Skip to main content

Specifications for Unleashed Lancair Super 360

  • HORSEPOWER:  Unknown..yet

    25″ and 2500 RPM @ 6,500 ft

  • PROPELLER: Hartzell HC-F2YR-1F/F7068-2 (68″)
  • LENGTH: 21 ft
  • WINGSPAN: 23.5 ft
  • WING AREA: 76 sq ft
  • WING LOADING: 19 lbs/sq ft
  • POWER LOADING: 4.78 lbs/hp
  • ASPECT RATIO: 7.1:1
  • G LOADING (Ult.):  +9, -4.5
  • EMPTY WEIGHT: 1253 lbs
  • GROSS WEIGHT: (Max T.O.) 1800 lbs
  • FUEL CAPACITY: 52 Gallons w/Long Range Tanks
  • USEFUL LOAD: 547 lbs
  • BAGGAGE CAPACITY: 50-70 lbs (maximum)
  • CABIN WIDTH: 42.4 in
  • CABIN HEIGHT: 42.5 in
  • SEATS: 2 conventional
  • MAX SPEED, SEA LEVEL: 255-260 mph (debatable..)
  • CRUISE TYPICAL: 255 mph true airspeed
  • STALL SPEED: (Dirty) 68 mph
  • SERVICE CEILING: 18,000 ft
  • TAKEOFF DISTANCE: 390 ft
  • LANDING DISTANCE: 900 ft
  • CROSS WIND LANDING COMPONENTt: 21 mph
  • FUEL CONSUMPTION @ 75%: 12.5 gph
  • MAXIMUM RANGE: 1040 sm (no res.)
  • INITIAL RATE OF CLIMB: 2500 fpm @ gross

Apparently a lot of people view my specs page..  So, why not give you a little more info on my airplane.  This isn’t a standard Lancair 360, by any stretch.

Engine:
Unleashed had one of the best engines I’ve ever flown behind, a Superior Air Parts XP-400.  Well, long story short, all XP-400 engines were recalled back to the factory due to a possible crankshaft failure.  That is a long story if anyone wants to talk about it, but the moral of it is I had to give up my XP-400 and I am having a new Lycoming IO-390-EXP being built up as we speak.  I’ll hopefully be testing the new engine mid summer 2020.

Airframe:
This is an older Lancair 360.  Completed in 1995.  For those of you that know your Lancair’s, here are the highlights:

  • Standard Gear
  • Small Tail
  • Short Engine Mount (but heavy engine..)
  • Long range tanks (Wings wet all the way to the tip)
  • Header Tank (Total of 52 Gallons of fuel)
  • 1253 lbs empty, so a bit heavy by comparison

So, let me cover a few things that many people talk about.  To be clear, this is my opinion.
Small tail vs big tail.
Sure, I understand why Lancair later upgraded to a bigger horizontal.  The general stability is improved, and from what I hear, mainly during the landing configuration.  That being said, I can land my airplane just fine.  As can many other small tail owners.  My airplane will not trim to a neutral stick with full flaps.  Meaning, it will always be a bit nose heavy even with full trim.  Part of this may be the effectiveness of my trim tab.  Part of it might be the small tail.  Regardless it doesn’t matter to me at all for an important reason.  Once in the pattern I do not use the trim.  I actually prefer a very heavy nose in the landing configuration.  This does two things for me.  #1  It increases the stick force, and this is a good thing during landing.  All Lancair 360’s are very pitch sensitive so the harder it is to change pitch the better.   #2  An airplane with very neutral trim during landing is an airplane that is very easy to go slow in.  Umm, no thanks.  I have to fight my airplane to slow down, and I like that.  I see no reason to fly an approach at 1.3 * stall speed, or whatever the FAA says is normal.  Matter of fact, I never get below 100 mph indicated till I am over the fence at least.  It is easy to scrub the speed in the flare, and I can still make a 2500 ft exit without using hardly any brakes.  Also, I have a goal during each landing.  Once the power comes off the airplane in downwind, I always try to make the runway without using any power again.  Thus, the engine could quit at any time during base/final, and I’m still going to make it.  Maybe it doesn’t always happen that way.. But like a said, it is a goal.

 

Normal Cruise
Just to give you some idea of what a normal cruise flight looks like, it goes something like this.

