During the 1990s, homebuilding impresario Lance Neibauer decided to see what life on the certified side would look like. His initial foray would be known as the Columbia. Based loosely on the homebuilt Lancair ES, the Columbia launched a formula familiar today, a high-power (310 hp), fixed-gear, sidestick-controlled, low-wing composite speedster with docile flying manners. Columbia Aircraft suffered a series of setbacks — including a freak Oregon hailstorm — and eventually went out of business. Cessna purchased the assets, relaunched production and eventually renamed the airplane the Corvalis. Today the Corvalis, with Garmin avionics and excellent creature comforts, is a premier personal transportation airplane.