I was ready for the first aerobatic show of the year, Valkaria, FL. It was time to get back into form so the Fury and I went to our happy place and played. To me it was if we had flown a show the day before, like riding a bike; it was an excellent practice. I arrived at the show site on Friday for our normal press day interviews and was greeted by my old friend Freddie Cabanas. Freddie and I go back a long way. He is the King of Key West, everybody knows Freddie. I don’t know if I would take him out in public but, oh, is he fun to be around.

Chuck Vincent arrived later that afternoon as did Susan and Steve Oliver. Susan and Steve were there giving rides in their beautiful old Standard bi-plane. Patty Wagstaff, John Black and Gene came in the next day before the show. The magnificent Wayne Boggs was our air boss, so I knew it would be a well-run show. The local EAA chapter put on this show and did a great job. It was set up with something for everyone. A kids play area, hot air balloons, cars, military, you name it and I think they had it there. This was their fourth show which has grown into a bigger, better show each year. The talented members had everything in place. The only thing I didn’t care for was an altitude restriction at the north end of the aerobatic box. We had to be 500 FT. over this one road and it really made me work to fit the Fury maneuvers into the box. Yesssss, see I do work —- sometimes hahahaha. The weather couldn’t have been better not only for the show but for all of the fly-in airplanes which filled the field. We not only had a daytime show but also one that started at twilight and went into the night.

I made the long eight-mile trip to Sebastian Sunday morning but just couldn’t refuse taking the Fury to our happy place. We played around for a while in the bright sunshine along the FL coast and headed home. I had an interesting lunch a day later with my friend Ralph Poppell. He told me about an airplane ride he was training for. Training for an airplane ride, you ask? Yes, you see his ride was in an F-104 Starfighter, one of my favorite airplanes. The F-104 is like the Jag XKE and Fury; eye candy. They’re just so sexy you have to look more than once. Ralph explained the training they were putting him through and his excitement about the upcoming event. The landing was special also for they were going to land on the Space Shuttle’s runway at the Cape. I can’t wait to hear about his flight. Hummm, we need to get him to tell the story at one of the LoPresti First Saturday events. I repeat; if you haven’t made one of the LoPresti First Saturday events, put it on your list.

Mid week I flew the Fury to burn off some fuel before it went in for its annual. Yes that’s the excuse I used to fly the Fury – well the Boss bought it! I also decided to ask our Sales MGR., Allison if she wanted to fly it again. She said SUREEEEE. I figured I would run another test with her. The first flight went well and I taught her to roll the Fury in less than five minutes. That was a mistake; I almost had to fight her to get the airplane back, hahahaha. This time I wanted to see how a non-tail wheel pilot flew the Fury from take-off to landing. I knew she had had one flight in a Decathlon but no other tail wheel experience. After the run-up, double check the checklist, we were ready to go. Now Allison and I had briefed before we started and I gave her the same advice Bob Hoover and my Dad gave me, “Take control and make the airplane do what you want it to do.” We lined up on the runway and with my hands close to the controls, Allison advanced the throttle. She started rolling, then there was a small movement to the left which she corrected quickly and made the Fury do as she wished. We lifted off with a good rate of climb as my heart started pumping again. She was doing great, as if she was flying it daily, she retracted the gear and climbed on speed. I was impressed. No tail wheel time and the Fury was a piece of cake for her – I keep saying the Fury is one of the easiest tail wheel airplanes I have ever flown. After flying around for a while I recommended we head home. She had had enough fun and I wasn’t use to being in the Fury and not flying it myself. I couldn’t resist and said “Ok, give the airplane to me” to which she replied “NO” hahahahaha. I said, “I’ll make a 360 overhead break and then you can land it.” She made a funny face and gave control back to me. As we approached I made a radio call and was informed by the Skydive Sebastian Twin Otter that one of his jumpers had deployed his chute at 12,000 FT. and he didn’t know why or where he was. I decided to turn away from the field as we couldn’t locate the diver and turned the Fury back to Allison. She set up a nice downwind, base and turn to final. She had no problems with speeds or altitudes on our descent. My hart tightened again and my hand got close to the controls as we got closer to the ground. She flared, the wheels went err err; perfect wheel landing. We rolled about 400 FT. and she started to force the tail down, I felt the Fury get light on the gear and told her “stand it up or you’ll fly.” She stood it back up on the gear and let the tail come down on its own. As we taxied back to our hangar I explained a few other tricks to tail wheel airplanes. She shut it down and exiting the Fury I told her “Allie, you did a great job, as good as any pilot could have!” HUMMMMM I don’t know if I want to teach Allie ACM, (air combat maneuvering) I can’t imagine the feeling of being bea—— never mind.