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."