Epic Aircraft

Epic Aircraft is a general aviation aircraft manufacturer headquartered in Bend, Oregon and owned by the Russian company S7 Technics. The company produces the FAA certified Epic E1000 single engine turboprop design.

Epic Aircraft
Private
IndustryAerospace
Founded2004
HeadquartersBend, Oregon
Key people
Doug King (CEO 2010-present)
ProductsPrivate aircraft
Number of employees
300[1]
ParentS7 Technics
Websitewww.epicaircraft.com

Founded in 2004, the company initially manufactured and sold kits for the Epic LT. In 2013 the company discontinued taking orders for LT kits, to concentrate on certification of the E1000, which is based upon the LT. The E1000's Federal Aviation Administration certification was completed in November 2019.[2][3]

History
Epic E1000 single turboprop aircraft
Epic LT single turboprop aircraft
Epic Victory single jet aircraft
Epic Elite twin turbojet aircraft

2004

The company was founded in 2004 and located in Bend, Oregon due to public incentives which were offered, including state loans and grants of US$1.3M. In return for the grants and loans Epic promised to create 4,000 jobs.[4]

2009

On 5 June 2009 Epic was sued by Blue Sky AvGroup, an Epic customer that had an aircraft under construction at the build center, alleging that Epic had failed to meet its contractual obligations.[4][5][6][7] The case went to court in 2013 and ended "without an award of costs, disbursements or attorney’s fees to any party".[8]

In late June 2009 the company dramatically scaled back its operations. The lay-offs primarily affected the aircraft build center, where customers worked on their own kits.[5] Epic was subsequently named as plaintiff in July 2009 in a lawsuit against engine maker Williams International, claiming that the engine maker defaulted on a contract to supply engines for the Epic Victory program.[5]

On 8 August 2009 the company's premises were seized by the building’s landlord, Delaware-registered ER1 LLC.[4]

Several additional lawsuits were filed against Epic. These included "serious allegations about the conduct of company principals". In a sworn statement Chief Financial Officer David Clark said that Epic owed its customer builders an estimated US$15 million for parts and that the company had no money to pay those debts. Also in his sworn statement Clark alleged many financial irregularities and that company financial reports and practices "did not comply with generally accepted accounting practices". Other sworn statements by Clark and General Manager David Hice alleged that the company was a "chaotic financial environment over which CEO Rick Schrameck ruled exclusively". Hice further alleged many financial irregularities, including that the company missed its payroll in July 2004 and was only able to pay its staff using customer aircraft deposits from sales at AirVenture that same month. Hice also alleged that "On June 16th, 2009 I was terminated after Rick Schrameck physically attacked me."[9][10][11]

In September 2009 CEO Rick Schrameck was removed by the board of directors from any "managerial or supervisory capacity" with Epic parent company Aircraft Investor Resources, and the company voluntarily entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy, seeking to reorganize, find investors and continue kitplane production on a reduced scale.[12][13]

As a result of the bankruptcy filing customers with aircraft under construction at the company facility were permitted to remove their aircraft and parts.[12][13]

2010

In an auction on 26 March 2010, the state-owned China Aviation Industry General Aircraft was the highest bidder with a US$4.3 million offer, beating out a bid by the LT Builders Group, a group of seven aircraft owners with incomplete aircraft in the plant. The hearing judge admonished the LT Builders Group for their bid describing it as "pathetic, useless, incompetent, unacceptable, garbage and fiction" but gave the group another chance to improve their position and reserved his decision on the final winner of the auction until 2 April 2010.[14][15][16][17] On 2 April 2010 the judge issued a judgement ordering China Aviation Industry General Aircraft Co. Ltd. to form a partnership with the LT Builders Group allowing the latter to run the Bend plant. The deal was completed by 11 April 2010, with the LT Builders Group agreeing to run the plant and market to North America, while the Chinese company would market to the rest of the world. The new company intended to reopen the Bend plant for builder-assist construction as well as pursue type certification of the Epic LT, a project which the original company owners had started, but not completed.[18][19]

Doug King became CEO, as an unpaid volunteer in 2010, following the bankruptcy. King had an incomplete LT in the plant and wanted to get it completed and decided to help get the company turned around and profitable, with an aim of certifying the LT design.[20]

At AirVenture on 31 July 2010 King announced that the company was ready to take orders for the Epic LT kit aircraft at that time and that 11 aircraft were in plant, being completed by their owners.[21]

