Epic Aircraft is a
general aviation aircraft manufacturer, with its headquarters in Bend, Oregon. They produce the single-engine
turboprop Epic E1000 and is now called the Epic E1000 GX. Let's find out the finer details and how much the aircraft costs? In October 2017, the Epic E1000 was available for $3.25 million. In 2023, the equipped price of the E1000 was $4.45 million. Founded in 2004, Epic Aircraft made and sold aircraft kits for the Epic LT, a six-seater all-composite light aircraft that saved time and the expense of full aircraft manufacture.
Development of E1000
After becoming bankrupt and having numerous owners, Epic Aircraft stopped selling the LT kit aircraft in 2014 to concentrate on the certification process of the Epic E1000, which was intended to be an upgraded, type-certified LT. The E1000 was developed from the original Epic LT kit form aircraft and was introduced in 2014, and orders started to increase. The first prototype flew in 2015 and completed 400 flight hours before the second prototype started flights. In 2018, Epic Aircraft announced its intention to produce 50 aircraft per year, but plans, certification, and production were still delayed. The Final Epic LT kit, the 54th and final LT aircraft, was delivered in June 2019. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) finally certified the aircraft in 2019. By now, the two prototype aircraft had flown for over 1,000 hours during the flight testing process. By July 2020, Epic Aircraft received FAA production certification for the aircraft. The first aircraft was delivered in February 2020, and the second in May 2020. The first aircraft was leased back to the company for other projects.
Improvements to the design
The E1000 differs from the LT in that the wing and engine cowl intake have been redesigned to improve efficiency. The single-engine Pratt and Whitney Canada PT6-67A offers 1,825 horsepower. It can fly up to a ceiling of 34,000 feet and can climb to that in just 15 minutes. It has a range of 1,650 nautical miles or 3,050 kilometers and is well suited to short-field operations. The maximum cruise speed is 325 knots or 600 kilometers per hour. The E1000's main competitor is the TBM 930, although the TBM 930 is slightly faster and more expensive.
Cockpit and cabin
Focusing on the cockpit, there is the three-screen Garmin G1000NXi glass-panel avionics suite with a synthetic vision system. There is also a Genesys digital autopilot with radar, radar altimeter, and an Iridium satellite transceiver. The cockpit and cabin are styled like the latest automobiles and can accommodate one or two crew members and four or five passengers. There is a rear airstair door, and a center aisle runs between the four club seats. The cabin is 15 feet long.
Specifications (E1000)
Awards and progression
"We’re really pleased to be in a position to award the 2020 Innovation Award to Epic Aircraft for the phenomenal job that you’ve done, not just bringing the aircraft to certification over a couple of decades, but also in the midst of everything that we’ve been going through over the last 4 months now, to continue pushing forward, to get those first deliveries out the door, and into the hands of some extremely happy pilots." The Epic E1000 GX is the latest version of the E1000. The airframe was upgraded with soundproofing and vibration dampening. The airstair door was revised, lighting was added to the area, and an emergency exit was fitted. The cockpit also received some enhancements, including a more ergonomic design, an auto-switching fuel selector, and an adjustable glare shield.
Epic Aircraft describes the aircraft as fast and fuel efficient and that it can travel coast-to-coast in one stop. They also say that it has "
Performance that rivals most business jets, without jet-class costs." The enhanced E1000 GX was certified in July 2021, and the design was refined rather than redesigned. The company wanted to stay true to its goal of keeping the performance and handling of the E1000 and LT. Now Epic Aircraft builds the fastest certified single-engine turboprop in production and delivers a new one every three weeks.
