Epic Aircraft
Encyclopedia
Bend, Oregon
Bend is a city in and the county seat of Deschutes County, Oregon, United States, and the principal city of the Bend, Oregon Metropolitan Statistical Area. Bend is Central Oregon's largest city, and, despite its modest size, is the de facto metropolis of the region, owing to the low population...
, Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
. The company offered three high performance kit aircraft
Homebuilt aircraft
Also known as amateur-built aircraft or kit planes, homebuilt aircraft are constructed by persons for whom this is not a professional activity. These aircraft may be constructed from "scratch," from plans, or from assembly kits.-Overview:...
models and was in the process of developing two certified
Type certificate
A Type Certificate, is awarded by aviation regulating bodies to aerospace manufacturers after it has been established that the particular design of a civil aircraft, engine, or propeller has fulfilled the regulating bodies' current prevailing airworthiness requirements for the safe conduct of...
models when it entered bankruptcy in late 2009. It has since reopened under new ownership with a focus on the kit aircraft.
On 8 August 2009 the company's premises were seized by the landlord. It was subsequently sold as part of a Chapter 7 liquidation and has reopened under new ownership.
History
When the company was founded in 2004 it located in Bend, Oregon due to public incentives that were offered, including state loans and grants of US$United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
1.3M. In return for the grants and loans Epic promised to create 4,000 jobs.
In September 2007, Indian billionaire
Billionaire
A billionaire, in countries that use the short scale number naming system, is a person who has a net worth of at least one billion units of a given currency, usually the United States dollar, Euro, or Pound sterling. Forbes magazine updates a complete list of U.S. dollar billionaires around the...
Dr. Vijay Mallya
Vijay Mallya
Vijay Mallya is an Indian liquor and airline baron. The son of industrialist Vittal Mallya, he is the chairman of the United Breweries Group and Kingfisher Airlines. His United Spirits is world's second largest liquor maker, by volume...
intended to join Epic as a strategic partner. In April 2009 Rick Schrameck, CEO of Epic Aircraft, indicated that the investment deal with Vijay Mallya was on hold and it was never completed.
On 5 June 2009 Epic was named as defendant in a lawsuit filed with the United States district court
United States district court
The United States district courts are the general trial courts of the United States federal court system. Both civil and criminal cases are filed in the district court, which is a court of law, equity, and admiralty. There is a United States bankruptcy court associated with each United States...
by Blue Sky AvGroup, an Epic customer that had an aircraft under construction at the build center. The lawsuit alleged that Epic failed to meet its contractual obligations in completing an aircraft for Blue Sky. Blue Sky requested that a receiver be appointed for Epic, a move Epic opposed in court documents filed on July 2, 2009.
Epic was also named as plaintiff in July 2009 in a lawsuit against engine maker Williams International
Williams International
Williams International is a manufacturer of small gas turbine engines based in Walled Lake, Michigan, United States. It produces jet engines for cruise missiles and small jet-powered aircraft.- History :...
, claiming that the engine maker defaulted on a contract to supply engines for the Epic Victory
Epic Victory
-See also:-External links:***...
program.
In January 2009 the company laid off 20 workers. General Manager Dave Hice indicated the company had hired based on projected expansion that had not occurred: "It's a very difficult decision. It's a large investment, training people in anticipation for increased sales, but that didn't happen. Sales haven't fallen off, but the increase hasn't happened."
In late June 2009 the company dramatically scaled back its operations and laid off all but 15 of its employees. The lay-offs primarily affected the aircraft build center, where customers worked on their own kits, in its Bend, Oregon plant and were attributed to "economic issues". The company indicated it was working to rectify the situation and that customers still had access to their aircraft under construction.
On August 8, 2009, the company's landlord ER1 LLC posted a notice indicating that they had "taken possession of the premises" claiming "a possessory lien on the personal property" due to Epic being in default on its lease.
By early September 2009 several additional lawsuits had been 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."
By mid 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
Chapter 11, Title 11, United States Code
Chapter 11 is a chapter of the United States Bankruptcy Code, which permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Chapter 11 bankruptcy is available to every business, whether organized as a corporation or sole proprietorship, and to individuals, although it is most...
