At the company’s global sales meeting in Central Florida that is currently under way, Cirrus’ Pat Waddick told Flying that the company is taking a very tentative look into production of a variant of the all-composite Epic Escape, the sleek, single-engine turboprop from former kit- and would-be certificated manufacturer Epic Aircraft of Bend, Oregon. Cirrus’ parent company, CAIGA, purchased the assets of Epic out of bankruptcy last year. Cirrus Executive VP of sales and marketing Todd Simmons said that Cirrus is simply “evaluating to see if there is an opportunity” with a turboprop product, which would seem natural given Cirrus’ long experience with composite construction.
The single-engine pressurized turboprop niche is today populated by few airplanes, with only the Piper Meridian coming in at less than $3 million.Simmoms stressed that any discussion of a launch was premature.
