What ever happened to the Groppo Trail?
Posted: Wed Sep 30, 2020 8:49 am
I was researching some different LSAs while procrastinating on housework last weekend (who among us?) and came across the Italian-made Groppo Trail. It's a fairly popular design in Europe in both kit and ready-to-fly form. It briefly had U.S. representation that seems to have ended a few years ago, and now you can only buy one in the U.S. as an E-AB kit. I think there are only a few flying in the U.S.
It's got a lot of interesting design features that I would look for in an LSA if/when I decide to buy one: high-wing, all-metal construction, tandem seating, folding wings, good useful load. Has anyone here ever flown in a Trail or even seen one up close? The plane got a lot of positive reviews when it was first introduced to the U.S. market as an SLSA, so I'm wondering if its failure to gain traction was due to a lack of interest from LSA buyers or some problem with the company/distributor.
It's got a lot of interesting design features that I would look for in an LSA if/when I decide to buy one: high-wing, all-metal construction, tandem seating, folding wings, good useful load. Has anyone here ever flown in a Trail or even seen one up close? The plane got a lot of positive reviews when it was first introduced to the U.S. market as an SLSA, so I'm wondering if its failure to gain traction was due to a lack of interest from LSA buyers or some problem with the company/distributor.