Of course buyers shopping the used high-performance, fixed-gear composite piston-single market will look hard at the Cirrus SR22. But also worth a look are the 300- and 400-series singles.
While these niche aircraft have timeless modern styling and good cockpit ergonomics, even the latest model in the line, the Cessna TTx (there were four name changes over time), is now six years out of production. But no matter the vintage, owners like these go-places singles for speed, handling and high-altitude efficiency.
In a strong market at the tail end of 2023, models with no damage and recent engine swaps are premium priced.
IDENTITY CRISIS
Flash back to around 2000 where the general design started life as a Lancair Columbia 300—a certified model from experimental kit manufacturer Lancair. Equipped with a normally aspirated 310-HP Continental IO-550N powerplant, the earliest Columbia 300 (officially a model LC40) had a list price somewhere around $340,000. Today, the current Fall 2023 Aircraft Bluebook puts the same airplane in the $300,000 price range, and good ones sell for more.
The turbocharged fire-breathing Columbia LC41-550FG/400 with a six-cylinder Continental TSIO-550-C engine came out around 2004 and had a glass cockpit developed in part on NASA’s own Columbia 300. Worth mentioning is that long before even the LC40 model arrived, NASA launched AGATE in 1994, which was designed to breathe life into a deflated general aviation market. That integrated avionics panel was incorporated into the 300 airframe/engine combination, which became the LC42-550FG, or Columbia 350, type certificated in March 2003.
A major difference between the Columbia 300 and the 350 is avionics and gyro power. The earlier 300 models had dual vacuum pumps. Standard equipment included steam gauges in front of the pilot, with a rack of UPS-AT avionics (pre-Garmin units) for talking and squawking. A pair of Avidyne multi-function displays (MFDs) were available options; when installed, they were positioned right-center in the early panels.
Garmin’s G1000 eventually came along for the Columbia 350 in 2007—around the same time that Cessna acquired the line in 2007 after Columbia ended up in bankruptcy partly because of fierce competition from Cirrus. The model 350 Corvalis (priced around $535,000) came along in 2008 wearing a Cessna nameplate. After offering the 300 and 350, Cessna produced a single version of the once Columbia 400 and called it the TTx. It was powered by the TSIO-550-C twin-turbocharged engine with dual intercoolers and smoked along at around 235 knots maximum cruise speed. It also had Garmin’s G2000 Intrinzic touch avionics suite and a price north of $800,000. Textron ultimately pulled the plug on the TTx in 2018, leaving the market speculating on the future of the company’s piston single line. Today, Aircraft Bluebook puts a 2018 TTx in the $720,000 price range and around $600,000 for 2013 TTx.
CONSTRUCTION, FLIGHT CONTROLS
For the Columbia 300/350, the fuselage shell, wings and most control surfaces are a honeycomb sandwich of pre-impregnated (pre-preg) fiberglass around a honeycomb interior. For a deep dive into fiberglass aircraft and pre-preg construction, read the March 2023 Aviation Consumer.
For this model line, the result is a strong, light airframe, certificated in the utility category instead of the less-demanding normal category. In fact, when the wing was loaded to demonstrate its strength, it exceeded FAA requirements. One of the changes from older certification rules contained in Part 23 is an airframe life limit. The Columbia models’ limits are 25,200 hours—plenty for most buyers, we suspect.
The type certificate includes a maximum operating altitude of 14,000 feet without an FAA-approved oxygen system installed, or 18,000 feet with one. Presumably, this applies even when a non-approved portable system is carried, though we’d be surprised if operators strictly adhered to it. If one wants to climb higher in a Columbia, the 400 is approved for up to FL250. Additionally, maximum zero fuel and minimum flying weights apply. The new TTx has the BiO2 four-place oxygen system.
Anyone familiar with a Cirrus will feel right at home. Ailerons and elevators are one-piece construction, incorporating rods and bellcranks, a la Mooney. The left aileron includes a servo tab, which decreases control force and likely contributes to the ease of control with the side sticks. When Aviation Consumer flew an early Columbia 300 as the type was being rolled out, we noticed a slight breakout force to actuate the ailerons. We felt it initially disconcerting in turbulence, resulting in overcontrolling in the roll axis.
The Columbia’s rudder also is of one-piece construction, actuated by cables running through plastic tubes. No pulleys are used, and there’s little discernible control friction. But it does include an item not usually found on light singles: a rudder limiter. The limiter snaps on when power is above 12 inches of manifold pressure and after the stall warning has sounded for two seconds. The limiter restricts rudder travel to 6 degrees either side of center, rather than the normal 12 degrees.
