the first ever "first flight" test flight by an aircraft built in Colombia and the CIAC and CAF team members were visibly moved at the achievement of this milestone in their country.