With a family background in aviation (Meyers Aircraft), Lance Niebauer, a Californian graphics artist, sold his family home and chattels in order to pursue the dream of producing the perfect kitset aircraft, founding the company in 1984. The original Lancair 200 composites monoplane, designed by Lance Niebaur, first flew in 1984.

The first model Lancair 200 was developed in 1984 and today, that prototype resides in the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) Museum in Oshkosh, WI.

1988:
Neico Aviation Inc
403 S. Ojai St
Santa Paula
California 93060
USA

From the subsequent Lancair 320 evolved the Lancair 320 Mk II two-seat monoplane that was available in kit form. In July of 1999 The Legacy 2000 was introduced as the successor to the Lancair 320/360. The Legacy provides additional passenger and luggage space as well as increased performance over the previous Lancair 360. Using a 310 hp Continental IO-550-N, the Legacy achieves cruise speeds in excess of 276 mph at 8000 ft.

In Sept of 2001 Lancair International flew their turbine engine powered Lancair IV-P. The Lancair Sentry is a Walter turbine powered Lancair IV is a military-style tandem seat aircraft with left-side throttle controls, and a rear hinge canopy. “The airplane performs very similar to the existing Propjet model, achieving a cruise speed of almost 400 mph! ”Not only does this new Lancair kit yield blood-boiling speeds similar to the IV-P Propjet model, it also offers increased yaw stability and excellent visibility out of a newly designed rear hinge canopy.

There are kits for the four-seat Lancair IV, IVP with pressurized cabin and Tigress as a two-seat variant of IV. Four-seat Lancair Super ES has also given rise to the Columbia 300 for certification, the latter being a joint venture program with a Malaysian organization.

1995: Marketed by Lancair International from 2244 Airport Way, Redmond, OR 97756, USA. Lancair International Inc. manufactures advanced composite structures at its Redmond, Oregon facility.

In February 2003, founder and president, Lance Neibauer announced the sale of his kit company to Joseph C. Bartels, a previous Lancair IV-P customer. Joseph C. Bartels, an attorney from New Orleans, first became involved with Lancair in December 1992 when he took delivery of a Lancair IV-P kit. Since then he and a partner formed Aero Cool, LLC, a company that provides air-conditioning units for the Lancair IV’s, now sold exclusively through Kit Components Inc., a division of Lancair International Inc. Joe holds a private pilot certificate with instrument rating as well as an A & P rating.

2009: Lancair International, 2244 Airport Way, Redmond, OR 97756, USA.

Lancair, in 2009, had a market segment that outsold the production market fleet by more than 3 to 1.

The Lancair family of aircraft covers the range of private pilot aircraft from the solid two-seat aerobatic Lancair Legacy, the economical two-seat Legacy fixed-gear to the four-seat, fixed-gear Lancair ES, the 330 mph Lancair IV speedster to the fourth-ever pressurized piston single in the history of aviation, the Lancair IV-P. In 2000 Lancair was proud to announce a turbine engine option to the Lancair IV-P. This high-powered turbine will propel the Lancair IV-P to incredible speeds of up to 370 mph.