, seeking to reorganize, find investors and continue kitplane production on a reduced scale. As a result of the bankruptcy filing customers with aircraft under construction at the company facility were permitted to remove their aircraft and parts.
In late November 2009 a bankruptcy hearing date was set for December 7 with four different unnamed companies, including one established aircraft manufacturer, expressing interest in purchasing Epic from Chapter 11 bankruptcy. That event did not result in a sale of the assets and the company moved to Chapter 7 liquidation
Chapter 7, Title 11, United States Code
Chapter 7 of the Title 11 of the United States Code governs the process of liquidation under the bankruptcy laws of the United States...
. In March 2010 filed court documents showed that Harlow Aerostructures offered to buy the company's assets for US$2M effective March 30, 2010. The company was valued at US$20,295,000 at that time.
In the 26 March 2010 Chapter 7 auction, the state-owned China Aviation Industry General Aircraft Co. Ltd.
Aviation Industry Corporation of China
Aviation Industry Corporation of China is a Chinese state-owned company of aviation industry, both military and civilian...
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 LT Builders Group offer was actually US$2.2M higher than the Chinese bid, but included US$4M in credit, whereas the Chinese bid was all cash. Due to the foreign buyer, the auction was held in two-parts, with Harlow Aerostructures as a reserve bidder that would acquire the assets if the US federal government does not approve the sale to the Chinese company. In a letter to the trustee the Chinese representatives indicate that their plan is to relocate "all assets...back to China to develop, manufacture and service general aviation and enhance the value of the aircraft models". Company lawyer Yan Yang stated however that the company may change its mind: "They want to enhance the value of the brand in this country. They're open to suggestions and working with people interested in the same goal." 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.
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 will market to the rest of the world. The new company intends to reopen the Bend plant for builder-assist construction as well as pursue certification of the Epic LT.
At AirVenture on 31 July 2010 CEO Doug King announced that the company was ready to take orders for the Epic LT, Escape and Victory kit again and that 11 aircraft in plant are being completed by their owners.
Experimental
- LTEpic LT Dynasty- See also :*Kestrel JP10*Extra EA-400*Pilatus_PC-12*Piper Meridian*Socata TBM-External links:*...
is a 6-place experimental turbo-prop airplane. - VictoryEpic Victory-See also:-External links:***...
is an experimental single-engine jet. - Escape is a 92% scaled version of the Epic LT, with 4-5 seats.
- Elite is an experimental twin-engine jet, initially intended as a kit aircraftHomebuilt aircraftAlso known as amateur-built aircraft or kit planes, homebuilt aircraft are constructed by persons for whom this is not a professional activity. These aircraft may be constructed from "scratch," from plans, or from assembly kits.-Overview:...
, which the company plans to certifyType certificateA Type Certificate, is awarded by aviation regulating bodies to aerospace manufacturers after it has been established that the particular design of a civil aircraft, engine, or propeller has fulfilled the regulating bodies' current prevailing airworthiness requirements for the safe conduct of...
later. It utilises an LT model fuselage with cosmetic and structural changes. - Elegance a propsed twin-engine turboprop, seating 8 to 11. Prices are forecast to be US$2M for the experimental version to $5.5 million for a fully certified factory-built version, announced in April 2009.
- Focus is a proposed aircraft that will be available in four versions, ranging from a RotaxRotaxBRP-Powertrain GmbH & Co KG , commonly known simply as Rotax, is an Austrian engine manufacturer. It develops and produces four-stroke and advanced two-stroke engines for Bombardier Recreational Products products as well as for motorcycles, karts,...
-powered light sport aircraft to a two-seat turbopropTurbopropA turboprop engine is a type of turbine engine which drives an aircraft propeller using a reduction gear.The gas turbine is designed specifically for this application, with almost all of its output being used to drive the propeller...
with a 400 knot cruise speed, announced in April 2009. - Polar a proposed five-seat aircraft to be optionally turbine or piston-powered, announced in April 2009.
External links
- Company website
- Epic Aircraft website archives on Archive.org