Jan Morgan

LoPresti’s single-prop flier, the Fury, is no shaky aerobatic bird, nor is it restricted in range or speed. Built with the nerves of a stunt plane and the brawn of a military fighter, this design is a true pilot’s aircraft. Immediate and precise response from perfectly harmonized controls makes maneuvering the Fury effortless—even when it […]

The wailing exhaust note of a Porsche V-10 engine is not a wake-up call option at most resorts. Nevertheless, that distinctive reveille echoes early one morning off the high walls of the Chateau LaFayette, a grand, Ritz Paris–style hotel at the Nemacolin Woodlands Resort and Spa in Farmington, Pa. The bugler, in this case, is […]

Snce he was 5 years old, Roy LoPresti had dreamed of building and flying a machine like the Fury. Then in 1988, LoPresti, an aircraft designer and former U.S. Air Force combat pilot, completed the manifestation of his boyhood imagination: a two-seat, high-performance prototype. LoPresti had convinced his four sons to quit their aeronautical engineering […]

If judged solely on the modest block under its hood, the Lotus Elise that the British carmaker introduced to the European market in 1995 would never have gained its acclaim. The Rover engine delivered less than 120 hp, but the small and stylish Elise was built on a lightweight bonded aluminum chassis, which transformed the […]

While cruising over the Bay Area at 22,000 feet, I key the mike button on the Bravo2, Mooney Airplane Co.’s new four-seater, and check on the conditions over Oakland, Calif. “Center, Mooney One Sierra Bravo. Do you have a ground speed?” “Mitsubishi One Sierra Bravo, Oakland Center,” comes the response. “Reading 270 knots, plus or […]