Erik Lindbergh, 36, an aviation icon's grandson, flew a small aircraft made of polymer-composite matrix from New York to Paris.
Lancair Co. of Bend, Ore., remanufactured the standard single-engine Columbia 300 in February and March.
The company, which has about 300 employees, increased fuel capacity to 314 gallons in three tanks, instead of 106 gallons in two tanks.
Materials used include preimpregnated forms of E-glass and carbon fiber from Newport Adhesives & Composites Inc. of Irvine, Calif.; two-part epoxy resin from Martin G. Scheufler Kunstharzprodukte GmbH of Stuttgart, Germany; and Nomex honeycomb core from the Casa Grande, Ariz., plant of Hexcel Corp.'s composites business unit.
E-glass covers most exterior surfaces, and carbon fiber is used for spar caps, control surfaces, cowling and the interior roll cage, said David McRae, Lancair vice president of quality.
For the transatlantic flight, the fully equipped aircraft, worth $330,000, will take off with 130 percent of its normal gross weight.
In emulating the legs of Charles Lindbergh's 1927 flight path, his grandson departed from Republic Airport in Farmingdale, N.Y., in the ``New Spirit of St. Louis,'' and flew to Le Bourget in Paris. He landed May 2, just 17 hours later. His average cruise speed was 184 mph.
Television's History Channel will incorporate Erik Lindbergh's solo experience into a two-hour program May 20 commemorating the 75th anniversary of his grandfather's flight.
The Columbia 300 closely approximates the size of Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis. At an April 12 news conference in San Diego, Erik Lindbergh said he would target 10,000 feet as his ideal altitude.