  • Takeoff at full power and 2700 rpm
  • After gear/flaps up and enough altitude to make some sort of landing, somewhere,  reduce power to 25″ and 2600 rpm for the climb, 160ish mph indicated.  Lean to around 1200 on #2 EGT.  This is in the ballpark of 150 degrees rich of peak. (ROP)
  • During climb, add power to maintain 25″, lean as needed to maintain best power, 150 ROP.
  • Level at cruise altitude, wide open throttle or 25″ max (if flying low), RPM back to 2450-2500ish, lean to find peak EGT, then go 75-100 rich of peak.  Usually in the ballpark of 11.5 to 12.5 gallons per hour. (GPH)  Should see 215-220 KTS ground speed on the GPS.  Around 250 mph true airspeed.
  • Probably fill header tank at this point.
  • Start your way down waaaay out.  It is easy to over shoot with these quick little airplanes.  I start at about 250-500 feet per min down.
  • Remember, as you come down in altitude you need to add fuel.  I increase the mixture to maintain 150 ROP.
  • Also, as you come down in altitude your manifold pressure goes up.  I let it increase to a maximum of 25″, then reduce power as needed.
  • Watch your Vne, and more importantly is if your up high on a hot day your True Airspeed will be very high.  Something else to consider regarding Vne.
  • Often I will pull the RPM back some, with little to no airspeed loss.  Although, I want the engine to be making power to keep warm.  Sometimes it is a struggle to keep CHT’s over 300.

Landing
I have gotten a lot of emails asking for a description of my landing.  Well, this is just off the top of my head, so here it goes.

If nobody is in the pattern, I show up fast, and a bit low with go around rpm set, 2600 for me is fine.  Then on my turn to downwind I pull the power, pull a couple G’s, and climb to pattern altitude in the turn.  Generally this will kill all the energy and get you in the ball park of gear speed, 140mph, somewhere on downwind.I pull the power, but not to idle.  Just above idle to keep the prop neutral.  Not pulling, and not slowing.  Hard to explain.  That point when it is just windmilling, but your not hanging on it.  I call that neutral.  This is a smooth pull on the power, and match what is needed to the airplane.  Keep it in neutral.  You don’t want to chop the throttle, it is hard on everything.  The ideal goal here is to make the runway with no power added.  So if your engine quits anytime in the pattern, you can probably make the runway.

I do not touch the trim, and the airplane is nose heavy.  This does a couple things for you.  #1 it increase the stick force. #2 it prevents you from getting slow.  If you get distracted by something, the airplane will want to fall nose low and speed up, not nose high and slow down.  So you are fighting it to slow down, I find this much better.  Gear out just before your abeam the numbers, so it locks down abeam the numbers or a bit after.  Soon as it locks, I start a turn.  I don’t do a base turn, and a final turn.  More like the navy turn to a carrier.  One long, shallow turn.  High angle of bank, while slow, and low,  no thanks.  Easy to overshoot the final turn and pull, causing accelerated stall.

Ok, so your starting your shallow turn and your about to flap speed 120mph.  I’ll start pulling flaps in now, if not a bit early.  Vfe is maximum speed flaps fully extended.  So, you can fudge that a bit over 120 mph with a few degrees and be ok. The prop is off the governor at this point, so your rpms are down. (because your not using the engine like a brake, if you do, you will be back up at governor rpm.)

I will add more flaps as needed, but only slow to 110-115 mph indicated.  For me, once you get past half flaps, its just extra drag.  Your pitch angle doesn’t really change much.  So in your turn by the time your at half flaps, your pitch angle should be pretty much set.  You could land like this, with no problems.

For me, no less than 100mph indicated over the grass.  As your rounding out to wings level, your starting the flare, over the grass.  If you havn’t already, engine to idle.  If your fast, use the extra flaps.  When you add the extra flaps, it will require more stick force.  I like this, it feels like your forcing the nose up pretty hard, and your killing energy with that.  If I am trying to make the first exit (like 2500 ft) I’ll use all the flaps at the end.  Then I can exit without hardly using much brakes.  Using all the flaps way out on base for example, is a TON of drag and it would really suck to have the engine quit.

The touchdown..  Man, I can’t say much.  I still screw it up pretty often. haha  I don’t look, but I would guess it is around 80 mph, maybe less.  It just takes time to figure out the sight picture.  I don’t try to hold the nose off.  If you do, it will just take off again in ground effect.  Once the mains touch, the nose is down, and it just works better that way.

Keep in mind when its hot your true airspeed, thus your ground speed, is higher.  Winter landings are soooo much easier.  This entire pattern from downwind to landing, probably not more than 30 seconds.  Also, keep in mind a Cessna 150 on 2 mile final can seriously screw this up.  Trying to time this around other traffic is second hardest part.  I’ll shoot some video of it next time I’m out.