VLJ: It's Not Just Eclipse And Cessna

Epic Aircraft has their motor home located outside the "D" hangar, away from the big boys. Dr. Vasha Toirda, the CEO of Epic's partner company Tbilisi Aviation Machine of the Republic of Georgia, had his young granddaughter in attendance at Wednesday's press breakfast of Krispy Kreme doughnuts and OJ.

The contrast is telling. Eclipse Aviation has its giant enclosed hangar at Oshkosh, featuring two flying aircraft, with flashy lighting and displays alongside croissants and coffee for breakfast. Cessna also has their grand display, this one outdoors, with the Mustang prominently displayed among their other turbine and piston-engine offerings.

Like Eclipse they also have two aircraft featured, though only one of them is flying at the moment.

Epic Aircraft is putting what money is available into, well, the aircraft. (And a Krispy Kreme glazed beats a croissant any day.) Already the company has invested $6.5 million in completing a 100,000 sq. ft. production facility in Bend (OR) and is even partnering with the Oregon higher education department to create a "composite university" for inclusion into that state's aviation curriculum.

The Epic LT turboprop, a sleek six-passenger composite aircraft currently flying as an Experimental aircraft, is on track for FAA certification by Q3 of 2006 if all goes to plan.

"In the meantime, we are building a lot of experimental airplanes," said Epic CEO Rick Schrameck.

According to Schrameck, the company is on track to produce 10 LTs before the end of the year. And then there is the seven passenger Epic Jet, represented at the display by a full-scale mockup, that is being marketed by Epic at Oshkosh as "A Total Eclipse."

"We'll just kind of see how that goes," said Schrameck with a slight grin.

With a targeted empty weight of 3800 lbs and a projected gross MTOW of about 7500 lbs, the Epic Jet will use two Williams turbofan engines to power the aircraft to a maximum cruise speed of 420 kts.

"I believe it is the only Very-Light Jet that will carry full fuel, full people, full distance, at full speed." says Schrameck. "You don't have to do the math."

Projected range is an impressive 1650 NM at economy cruise. The Epic Jet's first flight is currently scheduled for November, with full certification anticipated by the 1st quarter of 2007. Target price for the certified version will be $2 million.

Epic also announced a factory warranty program that will provide Hull damage coverage, equivalent to comprehensive insurance coverage, for the Epic Jet. The owner is responsible for providing liability coverage through a separate insurance company.

"Nobody knows the airplane better than us, so we want to be the ones to fix it," said spokesperson Jeff Sanders. "Sometimes it's impossible to get [full] insurance in Experimental factory aircraft, so we decided that we would step up to the plate to provide that coverage."

FMI: www.epicaircraft.com