Epic Aircraft is showing a mock-up of its E1000 at the static – alongside one of the last examples of its LT kit plane sibling – as it prepares to start producing the single-engine turboprop.
It is the third NBAA appearance in a row for the cabin demonstrator, but this is the closest Epic has been to winning Federal Aviation Administration Part 23 and Part 135 approval for the aircraft.
The Bend, Oregon-based manufacturer, which launched the E1000 in 2012, already has 70 orders for the $2.95 million, Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6-powered type, and is “pretty confident” it will secure certification “next summer”, says sales and marketing head Mike Schrader. He says the assembly line in Bend is “in place and ready to start production”.
Epic was founded in 2005 and will have built 54 examples of the now-discontinued LT by the time the last aircraft kit comes off the production line later this year.
The company is targeting an eventual annual production of 50 E1000s a year. The kit plane on display at the static is two years old.
Schrader says that, while most visitors to Epic’s exhibit are familiar with the type, “every show there’s always someone who’s never heard of it”.
Source: Flight Daily News
