Epic unveiled two prototype jets at EAA AirVenture on Monday, proving its development schedule is as agressive as its marketing campaign. Not only did the Victory single and Elite twin arrive as scheduled for a 10:30 a.m. press conference, but they took to the air a few hours later in demo flights for the airshow crowd. Not bad considering the Victory wasn’t even on the virtual drawing board until last December. Epic President Rick Schrameck told the assembled media the approximately 200-day timeline from the first autocad entry to a flying jet is a tribute to the design and production team. The jets are officially kits for now and at least five Victories will be built in the coming year, according to the script read by the airshow announcer as the Victory was landing.
The aircraft, announced at Sun ‘n Fun a few months ago in April, are all composite and have Williams FJ33 engines. The four-five-seat Victory, as a certified aircraft, will cost between $1.3 and $1.5 million. The twin-engine Elite will be about $1 million more. The Victory will have a BRS parachute recovery system.
