Epic Air CEO Rick Schrameck Rattling the VLJ Market
13-Jul-2007
By Karen Di Piazza
As CharterX first reported on June 7, Epic Air president and CEO Rick Schrameck, boasted that the Elite very light jet will "eclipse anything else that's out there," speaking of the company's twin-engine jet that made its first flight at dawn. On July 6, Aircraft Investor Resources, parent company of Bend, Ore.-based
Epic Air, had reason to celebrate again. This time, its carbon fiber single-engine turbofan VLJ, the Victory, seating up to five passengers, made its first flight.
"Who knows when Cirrus' single-engine jet is going to fly, and the single-engine D-Jet isn't going to be ready for a long time, but the Victory will delivered to customers by year-end," Schrameck emotes. "And the Elite, it's really the first aircraft to deliver everything a VLJ is supposed to be able to deliver. I'd be happy to put the Elite up against anybody's airplane! We've flown two new VLJs within 30 days. Can anybody else say that?"
Meanwhile, the Victory continues to log flight hours preparing for its debut, along with the Elite, at the Experimental Aircraft Association's AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wis. On July 23 at 10:30 a.m., both jets are due to arrive at AeroShell Square at Whittman Regional Airport.
In 2003, during the Oshkosh event, successful high-tech businessman, Schrameck, sat inside of his RV and showed people CAD drawings of a new an airplane design. What seemed braggartism, "We're going to change the way the aviation industry brings airplanes to market," most people ignored Schrameck.
The following year at Oshkosh, attendees literally looked up into the sky, to identify where the roar was coming from. It was Schrameck flying his new 1,200-hp Epic LT, a six-place, single-engine turboprop. The Epic LT is the experimental version of the company's Dynasty, presently in the certification process.
Today, EA has many fans, including NASCAR's "Million Dollar" Bill Elliot, who also owns and pilots an Epic LT. Elliot and Schrameck love to talk about fast cars and racing. In fact, Schrameck has been racing cars since age 17, in everything from drags races to sponsoring an Indy car to driving the Trans-Am 24 Daytona races. In a previous life, Schrameck even owned a Ferrari dealership in San Francisco, Calif.
"I love speed; I'm addicted to speed," says Schrameck, who built a rocket-powered go-kart as a youngster. "I love our aircraft--love the speed of the Epic LT at 340 knots."
On a serious note, he reflects upon EA's success to date.
"In our research, we couldn't find another company that has demonstrated this kind of focus and commitment to bringing an aircraft from the proverbial drawing boards to reality in this length of time," says Schrameck, who believes his father, who served as an Air Force pilot in three wars, genetically transferred his passion for aviation. "Considering that the Victory is a clean-sheet design, a mere 28 weeks from conception, it proves that Epic Air has the best engineers and manufacturing talent in the world."
As for the Victory jet, Schrameck says the price is under $1 million. Following Epic's business model of pre-certification, which will take place in Canada, the Victory will first be available as an owner-built aircraft. EA's Oregon facility assists owners who build their own aircraft. Under the Federal Aviation Administration's rules, customers of homebuilt planes are considered as the "manufacturer," with a 51-percent stake in assembly.
While both the Elite and the Victory have Garmin G900X avionics, the Victory is powered by one Williams International FJ-33-4A engine; two FJ-33-4 engines power the Elite, seating up to seven passengers. EA said the Elite is scheduled to go into certification testing first; the Victory will enter the certification process in late 2008 or early 2009, if the demand is there.
Looking ahead, Schrameck envisions Epic producing 200 Elite jets a year, after the aircraft is certified. "I would consider that a success; we're capable of producing 200 jets a year," he said.
Certifying Aircraft in Canada vs. the U.S.
Schrameck says he will certify all EA aircraft in Canada.
"Speed is money; time is money," he said. "I'm not a regulatory guy, but there are reciprocity agreements between countries for aviation certification. For instance, aircraft that are certified in Europe or Canada end up certified in the U.S. It's not automatic, but there are very good working relationships between those regulatory bodies and the FAA."
He said when aircraft become certified in Canada, unlike the U.S., they are ready to fly passengers.
"Canada's certification process means you don't obtain some temporary, provisional type certification," he said. "With Canada, basically, the aircraft has to pass all the tests before they will give a certification. Our aircraft will be useable from the day they are certified. I think that's important. I think there are issues when a company says, ‘I'm certified,' when actually the aircraft can't be delivered as a useful airplane."
At the end of 2006, Schrameck said the company had 20 aircraft in its factory under various stages of construction. During this year's Sun n' Fun event, the company sold $23 million in airplane orders. Rather than go out and raise millions of dollars trying to produce aircraft and go for "traditional" certification, Schrameck says it's the experimental aircraft sales that fund the certification program. He said it make sense to go about the process that way.
"There are a lot of reasons to go from experimental to certified aircraft," he said. "One of the reasons is that you'll have a lot of planes out there; that provides valuable feedback from customers. By having numerous aircraft flying multiple missions, it's is a good way to obtain marketing data and accumulate a lot of flight hours. And by doing so, you don't have to build say, two, three, and up to five prototypes.
"Also, in the U.S., an aircraft manufacturer might have to select its avionics several years before the aircraft finally completes certification. Consequently, it's a risk of having a new airplane with less than cutting-edge electronics. In Canada, we can select and test the avionics later in the certification process. The Dynasty will have state-of-the-art avionics."
If this is such a great idea, why aren't more aircraft manufacturers starting with experimental aircraft, then moving to certification in Canada?
"It's for the same reason that an online movie rental businesses became successful," he said. "While other movie rental places depend on walk-in traffic, its the guy who came up with a simple way get movies to you via the mail that dominates the market. It's the same thing for aircraft here in the U.S., no one thought of it. It's not rocket science, it just works."
In addition to the company's manufacturing facilities in Oregon, EA's Canadian division will include a 100,000-square-foot manufacturing plant outside of Calgary, Alberta, and a 50,000-square-foot certification facility in a joint effort with the Canadian Centre for Aircraft Certification.
This is just the beginning for Epic Air. If all goes well, the company plans to expand its manufacturing capabilities.
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