To Premiere Alongside Elite VLJ At AirVenture 2007

At the 2007 Lakeland Fly-In in April, Epic Aircraft announced one of many lofty goals: to fly two newly-designed, just-announced aircraft -- the Victory single engine jet, and Elite twin-engine VLJ -- to Oshkosh later in the year.

As they say... it ain't bragging if you can do it, and Epic looks well on its way to making good on those promises. As ANN reported, Epic flew the Elite in June... and earlier this month, the company's Victory made its first flight from Redmond, a mere 202 days after work began on the plane.

"In our research, we did not find ANY other company out there that can demonstrate this kind of focus and commitment to bring an aircraft from the proverbial drawing boards to reality in this length of time," said Epic CEO Rick Schrameck. "I’ve always said that Epic has the best engineers and manufacturing talent in the world, and I think this clearly proves it!"

Schrameck also expressed thanks to local FAA officials. "Quick response from the Seattle MIDO and Portland FSDO allowed us to get this jet flying on our schedule," added Schrameck. "And we are grateful for their efforts."

The all-composite Victory Jet uses a single Williams International FJ-33-4A. Epic touts a distinct advantage: that even with full fuel, the Victory still offers more than 900 lbs of payload -- enough for 4-5 passengers and their luggage, while flying at more than 320 KTAS.

With one goal nearly fulfilled, Epic now must make good on its promise to deliver at least six of the new experimental jets to customers before the end of 2007. Schrameck says Epic will make good on that promise, and at the promised price.

"This VLJ has been brought to market with a price tag of less than a million dollars," added Schrameck. "And this is not a promotional price or a price in 2002 dollars like we’ve seen with other jets. This is the Victory price today."

In line with other Epic aircraft, the new Victory VLJ will first be available as an ownerbuilt aircraft via the company’s Customer Build Center in Bend.

The single-engine Victory and the twin-engine Elite jets are scheduled to fly into Oshkosh the morning of July 23.

FMI: www.epicaircraft.com