Epic Aircraft has said that it will begin deliveries of its E1000 single-engined turbo-prop (SETP) in December after the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certified the aircraft earlier this month.
The E1000 has been through a seven-year development program that has taken the aircraft from a kit-only model to full certification.
"This is a remarkable accomplishment for our entire community,” said Epic CEO, Doug King. “I want to thank our employees,who have worked so diligently to deliver this exceptional design, as well as our partners, suppliers, and customers who have faithfully supported us each step of the way.
"It has been a true team effort, along with the fantastic support of the FAA.”
The E1000 is based on the company’s experimental Epic LT model, which was introduced to the market in 2005 through an owner-assist build program.
“Transitioning that design into a certified version was the chance to offer a truly compelling product to the industry, a ‘no compromises’ aircraft that customers would really want. And they do,” King added.
Epic says it has over 80 confirmed E1000 reservations from around the world, including the USA, Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, Europe, Russia, South Africa and Australia.
King said that the company could have achieved certification earlier by cutting some corners, but they weren't prepared to compromise on the aircraft.
"We had some opportunities to speed things up along the way, to get certification earlier,” he said, “but that would have required some trade-offs that we weren’t willing to make. We consider performance to be our brand, so we decided to make it perform."
The E1000 is a six-seat carbon-fibre aircraft powered by a PT6A-67A turbo-prop engine putting out 1200 shp. The book figures show a maximum speed of 325 KTAS, certified ceiliing of 34,000 feet and a maximum range at economy cruise of 1650 nm.