Epic E1000 GX

The Epic E1000 is a six-seat, single-engine, pressurized turboprop built from carbon-fiber composite by Epic Aircraft in Bend, Oregon. It is the certified evolution of the Epic LT experimental kit aircraft that Epic sold in the 2000s, and it received FAA type certification on November 7, 2019 after a lengthy development program. Deliveries of the production E1000 began in 2020, and Epic quickly refined the airplane into the current E1000 GX (Garmin upgrade) and, more recently, the E1000 AX with autothrottle and Garmin Autoland.

The airplane's defining claim is speed: Epic markets 333 KTAS maximum cruise, which if accurate would make it the fastest civilian single-engine turboprop in production — a direct competitor to the Daher Daher TBM 700/850/900/910/930/940/960 960 and the Pilatus PC-12 NGX. This page could not independently verify that figure, or the paired range/climb/fuel-burn numbers, from a primary source this session — see Performance Notes for exactly what was checked and why the manufacturer's own AFM was unreachable. The certificate confirms a 34,000 ft maximum operating altitude and single-engine PT6A-67A power at 1,200 hp; the widely-repeated 333 KTAS / 1,560 nm figures are the manufacturer's own marketing claim, not yet confirmed against a document this page can cite. Owners are typically successful business operators flying themselves between city pairs that are inconvenient for the airlines; the single-pilot owner-flown mission is the core of the market.

Approximately 100+ E1000-series airframes have been delivered since certification. The airplane is manufactured in Bend, Oregon, and Epic provides factory-based training and support.

This page focuses on the E1000 GX as the most common late-model variant on the used and current market. The earlier plain E1000 is mechanically and aerodynamically very close; the AX adds avionics but not performance.

This page's performance fields are exempted, not estimated — read this before the numbers below. A type certificate publishes no performance at all (no cruise, range, burn, climb, stall speed, or runway distance), and Epic's Pilot's Operating Handbook / AFM (Epic document SK05001001 for the GX configuration) is not publicly distributed — it goes to owners through the type-certificate holder, unlike an old Cessna POH a flight school might host for free. This session searched epicaircraft.com directly (every page attempted, including guessed spec-sheet PDF paths, returned HTTP 403 to automated requests), an AOPA aircraft fact-sheet URL (404), and a Flying Magazine pilot-report URL (404); the session's web-search budget was exhausted by earlier work in this same research batch before this airplane's turn came up, so a broader search was not possible. That is a real gap in this session's research, not a claim that no such search would succeed.

The widely-quoted 333 KTAS maximum cruise, 1,560 nm range, 58 GPH burn and 4,000 fpm climb figures are Epic's own manufacturer marketing claims, consistently repeated (they also appear, attributed to "Data from Epic Aircraft," in Wikipedia's aircraft infobox) but not traced to a specific, checkable document with stated altitude, weight and power-setting conditions. Per runbook rule 3, a cruise/range/burn figure cannot be stored without knowing which single row of which table it comes from — repetition across marketing and secondhand sources is not the same thing as a citable primary source. They are recorded here, in prose, as the manufacturer's claim rather than as confirmed figures, and are not in this page's frontmatter.

Vmo is confirmed from the certificate at 270 KCAS (not KIAS — the certificate states its basis explicitly as calibrated airspeed, and the number is stored as published per runbook rule 24, not converted). The certificate's airspeed table also contains a genuine unresolved oddity: it labels a limit "VO: 170 kcas," not the standard "VA" (maneuvering speed) designation used everywhere else in this catalogue's certificates. This was confirmed against the raw PDF text directly, ruling out an extraction error — the document itself says "VO." Nothing else in the certificate defines the term, and reading it as a typo for Va would be a guess this page declines to make; a prior stored va_kias: 175 did not even match 170 under that reading. A reader who can access Epic's AFM should be able to resolve this quickly; it is flagged here rather than resolved by assumption.

34,000 ft is the certificate's Maximum Operating Altitude, a structural/systems limit, not a climb-performance-derived service ceiling — the same distinction the Piaggio Avanti page draws explicitly. No separate climb-based service ceiling figure was found this session.

