Epic Unveils Smaller Singles, Experimental for Now

Epic AIR introduced two smaller versions of its emerging line of turboprop and jet aircraft at Sun 'n Fun on Tuesday afternoon. The four- to five-seat Victory single-engine jet will be powered by either a Williams International FJ33 or Pratt & Whitney Canada PW615-series engine. The Escape is also four to five seats with a 1,000-shp Honeywell turboprop, and both airplanes will be initially offered as experimental kits. The first Victory is already under construction at Epic's facility in Bend, Ore., and officials said Tuesday that it will fly to EAA AirVenture. The turboprop is actually expected to be a little faster than the jet, with a cruise of 365 knots at 28,000 feet and a range of 1,400 to 1,600 miles.

The initial models are being built in Bend but plans are for production to move to Calgary, Alberta Canada where a certification center for composite aircraft has been built. Epic says it will build almost 200,000 sq ft of production space at Springbank Airport. The company continues to work toward certification of its Dynasty six-place turboprop, which is expected in late 2008. The experimental version of the Dynasty, the Epic LT, is now available with a 1,560-shp Honeywell engine. The company has switched avionics vendors and all aircraft will be equipped with Garmin suites from here on out.