Man, Those Things Are Everywhere!

LoPresti SpeedMerchants told ANN Wednesday its upcoming Fury single-engine, retractable two-seat aircraft will offer an interesting and innovative piece of technology: a fully-integrated Apple iPod digital audio recorder.

The reason to include an iPod goes far beyond a pilot's ability to take his or her music with them when they fly, said LoPresti VP of Operations RJ Siegel. (Or even ANN's Aero-Casts -- Ed.)

"This is a watershed technology for aviation," said Siegel, "and we are delighted to be the first to bring it to market. It would be very nearsighted to think of the iPod as merely an entertainment device."

In fact, Siegel says, the iPod brings three unique abilities to the Fury cockpit:

LoPresti has implemented the iPod to serve as a digital data recorder. With the ability to record over 500 hours of flight time, the iPod becomes the first truly portable, personal flight recorder with a huge recording capacity

Using it as an audio recorder, LoPresti has the ability to capture and replay audio on demand. This includes cockpit conversation, as well as two way audio transmissions such as clearances.

LoPresti notes iPods are also easy to replace, and available on almost every street corner. "The complete antithesis of aviation electronics," as LoPresti puts it. The iPod replaces several expensive, and heavy, components, such as CD players. Instead, the iPod delivers over 10,000 tunes and serves cockpit functions.

"This is the perfect marriage of a consumer product to the aviation market," said Siegel. "The iPod has an ideal product spec for aviation. It's light and small, with very low power requirements and a simple interface. By introducing such a mainstream device to aviation, we open the door to increased functionality at bargain basement prices."

"There are thousands of developers passionate about writing applications for the iPod," Siegel added. "With such a large body of programmers we literally have no idea what the next great aviation application may be."

LoPresti will assemble the Fury... an updated, 215-knot variant of the venerable Swift... at its recently announced facility in Belen, NM.

FMI: www.loprestifury.com