It's What LoPresti Does... Go Faster

At Oshkosh this summer, the folks at LoPresti called a news conference to introduce a new cowling for the SR20 that company CEO RJ Siegel said has been about three years in the making. The company says it will be flying "later this year." Seigel said that the new cowling represents three new technologies ... and an "Apple" look. He said the technologies lower the total drag of cooling by almost two thirds.

The cowling is built around the Delta Hawk engine, which has a very narrow nose profile. It allows the cowling to be streamlined in such a way that it minimizes drag, maximizes propeller efficiency, and makes the airplane "go a whole bunch faster, or in these days, a whole lot more economically.

Siegel said that the design allows for "unseparated flow" inside the fairing. The second factor is directed flow with minimal amounts of inertial losses. And the third is thermal cooling on demand. That allows more cooling in climb than cruise, and it is possible that it will lead to the elimination of cowl flaps and have the process be automatic. Just "push and go."

The fairing comes with LoPresi's Boom Beams, and is expected to cost about $15,900. The full conversion will be about $25,000, which includes new engine mounts and instrumentation, and the engine its self is about $43,000 for a turbo-supercharged engine.

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