[2] 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.

[5] In a peculiar combination, the front seat is equipped with a control yoke, while the rear-seat pilot has a centre stick.

[5] The close proximity of the engines and propellers to the front-seat pilot's head create elevated noise levels described as "remarkable"[4] or even "paralyzing".

[5] The 1 inch (25 mm) wide vertical center bar in the windshield impairs the pilot's view of the runway on landing.

[3] With both engines functioning, the Lancer is relatively slow in cruise and exhibits a mediocre climb rate, particularly given 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.

[3][4][5] In most respects, the Lancer's flight performance is equal or slightly inferior to that of the popular Cessna 150,[5] an airplane that uses a single O-200 engine rather than two.

[12] The only fatal Lancer accident in the database occurred on 18 January 1970 in Tarentum, Pennsylvania after a fuel system fault caused both engines to fail; the subsequent off-airport forced landing substantially damaged the aircraft and killed the pilot and sole occupant.