In a hearing of the
lawsuit filed by Blue Sky Avgroup against kit-airplane developer Epic Air, a federal judge on Tuesday agreed with both the plaintiff’s and defendant’s request that a receiver be appointed. Within about 45 days, the receiver is expected to provide a report and then Epic Air and sister companies Aircraft Completions Services and Aircraft Investor Resources will file for bankruptcy. The court ordered that the receiver, Conrad Myers of Portland, Ore.-based Myers & Co., “take exclusive charge, control and possession of the assets and operations of the [Epic] companies.” The Blue Sky lawsuit was filed by Rich Lucibella, a builder of an Epic LT single-engine turboprop kit who alleges that Epic never delivered the engine, propeller and avionics that he paid for and needed to finish his kit, which is locked in Epic’s Bend, Ore. facility along with about a dozen other unfinished airplanes. The judge granted wide latitude to the receiver to take control of Epic’s assets, collect profits, proceeds and accounts receivable, and “to contract with Boeing for development and completion of pending work.” Boeing was not available for comment at press time.