The twin-jet Epic. Photo by Dave Higdon

Monday’s cavalcade of industry announcements at AirVenture continued as Epic Aircraft introduced two new jets, the twin-engine Epic Elite, a VLJ (very light jet), and the single-engine Epic Victory, a PJ (personal jet), at AeroShell Square.

Epic CEO Rick Schrameck became misty eyed as he told how his small design team had gone from a clean sheet of paper to flight testing the Epic Victory in just more than six months.

"These guys did magic," Schrameck said. "The first piece of work in the CAD [computer-aided design] system was done December 15, 2006, and we missed [flight testing on] the 4th of July only because of Mother Nature. This airplane was ready to fly."

The Epic Elite, which Schrameck said has been in development for about 18 months, first flew in June. Both aircraft have accumulated 40 to 50 hours in flight testing.

As with the Epic LT, the company’s single-engine turboprop, the Elite and the Victory will be available for purchase as a certificated production or experimental kit aircraft. Schrameck credits his company’s success to this approach.

"We’ve used a unique business model of using the experimental market to actually generate revenue and profitability, the things that sustain companies," Schrameck said. "The experimental category is allowing us to do that. The other really unique thing is that when you’re doing certification, normally you can only afford to build four to five conforming aircraft. In this case we can get anywhere from 30 to 50 aircraft as experimentals, with customers flying them in real missions and saying, ‘Here’s what we like and here’s what we don’t like.’ So that by the time our aircraft gets certified, there are thousands of flight hours in it."

Schrameck also gave credit to the EAA and AirVenture for his success.

"My roots are in aviation, the whole group here, we’re EAAers," Schrameck said. "We’re experimental builders. I personally have built and raced at Reno more than one experimental aircraft, and it’s really an important piece of the pie. So the experimental category is absolutely essential to the success of our company, and therefore so is Oshkosh."

The Epic Victory, powered by the Williams FJ33-4A, will have a top cruise speed of 320 knots and a 28,000-foot service ceiling, according to the company. Price for the certificated version will be between $1.3 million and $1.5 million, Schrameck said, while the experimental version will be $1 million.

Powered by a Williams FJ33-4, the Epic Elite will seat six to eight passengers, depending on the interior configuration. Maximum cruise speed is projected at 412 knots and service ceiling is 41,000 feet. Price of the certificated production version is $2,350,000. Schrameck said the experimental version will be priced at about $1.5 million.

During AirVenture, the Epic Elite and the Epic Victory will be on display in AeroShell Square, and a mock-up of the fuselage and interior are on display at the Epic Aviation booth outside of South Exhibit Hangar B.