4 September 2018
A design for a much-needed turbine-powered version of the Lake Renegade amphibious aircraft is included as part of the assets of Lake Aircraft now up for sale.
Lake Aircraft has been owned for the last 40 years by Kissimmee, Florida-based Armand Rivard. Now 84, Rivard has been trying to sell Lake Aircraft for 20 years with several deals falling through. The latest was with a Chinese consortium but the deal fell foul of China’s foreign exchange controls.
The Lake amphibian is a genuine seaplance that lands on water on its hull, rather than floats, and has retractable undercarriage for landing on hard surfaces. The original designers came from Grumman and were responsible for the Goose, Widgeon and Mallard seaplanes.
The assets for sale at www.lake250.com cover all the intellectual property and equipment required to produce the four-seat piston-engined Lake Renegade, Seafury and Seawolf aircraft.
The assets include the Lake Amphibian aircraft’s FAA Type Certificate as well as global manufacturing and marketing rights, component and assembly tooling, dies, jigs and engineering drawings.
In short, everything a buyer would need to set up factory to produce aircraft and spares.
Lake Renegade in use at Italy’s Aero Club Como.
More than 1,300 Lake Aircraft amphibians have been produced since the the 1950s, in service worldwide in a variety of roles, from training and private flying by Aero Club Como in Italy, to multi-mission utility work. The latest aircraft, the 270hp Seawolf, is equipped with NATO hard points for carrying various types of equipment. A civilian version, the Renegade, was also produced.
The latest Chinese deal would have seen a turbine version developed, and its plans are included in the offering. Not only would the turbine offer more power for a six-seat version but would also solve the problem of lack of avgas outside the USA and Europe.
2 comments
There is a guy in Sanford, FL that claims to be the purchaser. He had a company set up called Jeteezy that seemed like he already owned this. What is the deal with that. Seems to be fraudulent. He was President of the City of Sanford Rotary club also and seems to tell everyone that he is the owner or will be…..so whats the deal with him? He came here from India I believe and owes money to everyone.
He is no more than a criminal. He set up a company, hired a bunch of people and then stopped paying them. He strung them along at length with promises.He never owned Lake, but knows some of the family members. Spend enough time on the research and you see he sets up companies and abandons them worldwide. A couple of governments are investigating him for money laundering, which he is probably guilty of along with wage theft. He’s scared of the rednecks he owes money to, and should be. He deserves to be treated as he treats others.