INNOVATION

With a larger engine inlet than its predecessor, the E1000’s Pratt & Whitney PT6 breathes easier.

- PIA BERGQVIST

Sunday mornings at the Waypoint Cafe at the Camarillo Airport (KCMA) in California are generally bustling with hungry visitors eagerly awaiting a seat while drooling over the delicious menu. But on the Sunday in early May when I met Doug King, Epic Aircraft’s CEO, outside the restaurant, it was deserted despite crystal-clear blue skies. The reason for the quiet was the coronavirus pandemic. The Waypoint was closed.

I walked across the nearly empty ramp to greet King at the Epic E1000 he had flown from the factory in Bend, Oregon—the first certified example of the sleek, carbon-fiber, single-engine turboprop. King had picked up its new owner from his vacation home near Lake Tahoe to bring him to Bend for training. Sadly, we had to opt-out of hugs and handshakes, donning face masks and keeping our distance as much as we could.

LONG WAY TO CERTIFICATION

Epic emerged nearly two decades ago, and the first kit was delivered in 2004. Plans from the start were to build a certified turboprop and two jets ( single- and twin-engine)—all streamlined, carbon-fiber designs. The company chose to start marketing an experimental version of the turboprop, the Epic LT, to build capital for the certification effort. The reasons that effort took so long are many; I cover the first fascinating decade in my article on the Epic LT (“We Fly: Epic LT,” November 2014).