Doug King, the CEO of the new Epic that bought the original company out of bankruptcy in April, told AVweb at EAA AirVenture this week that he’s been busy since then getting back up and running. “We’ve worked through a lot of legal issues, spent a lot of time with the FAA, and the guys are back at work on their airplanes,” he said. There are 11 Epic LT kit aircraft in the hangar now in Bend, Ore., in various stages of completion, and several other owners are working on their projects elsewhere. King said the company is ready to sell kits again. Besides the Epic LT turboprop, the line includes the Escape, which is a smaller version of the LT, and the Victory jet.
Although the bankruptcy court approved a complex deal that involved a Chinese aviation company, King said the Chinese have no ownership in the Oregon company. “They are licensed to sell the airplane in China, but they can’t sell in the experimental market in North America,” he said. Either company could choose to develop a certified model, and could sell that airplane anywhere in the world, he said. The six-seat Epic LT turboprop has a maximum cruise speed of 350 knots and a maximum range of over 1,300 nm. The kit sells for $1.9 million.