Full-fuel payload cannot be computed this session. The certificate confirms fuel capacity at 264 gallons usable (1,769 lb of Jet A) — corrected this session from a previously-stored 288 gallons, which matches neither the certificate's total (278 gal) nor its usable figure (264 gal), though it does match a widely-repeated manufacturer marketing number; see Performance Notes and the TCDS passage for that disagreement. Useful load depends on empty weight, which the certificate does not state (it is a property of the individual airframe) and which this session could not otherwise source — a previously-stored 5,140 lb figure and an independently-found secondary figure of 4,600 lb disagree by roughly 500 lb and neither is confirmed, so neither is carried forward. A buyer should get a specific airframe's actual empty weight from its own weight-and-balance record rather than a catalogue estimate.

The manufacturer's own marketing materials claim a roughly 1,100 lb full-fuel payload and a 1,560 nm range at high-speed cruise, which would be consistent with a six-adult, gear-heavy mission profile similar to the Daher TBM — but see Performance Notes for why this page does not store those figures as confirmed.

Compared to the Daher TBM 700/850/900/910/930/940/960 960, the E1000 offers slightly more cabin volume, higher max speed, and a higher ceiling, at the cost of somewhat less mature support infrastructure outside North America. It is a strong fit for the owner-flown Business Travel and Cross-Country Flying missions where speed, range, and six-seat capability all matter simultaneously.

• Business Travel (10/10): This is the mission the E1000 was designed for. 1,500+ nm single-pilot legs above the weather at jet-competitive speeds, six seats, pressurized cabin, modern Garmin panel, and Jet A economics. Few airplanes match its speed-per-dollar in the owner-flown turboprop segment.
• Cross-Country (10/10): Same logic — the E1000 crosses the US comfortably in two legs with tailwinds. Range, speed, cabin, and ceiling all support coast-to-coast travel.
• Cargo Hauling (5/10): Useful load is not independently confirmed this session (see Payload-Range Dynamics), but the cabin is configured for passengers with a modest cargo door and no floor hardpoints regardless of the exact figure. Usable for gear-heavy family trips, not for commercial cargo.
• Local Fun (4/10): Capable but wildly over-specified; $1,600/hour variable cost makes pattern work absurd.
• Flight Training (1/10): Not a trainer in any sense. Factory differences training only.
• Surveying (3/10): Too fast for most survey work and not set up for sensor installations; a Kodiak or Caravan is the right tool.
• Backcountry (2/10): Retractable gear, low wing, high wing loading, and fragile composite fairings make unimproved strips a bad idea.
• Aerobatics (1/10): Not approved, not designed for it.

All certified E1000-series airframes ship from the factory with the Garmin G1000 NXi integrated flight deck — there is no "base" panel; this is a fully-equipped airplane from day one. Standard equipment includes dual GTC touchscreen controllers, dual WAAS GPS/VHF/NAV, GFC 700 autopilot with Electronic Stability Protection (ESP), Synthetic Vision Technology, TAWS-B, TCAS, GWX-75 weather radar, GDL-69A SiriusXM weather, and ADS-B In/Out via a GTX 345R.

The E1000 AX adds Garmin Autothrottle (GTA 65), Garmin Autoland (Emergency Autoland), and a refreshed cabin package. Autoland is not currently available as a retrofit to earlier E1000/GX airframes, which materially affects resale comparisons between AX and GX.

Because the panel is fully integrated by the factory, aftermarket avionics changes are rare and generally limited to cabin connectivity (Gogo Avance, Starlink) and ADS-B In display options. See Avionics Pricing Reference for comparative panel economics.

Unlike legacy piston singles, there is a very limited STC ecosystem for the E1000:

• Gogo Avance L3/L5 in-flight Wi-Fi — typical install $40-80k including hardware
• Starlink aviation — emerging option, ~$150k all-in
• Custom cabin interiors — Epic offers factory interior refresh programs
• ADS-B In with traffic/weather display upgrades

Engine STCs are effectively nonexistent; the PT6A-67A at 1,200 shp is already aggressive for the airframe, and Epic controls the type certificate tightly. There is no paint/avionics aftermarket comparable to a King Air.

