Epic Aircraft’s plan to transition from the kit-built market to certified aircraft has suffered a setback. At the EAA AirVenture show in Oshkosh, Wis., at the end of July, only one Epic LT single-engine turboprop was on display, and company founder, chairman and CEO Rick Schrameck never showed up. In July, Epic’s facility in Bend, Ore., was locked shut and employees sent home.
Schrameck was voted out by the board of directors and seems to have disappeared, according to Rich Lucibella, an Epic LT kit buyer and builder who filed a lawsuit against Epic over failure to deliver the engine for his kit and has been monitoring the situation at Epic. “There are roughly 12 aircraft sitting at Epic unfinished,” he said. “The owners [of those kits] are working with the company to work out a solution that keeps Epic going, which may include investment from outside sources.” No further details of Epic’s situation were available. At press time no one was answering the telephone at Epic headquarters, and many employees’ voice mailboxes were full and unable to take messages.
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