Lancair Tigress


The Lancair Tigress was an American homebuilt aircraft that was designed by Lance Neibauer and intended for production by Lancair of Redmond, Oregon. Introduced in mid-late 1990s, it was essentially a Lancair IV with a much more powerful engine. When the engine was cancelled just as it was entering production, the Tigress project ended with it. Only prototypes were produced.
The concept of a higher-powered Lancair IV derivative was finally filled by the Lancair Propjet.

Design and development

The Tigress was intended to be a development of the Lancair IV adapted to employ the Orenda OE600 V-8 engine, giving it a cruise speed of. To accept the higher power and the increased speeds the airframe was structurally strengthened. The engine was later cancelled by its manufacturer, Orenda Aerospace, and the Tigress kit was not produced as a result.
The aircraft featured a cantilever low-wing, a four-seat pressurized cabin, retractable tricycle landing gear and a single engine in tractor configuration.
The Tigress was made from composites, including graphite fiber. Its span was shorter than that used on the Lancair IV, mounted flaps and had a wing area of. The Tigress's wing used a McWilliams RXM5-217 airfoil at the wing root, transitioning to a NACA 64-212 at the wing tip, the same as employed on the Lancair IV.
The aircraft had a typical empty weight of and a gross weight of, giving a useful load of. With full fuel of the payload for pilot, passengers and baggage was.

Operational history

The sole prototype was deregistered on 27 June 2013 and sold, with the tail number reserved through 2018. It is preserved on a concrete pad in front of the Civil Aerospace Medical Institute building at the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Specifications (Tigress)