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Epic Air Closed, Say Local News Reports

L

Lionheart

SOH-CM-2014
Well, this really bums me out. A new American company, building planes made by Americans in a time where most everything is made out of country and overseas, has gone belly up. What awesome designs. What promise.

I hope a miracle happens and they are spared and come back bigger and better then before. We need some success stories, and some good jobs and great examples of modern American technology and design!


Epic Air Closed, Say Local News Reports

The doors are closed at Epic Air, in Bend, Ore., and a notice on the door states that the building's landlord has "taken possession of the premises" because Epic is 20 days overdue on a lease payment, the Bend Bulletin has reported. About a month ago, Epic had scaled back to about 15 employees, but a company spokesman told AVweb at the time that the doors were still open and work on airplanes was continuing. The company sells several kit aircraft, including the Epic LT turboprop, which are assembled by customers with expert help at the company's build center in Bend. One customer, Rich Lucibella, of Florida, told the Bulletin that he and a group of other LT owners may try to take over control of the company. "Our first efforts are going to be to conserve the assets of this company because we believe the [Epic LT] is still a wonderful design, anyone in the general aviation community knows that, and after that, a way we can simultaneously keep this company going in Central Oregon and finish the planes," Lucibella said.


According to the Bulletin, Lucibella is the owner of Blue Sky Avgroup, which in June filed suit against Epic, alleging that Blue Sky had paid Epic for a PT6 engine that had not been delivered. Calls to the Epic company phone on Tuesday went unanswered, and messages could not be left because the mailbox was full. Messages left for Epic CEO Rick Schrameck were not returned by our deadline. At Sun 'n Fun in April, the company held two news conferences to unveil new designs, but at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh in July, the company did not make a showing.
 
Gee Bill, looks like yours will be the only ones left. It's sad that another American company fades away.
 
That is a real shame :(

I saw an Epic LT at EAA... it was the sharpest looking plane there. I hope they can figure something out to preserve its beautiful design.
 
First Cessna comes in and buys the failed Columbia operation and says, "No, we won't move out of Bend", and then does. Now this. Looks like Bend Oregon, while one of the nicest places in the US, isn't destined to have an advanced aircraft production facility.

GB
 
Ahhh man what a serious bummer, damn.

I can see Bill Elliot running it though:ernae:.
He is a member here right?
 
That would be cool if people pitched in and formed a financial alliance to bring the company back to its feet. Once they get certification on their other planes, they would compete against huge corporations on an international scale...


I remember hearing a couple of months ago about a web club that purchased a Soccer (football in Europe) team and they all run it. They each donated a certain amount and are now all owners in the team. They do pretty good too. Very rare and runs well. Im saying we could do this though. This was a real event and they had a half zillion members who were radical about the team. Alot different then us.

But its possible for a group to get together and keep that firm going.



Bill
 
 
Lionheart said:
That would be cool if people pitched in and formed a financial alliance to bring the company back to its feet.
Click to expand...

Well time to start the Save Epic Fund here on SOH... :icon_lol:

If we can get ickie a laptop and magazines, we can surely save a multi million dollar company!
 
General Aviation is getting too expensive. All these new plastic jellybean planes stuffed with spark-chasing glass cockpits don't come cheap, or at prices that may attract newcomers. Even the new Light Sport Aircraft, are just too expensive. Still sucks about American manufacturing becoming extinct.:isadizzy:
 
i might be getting this wrong but ..

The company sells several kit aircraft, including the Epic LT turboprop, which are assembled by customers with expert help at the company's build center in Bend
Click to expand...

now, as far as i understand it, a kit aircraft is one that delivered in a box and you build it yourself .... now for a light aircraft fine .... but for an epic? :isadizzy:
 
There's been a long battle about the "51% Rule" - that 51% of the construction of a "homebuilt" has to be done by the owner, but with places like Epic pushing the Builder-assist programs it's cast a cloud over some of the advanced aircraft as to how to license them.
http://www.avweb.com/cgi-bin/texis/scripts/avweb-search/search.html?query=51+percent&x=0&y=0

In addition, a/c like the LT are very advanced in operation as well so there are questions about pilot training requirements that have further confused the issue. Obviously a turbine, multi-seat cabin class a/c is a lot different than a Cubby or Kitfox.

Even though Epic got gov't assistance for a certification center in Canada, the extra costs to get the certified, production models must be huge and those were supposed to provide needed cash flow which hasn't appeared.
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]LT To Begin Certification in Calgary, Alberta
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Epic will be the anchor tenet at the new Canadian Centre for Aircraft Certification (CCAC)
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]September 5, 2006 Calgary, Alberta - “We are moving our entire certified manufacturing facilities to Springbank,” said AIR CEO Rick Schrameck. “This new centre (CCAC) will provide a streamlined and cost-effective testing, evaluation and certification service for general aviation and we are honored to be the first company in the world to take advantage of it.”[/FONT]
 
stiz said:
i might be getting this wrong but ..



now, as far as i understand it, a kit aircraft is one that delivered in a box and you build it yourself .... now for a light aircraft fine .... but for an epic? :isadizzy:
Click to expand...


Yep.... Just like a small kit plane, but with bigger parts.

Since its all premolded, baked and cured pure Carbonfiber, the bulk of the assembly is actually quite easy (for a homebuilt). No fabric to cover, etc. The hardest part is putting the electronics in, the engine and its systems (fuel, etc). Upholstery and paint is what companies do, so that you usually dont worry about.

Figure its a giant turboprop Lancair on steroids. (Lancair now have turboprop models).


General Aviation is getting too expensive. All these new plastic jellybean planes stuffed with spark-chasing glass cockpits don't come cheap, or at prices that may attract newcomers. Even the new Light Sport Aircraft, are just too expensive. Still sucks about American manufacturing becoming extinct.

Piglet
Click to expand...


Yep. Grim... We were once a nation that did all of our own manufacturing. We mainly only exported. We also made some of the coolest things around, so there was no use for importing, aside from perhaps raw materials like cloth and ore and things.

Its slipping through our fingers.. We have made things so expensive, taxing and charging and taxing every single thing imaginable. Its running humanity back to the days of sticks and cloth, taking off out of a farm field in a Demoiselle. At least then you can afford the engine and airframe.


One of the things that was trying to kill the Epic was certification. A huge and expensive mess for making a plane legal, not only in America but the world. We as a country should see that small companies can not do this any more under the huge prices that America charges for this. Epic was going to go to Canada to get it done. They even cleared out a airport for them to move into and promised Certification to them in a year (instead of 2 years that the USA would need at least), and at a fraction of the cost.

Now that is a shame. With our modern technologies and testing abilities, we should be able to certify a plane in well under a year, and make it affordable for manufacturers. We need to make business 'possible' instead of IMPOSSIBLE.... Bottom line.




Bill
 
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