Epic Aircraft

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Epic Aircraft of Bend, Oregon builds the fastest all-composite turboprop in production. The company took an unusual road: from the Epic LT kit aircraft that owners assembled themselves to the fully FAA-certified serial E1000 — keeping its 'sports car of turboprops' character along the way.

E1000 GX: carbon fiber and 1,200 horsepower

The current E1000 GX version was certified in 2021. The all-composite airframe reconciles the irreconcilable: a cabin noticeably wider than its classic rivals and a 611 km/h cruise on par with the Daher TBM. The 1,200 shp Pratt & Whitney PT6A-67A delivers startling climb performance — up to 1,200 meters per minute, reaching FL330 faster than many light jets and climbing away from weather and icing. Avionics are Garmin G1000 NXi with autothrottle; six seats, 3,345 km of range and full ice protection complete the package. The next version adds Garmin Autoland automatic emergency landing.

Position in the market

Epic competes head-on with the TBM 960 at a notably lower new-aircraft price. The trade-off is the program's youth: a smaller fleet, a more compact service network and a resale market still taking shape. In exchange, the waiting list is shorter than Daher's, and residual values are supported by growing demand for fast turboprops as a class. The composite airframe itself carries no metal-fatigue life limits, each hull is ultrasonically inspected at the factory, and every new automation step — autothrottle, now Autoland — is also offered to the existing fleet, which supports early airframes' values.

For Central Asian missions the E1000 GX means Almaty–Dubai with one stop, Tashkent–Astana nonstop, and Jet A-1 fuel available at every major airport in the region. JetHunter advises on new E1000 GX purchases and sources the type's scarce pre-owned airframes, arranges inspections and manages delivery to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. For a buyer comparing the class, we prepare a side-by-side of the E1000 GX against the TBM 960 and the Piper M700 on your actual mission profile — speed, runway needs, cabin loading and five-year cost of ownership — so the choice rests on your routes rather than brochure numbers. The type rewards exactly this kind of analysis: on missions where climb rate and cabin width matter, it often wins the spreadsheet outright. And because Epic sells factory-direct rather than through dealer networks, spec-level questions — paint, interior, avionics options, delivery positions — are answered by the manufacturer itself, which first-time turboprop buyers consistently rate as a smoother experience.