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December 23, 2015 - Epic Aircraft, manufacturer
of high performance, all carbon fiber,
single-engine turboprop aircraft, achieved a
significant milestone in its E1000 certification
program last week, with the successful maiden
flight. The company remains on track to achieve
Type Certificate and begin customer deliveries
during 2016.
The Epic E1000 prototype FT1, sporting tail
number N331FT, took its first flight on Saturday
afternoon, December 19th, at approximately 16:00
from the Bend Municipal Airport (KBDN).
Epic CEO, Doug King said, "This is a tremendous
accomplishment and I couldn't be more proud of
our team. We achieved our goal to fly FT1 by the
end of the year, thanks to the hard work, long
hours and dedicated commitment of our entire
staff. The timing just before Christmas gives us
even more to celebrate this holiday season."
Upon completion of the scheduled 20 minute
flight, Epic Chief Pilot, David Robinson,
reported "The aircraft handled extremely well
and performed just as expected." FT1 testing
will continue over the next several months,
assessing general handling qualities,
operational performance, systems operations in
normal mode, failure scenarios, extreme
conditions, and Flight Into Known Icing (FIKI)
regulations.
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