The OMAC Laser 300, originally named the OMAC I is a canard pusher business aircraft built in the United States in 1981 but which never saw production.
It is a canard layout powered by a pusher turboprop engine, and a high, swept wing carrying endplate fins on the tips.[1] Construction was of metal throughout. The cabin could seat six to seven passengers, and incorporated quick-change seating, allowing rapid conversion for freight.[2] Early in development, plans existed to produce a turbofan-powered version of the design,[3] but this did not happen.
The first prototype flew on 11 December 1981[4] and OMAC ("Old Man's Aircraft Company") hoped to obtain type certification by mid 1982.[5] This was delayed by a ground accident, and then a landing accident caused by the failure of an undercarriage locking pin.[5] A second prototype flew on 19 February 1983,[5] and certification was expected "no later than December 1984",[6] but in late 1983, the process had barely started.[7]
In the mid-1980s, it was tested at the Langley 12-Foot Low-Speed Tunnel to investigate its stability and control characteristics.[8] Special attention was paid to behaviour at high angles of attack and to stall and spin resistance,[8] and it was found to have poor longitudinal stability at high angles of attack.[8] The wing was modified, with extensions added to the trailing edge flaps, and a discontinuous, leading edge droop added to the outboard section of the wings.[8] Stall characteristics were good since the canard provided a nose-down pitching moment.[8] Changes were tested on the second prototype before the design was frozen in April 1985.[9] Additionally, production machines were to have a different fuselage with a round cross-section, a redesigned nose, and additional baggage space.[10][11]
OMAC relocated from Reno, NevadatoAlbany, Georgia in January 1985, as Ayres Corporation was to manufacture them at their Albany plant.[5][12] Certification was then anticipated by mid-1986.[5] and by late 1986, a third prototype was under construction, incorporating refinements that had been tested on the second machine.[13] This machine was built alongside three other Laser 300s, together representing the first four of thirty aircraft that Omac hoped to build by the end of 1987.[14] The third prototype, and first production machine flew on 29 July 1987 and certification was now expected by May 1988. By now, production was running a year late, and projected costs had risen from $US 550,000 to $875,000.[15] The aircraft was displayed at the NBAA show in Dallas, Texas in October 1988, by which time 56 hours of flight testing had been carried out without incident.[16] Certification was delayed again, and expected by late 1989 or early 1990,[17][16] however, $20 million was required for certification and production,[18] but insufficient funds were raised and development stalled.[19] Omac continued to offer the aircraft as late as 1993, along with an improved version designated the Laser 360.[20]