2011

In November 2011, a Russian, Vladislav Filev, the owner of S7 Airlines, visited the Epic plant. An enthusiastic private pilot, he was looking for his ideal personal aircraft. King took him for a demo flight in an LT and Filev decided to buy the company to pave the way for type certification for the LT.[20]

2012

Filev's company, Engineering LLC became the owner of Epic in March 2012 for US$200M and announced its certification plans for the LT design. As part of this plan the company entered into negotiations with Cessna in December 2012 to buy the former Columbia Aircraft plant that Cessna owns in Bend. The company indicated that it expected to hire 40-80 new employees in 2013 as part of the certification effort and to expand kit production.[20][22][23][24]

2013

Filev had his own, personal Epic LT delivered from Bend, Oregon to Moscow by King in August 2013, delivering it for Filev's 50th birthday.[20]

2014

By 2014 the company was engaged in certification of the Epic E1000 and had purchased the former Cessna 204,000 sq ft (19,000 m2) facility in Bend, Oregon that had once produced the Columbia Aircraft line.[25]

By October 2014 the company reported that it had 60 orders for the E1000. At that time, the company forecast selling 50 aircraft per year.[26]

2015

Schrameck was arrested for fraud in March 2015 in Los Angeles and held in federal custody awaiting trial. The detention order filed indicated that he should not be released due to a high risk of "flight to foreign country". On 27 March 2015, Schramek pleaded not guilty in US District Court to eight counts of wire fraud, four counts of mail fraud and six counts of money laundering regarding his dealings with Epic and its customers. The case alleges that Schramek deliberately defrauded customers of more than US$14 million.[8][27]

The company's E1000 single engine turboprop had its first flight on 19 December 2015.[28]

2018

In April 2018 former CEO Schrameck pleaded "guilty" to one count of wire fraud and was scheduled to be sentenced on 11 June 2019, by US District Court Judge Ann Aiken. The Department of Justice, US Attorney's Office, District of Oregon stated, "Schrameck gave customers Airframe Purchase Agreements and Aircraft Completion Assistance Agreements that misrepresented how the customers’ funds were being used. Without his customers’ knowledge, Schrameck used the funds for other projects, to complete existing Epic LT aircraft, and to support his own lavish lifestyle."[29][30]

Development of the E1000 towards certification continued. The company had intended to outsource production of some composite material parts, but encountered issues with quality, meeting specification and timeliness or deliveries. As a result they decided to produce all 587 composite parts for the E1000 in-house.[20]

The design encountered a set-back in the summer of 2018 when it was discovered that it was 10 to 20 kn (19 to 37 km/h) slower than its promised cruise speed. The problems was traced to ram air recovery in the engine intake design. This design had been dictated by certification requirements and the engine manufacturer's approval, over the non-certified LT intake design. Redesign and flight testing added six months to the process.[20]

2019

On 31 March 2019 Filev's wife, Natalia Fileva, was killed in the crash of an Epic LT on approach to the Frankfurt Egelsbach Airport. Fileva was one of the wealthiest women in Russia and co-owner of S7 Airlines, with her husband. Also killed in the crash was her father and the pilot. Fileva was on her way to Frankfurt for medical treatment.[31]

The US Federal Aviation Administration awarded the E1000 its type certification in November 2019. The certification effort had been initially estimated by King to take three years and cost US$20M, but took seven years and about US$200M. At the time of certification the company had more than 80 orders for the E1000.[20][3]

After certification the company indicated that is intends to ramp up production to one aircraft every three weeks by the second half of 2020 and earn its production certificate, so each individual aircraft will not require FAA inspection prior to delivery. This will be followed by one aircraft every two weeks by the first half of 2021 and work towards one aircraft a week. The goal is to ultimately produce 50 aircraft per year.[20]

2020

The first two E1000s were delivered to customers at the end of May 2020.[32]

Aircraft
  • LT is a 6-place kit-built turbo-prop airplane.
  • Victory was a proposed single-engine jet project, with only a prototype completed. The company has not pursued development.
  • E1000 is a type certified six-place turbo-prop airplane.
  • Escape was a proposed 92% scaled version of the Epic LT, with 4-5 seats. The company has not pursued development.
  • Elite was an proposed twin-engine jet project, initially intended as a kit aircraft, which the company had planned to certify later. It was to utilize an LT fuselage with cosmetic and structural changes. Only a prototype has been completed. The company has not pursued development.
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gollark: Nobody and Palaiologos or whatever also tried to justify the doxxing thing by saying that they're evil and morality is wrong or something.
gollark: Bees are the enemy.

