Epic Certification On Track

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The timeline for certification has slipped back a little, from early 2015 to mid-2015, but Epic Aircraft said this week it is moving forward, and holding fast on the introductory price of $2.75 million for its factory-built E1000 single-engine turboprop. The new airplane, based on the 2004 kit aircraft, will carry six at speeds up to 325 knots, with a range of 1,600 nm. “We believe our performance and price point distinguish us in the industry, so we are ramping manufacturing to service that demand,” Epic CEO Doug King said this week. “We already have more than 10 new confirmed reservations for the E1000 and we haven’t yet started to market.”

The certified E1000 will feature an ergonomically designed cockpit with Garmin avionics, and a Pratt & Whitney PT6-67A engine producing 1200 hp. Epic recently purchased a 204,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Bend, Ore., that was formerly owned by Columbia and later by Cessna. The new space effectively triples Epic’s production capacity. King said he is looking for more “aviation talent,” and expects to hire about 100 workers by the end of this year. The company also said no more orders will be taken for the experimental version of the aircraft.

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