 | |
| Type | Privately held company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Aerospace |
| Founded | 2017 |
| Headquarters | , |
Key people | President: Kevin Eldredge (until Oct 2017) Bob Wolstenholme (from Oct 2017) |
| Products | Light aircraft |
| Website | www |
The Evolution Aircraft Company is an American aircraft manufacturer based in Redmond, Oregon. The company specializes in the design and manufacture of light aircraft in the form of kits for amateur construction. [1] [2]
Bob Wolstenholme is the president and CEO of Evolution Aircraft. [3]
In July 2016, Lancair announced it would sell off the older Lancair lines of aircraft to concentrate on the Lancair Evolution instead. Kevin Eldredge, who was Lancair's Director of Business Development, indicated that at one time Lancair's products had been unique in the market, but only the Evolution design now occupied that customer niche and thus it made sense to concentrate on that aircraft type. He stated, "there is nothing in the market that can compete with the Evolution" and "unless something drastically changes with the market, after the first of the year, we will be ramping up to one every two weeks." The company had been making 10% of its revenue from supporting the older, out of production designs with parts. [1] [2] [4] [5]
Due to the complexity of the Evolution aircraft design, it is not a traditional kit aircraft, that is normally built in a garage. Instead, the kit was designed to be built in professional facilities that assist the amateur builder, including the factory facility and commercial aircraft shops. This focus on using available space at the factory for builder assistance, plus lower sales of the older models, meant there was a good business case for selling off the older designs and freeing space for Evolution completions. [6]
In February 2017, the assets, including the intellectual property for the older designs, were sold to Mark and Conrad Huffstutler, who moved the production of those models to Uvalde, Texas, and now operate the company as Lancair International, LLC. With the sale of the older aircraft lines, Lancair changed its name to Evolution Aircraft and remained in its existing Redmond facility. [1] [2] [7] [8] [9]
The company issued a statement on 5 October 2017 indicating that they were going through a restructuring and had laid off 22 of its 49 employees on 3 October 2017. Company president and CEO Kevin Eldredge resigned and Bob Wolstenholme assumed that role. [3] The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association reported on 19 October 2017 that the company was apparently out of business, citing inability to obtain product liability insurance following a fatal accident. [10] On 20 October 2017 Aero News Network (ANN) reported that the company was not answering customer or media inquires and that "its future is cloudy". [11] That same day, local radio station KBND reported that the company was still in business, seeking a buyer and that AOPA's report that it had closed was incorrect. [12] On 26 October 2017, ANN reported that the company was "for sale. And while reports last week of the company being closed appeared to be premature, the kit maker is certainly struggling" and seeking a buyer. ANN reported also that the company had been unable to obtain insurance due to high-profile accidents. [13] On 4 November 2017, the company indicated in an interview in The Bend Bulletin, that they were still in limited operations, "focused on fulfilling customer commitments" and were seeking investors. [14]
Lancair International, Inc. is a U.S. manufacturer of general aviation aircraft kits. They are well known for their series of high-performance single-engine aircraft that offer cruise speeds that surpass many twin-engine turboprop designs. Along with the Glasair series, the early Lancair designs were among the first kitplanes to bring modern molded composites construction to light aircraft.
Van's Aircraft, Inc. is an American kit aircraft manufacturer, founded by Richard "Van" VanGrunsven in 1973.
Murphy Aircraft Manufacturing Limited is a Canadian maker of civil general aviation kits for amateur construction. The company was founded in 1985 by Darryl Murphy and is located in Chilliwack, British Columbia.
Sonex Aircraft, LLC is an American kit aircraft manufacturer located in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, producing kits for four all-metal homebuilt monoplanes. The company was founded in 1998 by John Monnett, who has designed the Monnett Sonerai sport aircraft series, Monnett Monerai sailplane, Monnett Moni motorglider, and Monnett Monex racer. Monnett designs are displayed in the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center of the National Air and Space Museum near Washington D.C.
The Columbia Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation was an aircraft manufacturer that designed and built light general aviation aircraft. In November 2007 it became a division of Cessna.
