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Like a racehorse, the Epic’s lines are sleek and graceful. The E1000 GX’s steeply raked windshields, aggressive five-bladed prop, and smooth glass composite surfaces hold your gaze longer than is probably considered polite. But, it is no diminutive pony. Its semi-elliptical wing spans 43 feet, and the average pilot can easily walk under the fuselage-mounted hori- zontal tail. The tip of the rudder tow- ers 12.5 feet high. The aircraft could easily accommodate eight but is con- figured for only six. The cabin’s four passengers enjoy a club seating ar- rangement that does not require them to interlace legs with the person facing them. In fact, the floor length between
PHOTOS BY AUTHOR
the club seats is almost double that of the two most comparable in-class competitors. Behind the last row of seats, an ample baggage area inside the pressure vessel allows access to baggage in f light.
Cynical History
I admit I can sometimes be cynical about new aircraft designs and the up- start companies who introduce them. After all, how many have we seen come and go over the years? They of- ten wow us with aesthetically pleasing artist renderings (or even a prototype) and eye-popping performance claims, only to fade away as suddenly as they appeared. Sometimes it is simply a
Subsequently, they announced their intention to pursue certification and manufacture ready-to-f ly aircraft.
In spite of those early turbulent years, the LT kits have been incredibly successful at reaching f light status. Be- cause Epic only sold kits bundled with their builder assist program, every one of them eventually flew. Of those 50 or so LTs, all but a handful remain airworthy (and factory-supported) today, even though Epic ceased kit sales in 2012 to focus on certification of the E1000 model. What other kit- plane company can you think of that had a nearly 100 percent completion rate on kits sold? None that I know of. However, producing kits and assisting builders is a far cry from producing and delivering certified aircraft. Es- pecially, a cabin class, pressurized, turbine machine capable of 300-plus knot speeds and cruising altitudes deep into RVSM territory.
Ownership of the company changed once more as it separated its kit-own- er support and certification arms (Epic Flight Support and Epic Aircraft, respectively). Type certification of the E1000 was achieved in late 2019, with first deliveries and production certification following in mid-2020. The enhanced E1000 GX was certified in July 2021. Major design changes to reach those milestones never mate- rialized. Nearly every aspect of the design was refined, of course, but the company stayed true to its goal of keeping the performance and han- dling of the E1000 on par with that of the LT. Thus, Epic Aircraft now builds the fastest certified single-engine turboprop in production and delivers a new one every three weeks.
Considerate Compromises
I can hear my fellow skeptics al- ready: “It’s all too good to be true.” Aircraft certification programs always add weight and subtract performance. It’s just in the nature of ensuring an aircraft meets minimum certification standards for durability, maintain- ability, and control. The Epic is not an exception to that rule. The typical empty weight of an E1000 GX is 500 pounds or so heavier than that of an LT. Some of that weight is in structural
Epic’s E1000 GX demonstrator inside their Bend, Oregon, delivery center hangar.
Massive double-slotted fowler flaps are elegant in form and powerful in function.
matter of funding that dooms them. Other times it’s an inability to match early performance or price claims that causes their eventual demise. Usually, it’s a combination of both.
So, when I first saw a completed Epic LT kitplane in the mid-2000s, I was conflicted. It was undoubtedly a sleek machine, but it was still a kit and a daunting one at that. How many builders would persevere in putting daylight under its tires? In a story all too familiar, Epic went bankrupt in 2009. It seemed the design would soon go the way of the Dodo. Thank- fully, a group of Epic owners/build- ers (including the current CEO, Doug King) joined forces with a Chinese company to buy the assets and soon reopened the Bend, Oregon, factory to produce kits and assist builders.
14 • TWIN & TURBINE / November 2022