Epic Aircraft provides factory service in Bend, Oregon, and maintains a network of authorized service centers. Parts availability is good as long as Epic remains in production — factory-made composite structural parts, interiors, and airframe systems are generally only available from Epic. Third-party PMA parts are essentially nonexistent. The PT6A-67A, in contrast, is supported worldwide by the P&WC network plus third-party overhaul shops (StandardAero, Dallas Airmotive, Covington). See Maintenance Ecosystem for broader context.

Typical direct operating cost figures (per Aircraft Cost Calculator, 450 hours/year, $7/gal Jet A):

• Total annual budget: ~$725,000
• Variable cost per hour: ~$1,140 (fuel ~$400, maintenance labor ~$240, parts ~$245, engine reserve ~$150, misc)
• Fixed annual cost: ~$210,000 (insurance, hangar, recurrent training, subscriptions, crew if applicable)
• Engine reserve: The PT6A-67A overhaul is $350k-$450k at 3,600 hours, plus ~$40-60k HSI at mid-time
• Annual inspection: $15-30k at an authorized shop, more if component work is required

Expensive line items unique to the airplane: composite repair labor rates, five-blade Hartzell composite prop overhauls, pressurization system service, and any warranty-lapsed factory structural work.

Epic lists the 2025 E1000 GX at approximately $4.25M and the E1000 AX at approximately $4.5M new. Used market values for low-time (300-800 hours) 2021-2023 GX airframes are generally $3.6M-$4.0M, with very early 2020 E1000s (pre-GX) trading closer to $3.2M-$3.5M. See Aircraft Valuation Methodology for framework.

Key value drivers specific to the E1000:

• Avionics generation: AX vs GX matters because Autoland is not retrofittable. Expect a $400-600k delta between comparable GX and AX airframes over the next several years.
• Engine time: With 3,600 hour TBO and typical owner utilization of 150-250 hours/year, most airframes on the market have significant engine life remaining. A mid-life engine discount is meaningful — $200k+.
• Factory support records: Airframes with complete Epic factory service histories trade at a premium; third-party-serviced airframes get discounted because of the specialist nature of composite repair.
• Interior configuration and paint — refresh costs are high ($100-200k), so clean cosmetic airframes hold value.

As a young type certificate, the E1000 has a short AD history but some recurring service bulletins and owner-reported issues:

• Fuel system service bulletins — Epic issued multiple SBs in the early production years addressing fuel quantity indication and fuel system plumbing; inspect logs for compliance.
• Landing gear rigging and squat switch issues — early airframes had intermittent gear position indication and WOW switch faults; addressed via service letters.
• Environmental/bleed-air pressurization tuning — some early owners reported cabin pressure fluctuations traced to outflow valve tuning.
• Composite airframe NDT and paint delamination — normal for carbon-fiber GA airframes; require shops familiar with composite repair.
• PT6A-67A hot section — recommended HSI at ~1,800 hours; nothing unusual for the PT6A family but a real budget line.

Because the fleet is small and young, a thorough factory-authorized pre-buy at an Epic-approved service center is essential. Pay particular attention to correct SB compliance and any evidence of hard landings on the composite airframe.

Insurance on the E1000 is firmly in the owner-flown turboprop category and is priced accordingly. Typical annual premiums run $20,000-$35,000 for a qualified owner-pilot, with hull values of $3.5M-$4.5M and $1M-$5M liability limits. See GA Insurance Underwriting for the underwriting framework.

Underwriter expectations:

• Total time: 1,000+ hours minimum, 1,500+ preferred
• Turbine time: 250+ hours PIC turbine strongly preferred; transition pilots from piston singles face higher premiums and may be required to fly with a mentor pilot for 25-50 hours
• Instrument rating: Required, current, and regularly exercised
• Initial and recurrent training: Epic factory-authorized initial training at Bend (or SimCom) is effectively mandatory; annual recurrent is universally required
• Age factor: Pilots over 70 face significantly harder markets, especially single-pilot
• Claims history: The type has a relatively clean loss record, which keeps the market competitive

First-year transition pilots from piston singles commonly see premiums 50-100% above steady-state, improving materially after the first clean year.