SYSTEMS, ERGOS, CABIN
The roll and pitch trim system is all-electric (no manual reversion) and actuated by a coolie hat atop the side stick. Rudder trim is controlled by a switch on the lower center panel, with a graphic display of blue and green lights showing trim tab position. It’s intuitive. Prior to takeoff, the various switches are moved until the trim lights show only green. Once a trim tab has been moved from the takeoff position, the respective light turns blue so the pilot can see not only how far off-center it is, but has a quick reference by color once the tab is back to the takeoff position.
When the 350 came out, it used the 300’s systems and panel. For one, it was an all-electric airplane, with a dual bus and dual alternator/battery electrical system eliminating the twin vacuum pumps in the Columbia 300. Continental’s FADEC (full authority digital engine control) engine management system, employing a single lever to control power, mixture and the propeller, was available as an option.
While the Columbia 300 and some 350 models started out with 14-volt electrical systems, the company went to 28-volt systems in 2005, beginning with serial number 42501. The exterior airframe surfaces are smooth, and this means flush fuel filler caps similar to those used on Lancair homebuilts. If you park outside in the rain, be sure to sump the tanks before launching because they might collect water.
Speaking of fuel, capacity is a generous 106 gallons total, with 102 usable, carried in a wet wing, between the spars, so it’s reasonably we’ll protected in a crash and quantity doesn’t affect the center of gravity. The fuel lines run to the selector valve under the center of the fuselage, in front of the forward wing spar. From a crashworthiness standpoint, the lines are exposed for only a few feet in front of the spar. The fuel valve’s selector handle forms the forward portion of the armrest between the front seats. It’s shaped to make it clear to which tank the valve points, making it one of the better human-factor designs we’ve seen. Not so good for human factors is the circuit breaker panel that’s positioned low on the left cabin sidewall. Good luck reading the labels without getting vertigo.
The Columbia 300/350 scores we’ll on safety and crashworthiness, in our view, with good seatbelts, a crushable structure and energy-absorbing foam seats. That said, we’re not fond of gullwing doors, hinged at the top and opening upward, common to Columbia and Cirrus models. They expose the interior to rain during entry and exit and they’ve never struck us as being as structurally robust as conventional doors.
While the fit and overall quality is generally good, a group of 350 and 400 owners started a class-action lawsuit for paint cracking around the window frames apparently from expansion and contraction. The last we heard, Cessna had acknowledged the issue and said it would come up with a fix.
When reviewing accidents for an aircraft model for the Used Aircraft Guide, we seek the 100 most recent in a search for trends or areas of concern for owners and prospective buyers. Not surprisingly, our review of all Columbia/Cessna 300/350/400 mishaps failed to uncover 100 accidents—amazingly, we found only 10 in the U.S.
We can’t help but think that there have been more domestic accidents involving the series, but the many designators for the series (we found nine—Columbia 300, Columbia LC40, Columbia 350, Columbia 400, Columbia LC42, Cessna 350, Cessna 400, Cessna TTx and Cessna T240) cause us to be suspicious that not all of the accidents appear in the right places in the NTSB database.
Nevertheless, even if there were three times as many accidents as we found, 30 mishaps in more than 20 years is, in our opinion, a very low accident rate for the marque.
As with almost all aircraft, the most common accident involved issues on landing. With the high wing loading of the series, we expected to see a more than a few landing mishaps. We didn’t. Only 20-30 percent of the accidents (depending on how one views one of the accidents) were landing related—about average for a high-performance nosewheel airplane.
The first landing accident we reviewed involved a pilot who landed long and realized that it was time for a go-around. He brought the power up with plenty of room to take off again and climb out over obstacles. However, he left the speedbrakes extended and the airplane ran off the end of the runway.
While this was technically an accident during a landing sequence, it did not involve the pilot losing control, rather simply forgetting to stow the speedbrakes, not surprising for a pilot who is relatively low time in type, especially as few single-engine airplanes have speedbrakes.
There were two accidents involving true loss of control on landing. In one the pilot lost directional control on rollout facing a 30-degree 11-19 knot crosswind. He attempted a go-around, but departed the left side of the runway (P factor?), bounced and then hit terrain.
In the second landing accident, the pilot was “high and fast” on approach to a 2875-foot strip. He hit hard, bounced more than 10 feet up, according to witnesses, then bounced again 300 feet farther down the runway, with speedbrakes deployed. The airplane veered left as the pilot applied full power, then went off the runway to the left, hit a berm and turned back to and crossed the runway before impacting parked airplanes.
