Lancair is an American amateur-built aircraft “family” designed by Lance Neibauer and produced as a kit by his company, The first Model 200 of 1985 later evolved into the Lancair 235, 320, 360, Legacy, and Barracuda.
Neibauer, a Fine Arts graduate, designed the first Lancair 200 because he wanted to fly an aesthetically pleasing design with better performance and handling than the existing production aircraft in the 1980s The marriage of aviation and art is apparent in the streamlined lines on all Lancairs and is instantly recognizable.
The first Model 200 (that resides today in the Experimental Aircraft Association Museum in Oshkosh, WI.) was intended as a “one-off” aircraft for his own use and not for production, but after displaying it at Oshkosh in 1985, the design generated such a high level of interest that he began manufacturing and selling kits.
In 1986 Lance Neibauer designed the retractable gear Lancair 235, slightly longer than the 200 and with 15 more HP, and was an immediate worldwide success. The manufacturer estimated the kit construction time as 600 hours, but usually this figure is over-optimistic!
The prototype 200 was made of urethane and styrofoam, all covered with fiberglass skin but today the production aircraft kits are made from composite materials, including Nomex honeycomb structure, some graphite parts and epoxy-impregnated fiberglass cloth for covering.
More than 2.200 Lancairs have been sold so far in more than 34 countries, on 5 continents.
The Lancair 235 I-DAGI exhibited at Volandia was one of the first Model 235 kits sold by Lancair and during its home-built construction by Danilo Pellizzari and Giuseppe Sozzi a number of modifications and structural changes were introduced by the parent Company, thus bringing to 5 years and over 4.000 man-hours the time needed for its completion. Careful streamlining, a new optimized propeller and careful weight control, allowed this Lancair 235 to cruise at 140 mph (225 km-h) with 75% power. A modern instrumentation for communication and navigation, gave it easy cross-country performances.
The I-DAGI in 1998 was awarded by CAP (the Italian EAA ) the Rotondi Trophy as “best homebuilt aircraft”. After many years of flight, the aircraft was donated to Volandia by its owners in 2020.