Champion Lancer

Champion 402 Lancer
Role Civil training aircraft
Manufacturer Champion Aircraft Corporation
First flight 1961
Introduction 1963
Produced 1963-1965
Number built 36[1]
Unit cost
$12,500 in 1964[2]
Developed from Champion 7FC Tri-Traveler

The Champion 402 Lancer is a twin-engine trainer produced by Champion Aircraft, based on the tricycle gear Champion 7FC Tri-Traveler, but powered by two wing-mounted Continental O-200-A engines.[2] The Lancer first flew in 1961 and production began in 1963.[3] The Lancer seats two in a tandem configuration with dual flight controls; the pilot in command or student pilot normally occupies the front seat.

Design and development

The Lancer achieved its goal of being the least expensive American-built twin engine airplane. Other design goals included simplicity, ease of maintenance, low operating costs, and the ability to operate from rough or unimproved strips. The high wing and high engine position give good propeller clearance in achieving that last goal. The Lancer is of metal tube construction with fiberglass covering and has fixed landing gear and propellers.[1]

The Lancer was designed specifically for flight schools seeking an inexpensive way to train students for a multi-engine rating, a role in which the craft's modest performance and payload were anticipated to matter little.[2] To increase its appeal to flight schools, the Lancer was equipped with a mock landing gear retraction switch that operates green “safe” and red “unsafe” lights in the cockpit, allowing a student pilot to feign operation of imaginary "retractable" (it was permanently fixed) landing gear on takeoff and landing during instructional flights.[4] In a peculiar combination, the front seat was equipped with a control yoke, while the rear-seat pilot had a centre stick.[N 1] Both seats were equipped with engine controls mounted overhead, with solo flight being performed from the front seat. Braking was controlled with a lever on the right-hand side of the front-seat instrument panel; differential braking was not possible, and no brake controls were provided for the rear-seat pilot.[2][3][4] Other features included single-slotted wing flaps with 4 adjustment positions, and pilot-adjustable trim tabs for the elevator and rudder;[2][N 2] elevator trim was adjusted using a sidewall-mounted lever.[4][N 3]

The prototype Lancer underwent development between 1961 and the start of production in 1963. The changes included relocating the engine nacelles to their final position above the wing,[1] strengthening the wings to accommodate the engines, and redesigning the empennage to provide for twin-engine control requirements.[2] The Federal Aviation Administration type certificate was approved on 7 March 1963.[5]

Operational history

The Lancer's performance when flying on a single engine is notably poor; in a column for AOPA Pilot, author Barry Schiff summarized the airplane's single-engine performance by writing that "...it doesn’t have any".[4] Since the Lancer's fixed-pitch propellers cannot be feathered in flight, the failed engine's propeller generally continues to windmill, creating prodigious drag and yaw.[3][4][6] With the other engine delivering full power, the Lancer's advertised engine-out ceiling is only 2,000 feet (610 m) at standard temperature and pressure[3][6] – an altitude below ground level in many geographical areas, particularly once adverse density altitude conditions are taken into account. An engine-out situation typically results in a descent rate of about 250 ft/min (1.3 m/s),[4] and the Lancer's single-engine, best-rate-of-climb speed VYSE–generally a gauge of engine-out climb performance for other airplanes–has been characterized as actually being a "single-engine, least-rate-of-coming-down-speed."[6] Flying magazine noted that the craft could generally maintain altitude at or below 2,200 feet (670 m) and was reasonably easy to fly at airfield traffic pattern altitude[N 4] on a single engine, but that an engine-out go-around would be potentially risky, and that a pilot is best advised "...to commit [himself or herself] to land–then land".[2]

Some flight schools initially viewed the Lancer's marginal single-engine performance favorably, as students trained in a Lancer found other twin-engine types comparatively easy to fly.[2] Despite this, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration ruled that a multi-engine rating obtained in a Lancer was valid only in the type, thus rendering training in a Lancer effectively futile for pilots seeking low-cost certification to fly other aircraft; this crippled the craft's sales potential in its intended flight school market.[3] Sales were very limited and failed to meet Champion's expectations; some sources state that a total of 36 were made,[1] although others claim that only 24 or 26 may have actually been delivered.[3]

Criticisms of the Lancer are not limited to its single-engine performance or lack thereof. The engine nacelle placement hampers visibility,[3][4][6] particularly for the rear-seat pilot,[4] and for both pilots during banked turns.[3] Schiff compares the engine nacelles to "...horse blinders that [result] in disorienting tunnel vision".[4] The close proximity of the engines and propellers to the front-seat pilot's head create elevated noise levels described as "remarkable"[3] or even "paralyzing".[6] The sidewall-mounted elevator trim lever looks very similar to the throttle lever of the single-engine Aeronca Champion, but pushing the lever forward results in nose-down trim rather than increased engine power as in most Champion types; this creates a risk that an experienced Champion pilot may confuse the two controls when piloting the Lancer, with potentially catastrophic consequences if he/she instinctively pushes the lever fully forward to arrest an unwanted rate of descent.[4] The 1 inch (25 mm) wide vertical center bar in the windshield impairs the pilot's view of the runway on landing.[2]

With both engines functioning properly, the Lancer is relatively slow in cruise and exhibits a mediocre climb rate, particularly in light of its twin-engine layout and resultant higher operating costs compared to a single-engine airplane. Its lackluster performance is generally attributed to abundant form drag from the wing and tailplane struts and unusually large strut-braced fixed main landing gear legs, which are about 3 inches (76 mm) in diameter and 5 feet (1.5 m) long.[2][3][4] In most respects, the Lancer's flight performance is equal or slightly inferior to that of the popular Cessna 150,[4] an airplane that uses a single O-200 engine rather than two.

Despite these drawbacks, Lancer ownership has been described as potentially attractive because it is "...an oddity and rarity of aviation..." and "Its appearance does attract and invite attention."[3]

Specifications (Champion 402)

Data from Flying, unless otherwise noted

General characteristics

Performance

References

Notes
  1. ↑ Single-engine tandem Champion models generally have centre sticks for both pilots, while the single-engine side-by-side Aeronca Chief family generally uses dual control yokes.
  2. ↑ Aileron trim was ground-adjustable only.
  3. ↑ The elevator trim lever in single-engine tandem Champion models is generally mounted overhead between the seats.
  4. ↑ It is worth noting that the test flight was performed in and around Houston, Texas, a geographical area with an altitude very close to sea level, although density altitude is said to have been high during the test.
Citations
  1. 1 2 3 4 Plane and Pilot: 1978 Aircraft Directory, page 95. Werner & Werner Corp, Santa Monica CA, 1977. ISBN 0-918312-00-0
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Schlaeger, Gerald J. (January 1964). "Pilot Report: Champion Lancer". Flying: 45, 58, 60.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "N9931Y, The Unusual Twin Engine 1963 Champion Lancer 402, Rev. 1". Airport-Data.com. 5 March 2007. Retrieved 7 October 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Schiff, Barry (April 2011). "Proficient Pilot". AOPA Pilot. 54 (4). Retrieved 7 October 2014.
  5. 1 2 3 "Type Certificate Data Sheet No. AC3E" (PDF). Federal Aviation Administration. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 "The Pilot's Lounge #126: The Less-Than-Great Planes". AVweb.com. 19 May 2008. Retrieved 7 October 2014.
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