There is no “both” position for the fuel system. A pilot practicing full-stop landings ran a tank out of fuel at 250 feet up on takeoff. There were 25 gallons of fuel in the other tank, but not enough time or altitude to switch into that tank.
One pilot stalled his airplane while making a steep turn at 600 feet AGL in the traffic pattern and entered an incipient spin prior to ground impact. Another aborted two takeoffs “because the airplane wouldn’t lift off.” The brakes faded on the second abort and the airplane went off the end into dry grass where the hot brakes set the grass on fire.
A Cessna 400 is faster than most piston twins, requiring that the pilot be on top of their game when flying in IMC. However, we only found one IMC loss of control accident. After entering clouds at 800 feet AGL and starting a right turn on course, the pilot stopped climbing at 2500 feet AGL and entered a left spiral that continued to impact.
FLYING, MAINTAINING THEM
Both Columbia models have a maximum gross takeoff weight of 3400 pounds. In working several sample weight and balance problems with an early 300, we noticed it’s quite easy to load the airplane out of its aft CG limit. Four 200-pound people and 120 pounds of bags put the plane over its max landing weight without fuel and a couple of inches aft of the CG limit. Cessna 400 and TTx owners we talked with didn’t have any problems. The TTX gives you about 1000 pounds of useful load to play with, 612 pounds of which could be fuel.
The Columbias come with a maximum landing weight of 3230 pounds. That means just over 28 gallons of fuel—or roughly an hour at takeoff settings—will have to be burned following a gross weight, full-fuel departure before a landing may legally be made. Run the numbers on the model you plan to buy based on how you plan to fly it.
As for efficiency, a Columbia 350 owner told us he operates (always IFR) at full gross weight on flights roughly four hours in length between 10,000 and 12,000 feet. He runs it at roughly 61 percent power LOP and sees 163 knots and 12.3 GPH.
Greg Burns, based around the big mountains of northern Nevada, told us he files for 190 knots in his turbocharged and aftermarket ThermaWing deicing system-equipped Cessna 400. That’s operating LOP and burning 16.5 GPH at around 24,000 feet. Down lower (15,000 feet) burning lots of fuel with the mixture set ROP, he’s seen nearly 210 knots true. Bragging rights go to the TTx for 235 knots at 25,000 feet, but real-world numbers that you’re more likely to see are 185 knots cruise below 10,000 feet, the 190s in the mid-teens and the low 200s in the flight levels. This is essentially on par with a Cirrus SR22T.
Handling, from our experience and other 350/400/TTx pilots we talked with, is nothing short of superb with particularly good low-speed control authority and excellent control harmony.
There are a handful of Airworthiness Directives (ADs) pertinent to both the 300 and 350 models. AD 2007-07-06 applies to all Columbia models and requires repetitive inspections of aileron and elevator linear bearings, and control rods, for foreign object debris, scarring or damage to prevent a jammed control system. This is the most onerous AD affecting Columbias.
Overall, reliability seems reasonably good for a fairly complex aircraft. At the top of the list of expenses (and downtime) are engine swaps. With price increases, owners we talked with are budgeting every bit of $70,000 and at least six months of downtime.
“With these composite airplanes you’re essentially just maintaining a powerplant and avionics,” Greg Burns said of his Cessna. Like others, he’s had some issues with corroded electrical sensor connectors in the engine bay, but overall a good ownership experience over 600 hours and five years. Annual inspections have been $5000—tops. Burns, who built a Van’s RV-9, is comfortable doing some of the work himself, including oil changes (with outsourced oil analysis) every 25 hours. The engine has over 1800 hours and the TBO is 2000 hours.
One wart seems to be an annoying nosewheel shimmy at around 40 knots, especially if the wheel balancing is off.
As for transitioning, the biggest concern is staying ahead of the airplane given its speed and efficient wing. Speedbrakes help to slow it.
CURRENT MARKET
We say get an insurance quote before making a deal on the airplanes. With fixed landing gear, they’ll be easier to insure than retracs and twins, but insurers know these speedsters aren’t beginner’s airplanes. And as you would expect, prices remain high in a piston single market that’s still riding the wave. We spotted a 2004 Columbia 350 with 1825 hours on an original engine priced at $319,000. A 2008 Cessna 400 Corvalis with around 1000 hours on its engine was priced at $509,000.
If your mission includes efficient long-distance traveling, we think these airplanes are worth a look. But unlike a Cirrus, don’t look for a whole-airplane parachute—it’s a major safety backstop that’s missing.