References
  1. Epic Aircraft (6 November 2019). "Epic Aircraft Achieves FAA Type Certification" (PDF). Press release. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 November 2019. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  2. "Epic E1000 Prototype Completes First Flight". AVweb. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
  3. O'Connor, Kate (7 November 2019). "Epic E1000 FAA Certified". AVweb. Archived from the original on 9 November 2019. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
  4. Moore, Andrew (August 2009). "Seizure and lawsuits cloud Epic Air's future". Archived from the original on 2011-06-05. Retrieved 2009-08-13.
  5. Niles, Russ (July 2009). "Epic "Scaled Back"". Retrieved 2009-07-07.
  6. Van Hoomissen, Michael F. (June 2009). "United States District Court for the District of Oregon" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-06-12. Retrieved 2009-07-09.
  7. Eager, Jeffrey (July 2009). "United States District Court for the District of Oregon" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-06-12. Retrieved 2009-07-09.
  8. Claire Withycombe. "Former Epic CEO pleads not guilty to federal fraud, laundering charges" The Bulletin (Bend), 8 April 2015.
  9. Niles, Russ (September 2009). "More Legal Action Against Epic". Retrieved 2009-09-24.
  10. Clark, David (September 2009). "General Affidavit" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-06-12. Retrieved 2009-09-24.
  11. Hice, David W. (September 2009). "General Affidavit" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-06-12. Retrieved 2009-09-24.
  12. Sanders, Jeff (September 2009). "Epic Plans" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-06-12. Retrieved 2009-09-24.
  13. Ford, Shari (September 2009). "Property at 22590 Nelcon Road in Bend Oregon" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-06-12. Retrieved 2009-09-24.
  14. Read, Richard (March 26, 2010). "Chinese bidder wins Bend's bankrupt Epic Air but deal still in doubt". The Oregonian. Retrieved 27 March 2010.
  15. Niles, Russ (March 2010). "China's AVIC Wins Epic Auction". Retrieved 27 March 2010.
  16. Grady, Mary (March 2010). "Judge Leaves Epic Air Future Unresolved". Retrieved 1 April 2010.
  17. Reed, Richard (March 2010). "Portland judge gives Epic Air customers a chance in case with Chinese corporation". The Oregonian. Retrieved 1 April 2010.
  18. Niles, Russ (April 2010). "Judge Orders Epic Partnership". Retrieved 5 April 2010.
  19. Grady, Mary (April 2010). "An Epic Deal Between Builders Group, Chinese Company". Retrieved 12 April 2010.
  20. George, Fred: Status Report: E1000 Cleared for Takeoff, pages 50-56. Business and Commercial Aviation, December 2019.
  21. Grady, Mary (31 July 2010). "New Epic Owners At Oshkosh". AVweb. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  22. Siemers, Erik (March 6, 2012). "Bend airplane-maker Epic Aircraft sold to Russian firm". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved March 6, 2012.
  23. Niles, Russ (6 March 2012). "Epic Sold To Russian Firm". AVweb. Retrieved 7 March 2012.
  24. Niles, Russ (11 December 2012). "Epic Expanding For Certification Effort". AVweb. Retrieved 13 December 2012.
  25. Schrader, Mike (3 February 2014). "FAA Certification On Schedule For Epic Aircraft" (PDF). Epic Aircraft. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
  26. Sarsfield, Kate (21 October 2014), "Epic E1000 turboprop-single makes show debut", Flightglobal, Reed Business Information, retrieved 31 October 2014
  27. Kauh, Elaine (9 April 2015). "Former Epic CEO Pleads Not Guilty To Fraud Charges". AVweb. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  28. "Epic E1000 Prototype Completes First Flight". AVweb. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
  29. O'Connor, Kate (26 April 2018). "Former Epic Air CEO Pleads Guilty To Fraud". AVweb. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  30. Department of Justice (23 April 2018). "Bend Man Pleads Guilty to Fraud Scheme Involving Consumer Aviation Company". www.justice.gov. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  31. Niles, Russ (1 April 2019). "Wife Of Epic Owner Confirmed As Crash Victim". AVweb. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  32. Niles, Russ (1 June 2020). "Epic Delivers First Two Certified E1000s". AVweb. Archived from the original on 1 June 2020. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
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