The Lancair IV and IV-P are a family of four-seat, low-wing, retractable-gear, composite monoplanes powered by a 550 cubic inch Continental TSIO-550 twin-turbocharged piston engine.
Flight Design General Aviation GmbH is a German aircraft design company and aircraft manufacturer, formerly based in Leinfelden-Echterdingen and Kamenz and now in Eisenach.
The Sonex, Waiex and Xenos are a family of lightweight, metal, low-wing, two seat homebuilt aircraft. Kits are produced and marketed by Sonex Aircraft, a small manufacturer based in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. By 2014, 500 customer built aircraft had been completed. The Sonex can also be built from plans.
The Lancair ES is an American amateur-built aircraft that was designed and produced by Lancair. While it was in production the aircraft was supplied as a kit for amateur construction.
The Lancair Legacy, a modernized version of the Lancair 320, is a low-wing two-place retractable-gear composite monoplane, manufactured by the US company Lancair. It is available as a kit that cost US$71,500 in 2011. There is also a fixed-gear version, the Legacy FG. The retractable version of the Legacy cruises at 276 mph at 8,000 ft and the fixed gear version cruises at 215 mph.
The Lancair Evolution is an American pressurized, low wing, four-place, single engine light aircraft, made from carbon fiber composite, developed by Lancair and supplied as an amateur-built kit by Evolution Aircraft.
The ICON A5 is an American amphibious light-sport aircraft designed and produced by ICON Aircraft. A concept aircraft was first flown in 2008, and creation of the production tooling began in December 2012. The first production aircraft made its first flight on July 7, 2014, and made its public debut at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh on July 27, 2014. A year later at AirVenture, it was temporarily donated to the youth group Young Eagles, although the first official A5 customer deliveries did not occur until 2016. As of 2019, 100 A5s have been delivered.
Airdrome Aeroplanes is an American aircraft manufacturer, founded by Robert Baslee, that offers a large selection of kit aircraft for amateur construction. The company is based in Holden, Missouri.
The Aircraft Kit Industry Association (AKIA) is an American aviation advocacy association that was formed in July 2012 and formally constituted at AirVenture 2012.
The Klapmeier brothers, Alan Lee Klapmeier and Dale Edward Klapmeier, are American aircraft designers and aviation entrepreneurs who together founded the Cirrus Design Corporation in 1984. Under the leadership of the Klapmeiers, Cirrus was the first aircraft manufacturer to install a whole-plane parachute recovery system as a standard on all its models—designed to lower the airplane safely to the ground in case of an emergency. The device is attributed with saving over 200 lives to date. From the brothers' use of all-composite airframe construction and glass panel cockpits on production aircraft, Cirrus is known for having revolutionized general aviation for modern light aircraft pilots.
The One Aviation Corporation, stylized as ONE Aviation, was a company formed in 2015 to merge the aircraft manufacturers Eclipse Aerospace and Kestrel Aircraft. The company had its headquarters in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States.
The Stratos 714 is an American very light jet aircraft under development by Stratos Aircraft of Redmond, Oregon. The project was announced in July 2008, a prototype first flew on 21 November 2016, although Stratos currently lacks the funding to complete type certification. Predominantly made of carbon composite, the single turbofan aircraft would seat four to six at 400 kn (740 km/h) over up to 1,500 nmi (2,800 km).
Bye Aerospace is an American aircraft manufacturer based in Englewood, Colorado. The company specializes in the design and manufacture of electric aircraft, including unmanned aircraft for geospatial role and light aircraft for the flight training role. The company was founded by George E. Bye, who remains the CEO.
The Lancair Barracuda is an American amateur-built aircraft produced by Lancair of Uvalde, Texas. It was introduced at AirVenture in July 2018. The aircraft is supplied as a kit for amateur construction.
The Lancair Mako is an American amateur-built aircraft designed and produced by Lancair of Uvalde, Texas, introduced at AirVenture in 2017. The aircraft was first flown on 18 July 2017 and is supplied as a kit for amateur construction. It is named after the shark.
 | Wikimedia Commons has media related to Evolution Aircraft . |