The Epic Victory was a second experimental jet designed by Epic Aircraft, which declared bankruptcy in 2009. In 2010, the company’s assets were acquired by Aviation Industry Corporation of China and LT Builders Group who are restarting production on this plane.
The Epic Victory was an attempt to improve on the original design, which was a bit too heavy and not powerful enough. A very small jet that was also designed to fly slow, it featured retractable landing gear and tandem seating for two people (or one person if the pilot wanted).
Its first flight took place in February of 2008 at Bends Pheasant Field Airport. The pilot was the company’s founder and designer, Brian Maurer.
The first flight was successful, with Brian having a lot of positive things to say about the aircraft afterwards. He said that it was “amazingly smooth” in comparison to other jet aircraft that he had flown in the past.
It was also mentioned that it had a very good center of gravity, allowing for controlled flight throughout most of its flight envelopes. The aircraft’s performance was judged to be extremely positive and commented on how well it climbed, as well as how little was required of them when maneuvering.
A few problems were encountered that required some adjustments, with the biggest problem being a nasty nose-down vibration that appeared at around 75 knots. This was entirely unexpected and showed up shortly after take off.
The aircraft had been thought to be flying too heavy, and the pilot reduced the throttle setting while maintaining control of the Epic Victory, and the vibration soon disappeared. The pilot also mentioned that he could feel a “mild amount of washout” from the aircraft.
It was noted that a few things had to be changed because of this, such as updating some dimensions, eliminating some optional equipment and even changing how much fuel was carried by the design. After the first flight was over, the pilot was said to have some “big smiles” on his face.
Unfortunately epic aircraft had to declare bankruptcy on August 29, 2009 due to lack of sales.
The final flight for the Epic Victory jet was on October 3, 2010.
It had flown a total of 41 hours and 30 minutes under Brian Maurer’s command in just over two years.
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