VisionAire Vantage

The Vantage is currently being developed by VisionAire Jets, LLC, a successor company to VisionAire Corporation, founded in 1988, to fill a perceived gap in the light aircraft market between high performance piston-engined aircraft and twin-engined executive jets.

The Vantage differed from contemporary executive jets in that it was powered by a single engine, a Pratt & Whitney Canada JT15D turbofan buried in the rear fuselage, fed by twin air-inlets above the fuselage.

[1] Flight testing revealed several handling and aerodynamic problems, which resulted in a redesign of the aircraft in December 1998.

Following the purchase of the Vantage by Eviation Jets,[10] the proposed EV-20 was envisioned as a twin-engine design with two Williams FJ44-1AP turbofan engines, with a projected cruise speed of 424 knots (785.2 km/h) at 36,000 feet (10,972.8 m) with an approximate range of 1,300 nautical miles (2,407.6 km).

[11] The redesign of the Vantage from a single- to a twin-engine design proved troublesome; the company failed to progress with the development of the type, and in 2012 the EV-20 was repurchased by VisionAire;[12] the aircraft's design was returned to a single-engined configuration, and VisionAire stated in early 2013 that they planned to construct the Vantage in a factory in Newton, North Carolina, with the prototype scheduled to fly in 2014.

The only prototype Vantage made, tail number N247VA, sits in the grass at Hickory Regional Airport ( KHKY ) in Hickory, North Carolina . Photo from February 2023.