One aircraft attracting a lot of attention at EAA AirVenture this week is the Kestrel, a single-engine turboprop design that's been under development in the UK for a number of years. The project now has been taken over by Alan Klapmeier, one of the co-founders of Cirrus Aircraft, who left Cirrus about a year ago. Klapmeier recently announced that the project will be based in Maine and start down the long road to FAA certification. Here at Oshkosh, the Kestrel display is right next door to Epic Aircraft, which is selling a similar aircraft that has some common heritage. Adrian Norris, a spokesman for Kestrel, told AVweb that the two aircraft differ in substantial ways, and will diverge even more as Klapmeier re-evaluates and tweaks the airplane as he works toward a prototype design. In any case, the Epic aircraft is a kit, and the Kestrel will be certified.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.avweb.com/air-shows-events/kestrel-turboprop-debuts-at-oshkosh