KATE SARSFIELD / LONDON
New US company launches six-seat single-engined turboprop in effort to carve a slice of fast-expanding market
A Las Vegas-based start-up has unveiled a six-seat single-engined turboprop in a bid to capture a share of what it believes is a burgeoning owner-flyer market.
Aircraft Investor Resources co-owner and chief executive Rick Schrameck says the carbonfibre Epic LT will be pitched against "highly priced" turboprops including the EADS Socata TBM 700, New Piper Malibu Meridian and the Pilatus PC-12, as well as medium light piston twins such as the Cessna 414 and Raytheon Beech Bonanza. "Our main focus is on the owner operator market which has huge growth potential, but we will certainly look at the air taxi market when the opportunity arises," he says.
The pressurised Epic is powered by a Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6-67A engine and, says Schrameck, is "about 1,000lb [450kg] lighter than the TBM, up to 50kt [95km/h] faster, has a maximum range of 2,960km (1,600nm), 370km more than the TBM with 45 min instrument flight rules reserves. The aircraft will also have an all-glass cockpit."
An aircraft's appearance, Schrameck says, plays a fundamental part in the selection process. "Aircraft are sold on the ramp and not in the air. On the outside the guy wants to have a Ferrari and on the inside, comfort and functionality," he says.
Epic development is privately funded through the company's three owners. Schrameck says all the engineering work is complete and first flight is scheduled for next year.
The first 20 Epics will be delivered to customers in the experimental category, priced at $1.2 million. The first aircraft will be handed over 30 days after next July's Experimental Aircraft Association Air Venture show in Oshkosh, where the marketing campaign for the $2 million certificated Epic will be launched.
"Once we have delivered the first 20 experimental aircraft we will freeze production and concentrate on refining the product," Schrameck says. Five prototypes are planned for the certification programme. Aviation Investor has elected to run a parallel US Federal Aviation Administration and European Joint Aviation Authorities certification programme, "to speed things up", Schrameck says.
Approval is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2005 and first deliveries in early 2006.
Source: Flight International
