BeechTalk - BT

Username Protected · **Posted:** 20 Oct 2017, 09:25

AOPA is reporting that Lancair has closed......

Username Protected · **Posted:** 20 Oct 2017, 09:30

Looks like just whoever owns the evolution, not the piston line

Username Protected · **Posted:** 20 Oct 2017, 09:31

https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all ... -shuttered

Found this part interesting:

Quote:

Evolution aircraft owners and aviation industry personnel pointed to a July 17 fatal crash in Mesa, Arizona, which killed two people, as the beginning of the firm’s downfall. As a result of that accident and subsequent lawsuit, the company has apparently been unable to acquire liability insurance for continued operations, according to persons with knowledge of the situation.
In the last 22 months, there were at least five accidents involving Evolution aircraft that involved hull losses, including one in which a windscreen “exploded” in cruise flight “instantaneously without any pre-indication,” according to an NTSB report.

Evolution aircraft owners shared concerns about maintaining their own insurance in the wake of the somewhat high number of accidents on the relatively small fleet of aircraft.

Username Protected · **Posted:** 20 Oct 2017, 09:32

I think the piston line was sold to a Texas company several months back.

Username Protected · **Posted:** 20 Oct 2017, 10:09

Oh no! That's a huge blow for evolution owners and builders.

Experimental planes should be exempt from this type of legal threat.

I wonder if we'll see innovative companies relocate from the US to avoid this ridiculous legal risk.

Username Protected · **Posted:** 20 Oct 2017, 10:12

Username Protected wrote:

Oh no! That's a huge blow for evolution owners and builders.

I'm gonna guess death blow.

5/90 hulls lost in two years... maybe this is the free market at work.

Username Protected · **Posted:** 20 Oct 2017, 11:25

I may be wrong but wasn't there litigation brought up against Vans Aircraft recently? They were found not libel due to the plane being an experimental homebuilt. That would definitely set a precedent. No lawyer would pursue this on a contingency basis after that. There may be another reason for Evolutions closure.

Username Protected · **Posted:** 20 Oct 2017, 12:01

looks like slip and fall lawyers got another one.

sad state.

Username Protected · **Posted:** 20 Oct 2017, 15:15

Username Protected wrote:

I may be wrong but wasn't there litigation brought up against Vans Aircraft recently? They were found not libel due to the plane being an experimental homebuilt. That would definitely set a precedent. No lawyer would pursue this on a contingency basis after that. There may be another reason for Evolutions closure.

I think there is a difference in liability between a kit seller and a manufacturer of essentially completed 6 seat turbine aircraft. The 'amateur built' designation of aircraft like the Epic and the Evolution is purely fictional.

Username Protected · **Posted:** 20 Oct 2017, 19:13

Refresh my memory, did lancair rename itself and sell off the piston line, or did they sell the evolution side of the company and keep the piston line?

Username Protected · **Posted:** 20 Oct 2017, 19:13

Making airplanes is a tough business. I was in Duluth last weekend and there was a news story about Kestrel Aviation not making any payments on their city economic development loan for a year. They were supposed to have 600 jobs by now and they only have25 employees.

Username Protected · **Posted:** 20 Oct 2017, 19:29

Username Protected wrote:

Making airplanes is a tough business. I was in Duluth last weekend and there was a news story about Kestrel Aviation not making any payments on their city economic development loan for a year. They were supposed to have 600 jobs by now and they only have25 employees.

During the economic crisis, cirrus didn't pay rent on their facility in Grand Forks for several years. When business picked up, the EDC settled with them for a fraction of the back rent.

Username Protected · **Posted:** 20 Oct 2017, 20:33

Everything once known as "Lancair" was sold to another company and moved to Texas. Evolution aircraft remained and their sole product was the Evo turbine/piston kits.

Username Protected · **Posted:** 20 Oct 2017, 23:12

Username Protected wrote:

Refresh my memory, did lancair rename itself and sell off the piston line, or did they sell the evolution side of the company and keep the piston line?

Correct, this thread sucks

Username Protected · **Posted:** 21 Oct 2017, 00:13

Username Protected wrote:

Refresh my memory, did lancair rename itself and sell off the piston line, or did they sell the evolution side of the company and keep the piston line?

Correct, this thread sucks

Evolution Aircraft ceasing operation