High-Performance Taildragger Ready In 2008?
There could be a new high-performance airplane on the market in 2008 but the name will be a familiar one to those who care about going faster. According to the Sebastian, Fla., Sun, LoPresti Speed Merchants is shopping for a location to build its long-awaited Fury, a two-place firecracker that was designed (some may say adapted) by Roy LoPresti in the late 1980s. LoPresti died in 2002 but the company he left behind seems to be getting serious about building the aircraft. Arjay Siegel, the company’s VP of operations, said the company has scouted five potential locations for the aircraft plant, which would employ about 300 people. “We’ll not only have the decision made, but we’ll break ground [within 90 days],” he told the Sun. LoPresti designed the plane, originally called the SwiftFury, and intended to build it with former Piper owner M. Stuart Miller. But Piper went bankrupt and the project was shelved. The plane was renamed the Fury after New Piper was created in 1991.
