View Full Version : Stelio Frati dead
stepwilk
15th May 2010, 14:50
Italian designer (Falco, SF-250/260, etc.) Stelio Frati died on the evening of 13 May. As a Falco builder, I had visited him in Milano and spent time with him at Oshkosh the year he came to the U. S. for the first time. He was a remarkable man.
Gutted.
Had rather hoped my Falco would have flown before the master passed on :(
JEM60
15th May 2010, 20:14
Damn. Another great designer moves on.
Dan Winterland
16th May 2010, 15:22
The man was 90, so he had a good run. But he was not only an aircraft designer, he was an artist. Having flown two of his designs, all I can say is "Thank you Stelio".
larssnowpharter
16th May 2010, 17:55
Having flown only one of his designs, I will also salute you Sn Frati:
The Man
The simple and ordinary looking man Stelio Frati is certainly a man of appreciation who can make people think of the immense energy storehouse one can posses and above all directs it to a positive output. The fortunate ones who worked with Frati hardly remember him going for a vacation. The genius always worked with slide rule. The bachelor devoted most of his time in his workshop with Renato Cairo his head of production designing and creating new flying machines so much a passion that he build his swimming pool in his house like a Falco. The simplicity and the passion of his works can be figured in the Annual Experimental Aircraft Association – Oshkosh in 1955, when he dragged the first Falco atop a horse wagon to Linate airport for the air show. The model was build with poplar in a city workshop. The fame and love for him by the people can be best described by Jim de Angelo at Appleton airport who uses the label “Broken By Frati” for his plane when the wing tip light Plexiglas cover was broken by Mr.Frati out of excitement on seeing his creation he designed thirty years before.
Only for efforts of men like Stelio Frati human being can dream about future for they can dare anything and everything to pursue the dreams they have dreamt for the gross prosperity of the humanity. Salute Stelio Frati.
stepwilk
16th May 2010, 18:09
Actually, he was 91 at the time of his death. And at least a bit brokenhearted; his beloved cat Nero had died this past winter, and Frati, a solitary man, had adored him. Nero used to lie on Frati's drafting table while he worked.
ZeBedie
16th May 2010, 20:22
Falco, SF260 - so sexy - could only have been designed by an Italian.