Ralph Arendt's Ercoupe. Flying an Ercoupe can be counterintuitive for the uninitiated. The Ercoupe has no separate rudder control so you have to crab into a crosswind and land sideways; the plane will straighten up on its own. Over the years, the Porters’ Ercoupe has taken them on a lot of adventures. John: Thanks for suggesting I take another look at the part number of the fuel pump. For a second, I thought it was my old Ercoupe 2479H (S/N 3103) which I sold in 1957 for $1,600. They also, according to Stanley G. Thomas, in his book The Ercoupe, replaced the fabric covering of the outer wing panels with metal, installed the bubble windshield and larger rear windows of a more rectangular shape, installed bucket seats, modernized the instrument panel and replaced the rubber doughnut cushions in the main landing gear with Belleville springs. I loved that airplane having flown it solo all over the country. Everyone knows the Ercoupe was designed to be super safe by making it stall and spin-proof, yet few know it racked up a number of firsts including first successful production GA airplane that had a nosewheel or that had a fully cowled engine—making it faster than most of its contemporaries. My student found nothing but frustration trying to correct for a crosswind on landing. This contributed to more speed than most of its counterparts had. IMO, is being able to “FLY” the airplane, not just “drive it” around. The one with all the conventional clowns struggling to get down, but the little 'coupe sweetly doing a 3 point at That is how I … Touchdown occurred in full crab, Original Configuration. Early model 415-C Ercoupes came with … There was a 20-knot crosswind and I had never landed in such a strong crosswind before. However, the Ercoupe/Aircoupe line doesn't come across as macho, so what may be the funkiest two-place airplane from I= the 1940s is a bit of a sleeper on the used market. You can drop that plane in from 10', and it just chirps and rolls straight. We were about to put my recently-purchased Ercoupe to the test, although not quite that severe of a test. (Actually, the crosswind takeoff is more of an experience.) The ERCO Ercoupe is an American low-wing monoplane aircraft that was first flown in 1937. Also any Ercoupe can be stalled by diving to about 130-140 IAS and pulling full back on the elevator and holding it. When hooked to the ailerons, you can't lower a wing in a crosswind. At their first attendance of the National Ercoupe Fly-in in Minden, Nebraska, Bob demonstrated the remarkable crosswind landing ability of the airplane by landing on the north/south runway while the winds were 25 knots straight out of the east. Then I saw the passage that affirmed that, yes, you could land the ’Coupe at up to twice the normal speed, no problem—as long as you kept forward pressure on the yoke, lest you inadvertently lift off. By cross referencing the AC No. 3 Comments Pilot Bob says: February 19, 2009 at 10:59 am WOW! Title: Microsoft Word - Ercoupe 415C Operator Handbook.doc Author: lda9023 Created Date: 5/22/2008 11:25:00 AM Josef landed first, then it was my turn. Ercoupe’s type certificate was sold to Univair Aircraft Corporation of Aurora, Colorado in October, 1974 and remains with Univair. May 15, 2020 - Explore Browndwarf's board "Ercoupe" on Pinterest. Instead of becoming everyman's aircraft it became somewhat of a flying curiosity, even though a substantial number were built after the war. Ercoupe Attracts Windy and/or Wet Weather. The rudders also have very limited throw. Then I bought a 7KCAB Citabria. to the TCM No. This airplane is certificated in the normal category. I don't care for the R-912 that much, but the light weigh and low fuel burn would be nice in a kit Ercoupe. I stated: Don’t want to get into the “changes” and challenges of going from the C-172 in which I was re-learning how to fly – to doing my BFR “stuff” in my newly purchased Ercoupe. See more ideas about vintage aircraft, aircraft, aviation. Back in the day as in 1939 the Ercoupe was designed to be exceptionally safe by making it resistant to stalls and spins. Remember, the rudders on the ercoupe are only sized to counteract adverse yaw and only one of them moves at a time. My experience was that, at landing speed, the rudders did not have enough authority to correct for any decent crosswind anyway. That was a lot of ‘coupes! I positioned myself above the runway. One member expressed his Biggest Landing Challenge as not always landing on the centerline of a runway. One minute 58 seconds later, the ship was at an altitude of 1000feet, its climb averaging out at 500fpm at 65 mph at 2175 rpm. The Ercoupe's landing gear is the stoutest I've ever seen -- it has to be, to land crabbed (no rudders). Our Ercoupe's nosewheel was similar in size to our mains. We got to Martin State and … When I first got my PPL, I knew I was a little weak in crosswind landings. All in all, the subject is overworked. The Ercoupe has had its full share of this as far as cross wind landings go. Before climbing into the Ercoupe, it was necessary to lower the two side panels which, when closed, meet at the very top of the cabin. ... low-wing, single-engine airplane, equipped with fixed tricycle landing gear. Re: B-52 Crosswind Landing Not the best backcountry airplane, but not so bad either, the Ercoupe was one of the cheapest manufactured airplanes for years. Ercoupe’s trailing link main gear is up to repeated such landings and most agreed even a 25-knot sharp crosswind was not a problem. But this is a first attempt and I used a cheap Flip Video… I did some restoration work on an Ercoupe years ago. Crosswind Landing the Ercoupe at Harford County Airport. I read the crosswind landing technique, and the paragraphs that advised 75 mph for liftoff and climb, and 60 to 70 mph for an approach speed. When my hard drive crashed awhile back, I lost my access to the Ercoupe crosswind landing video. This airplane is certificated in the normal category. Good the idea may have been, but it limited the aircrafts crosswind landing abilities to a large extent. Ercoupe History. First there’s the taxi, which means you make turns using the control yoke, like a car—an intentional design element meant to ease the learning curve from car to Ercoupe. The Ercoupe’s crosswind landings are engineering-based! But the funny part is that many of us already have to look back to some crosswind landing in an Ercoupe to find the one we made with the most crosswind! Keep in mind that this is with NO RUDDER PEDALS. Ercoupe Owners Club for owners of Ercoupes, Forneys, Alons and Mooney M10's All Ercoups steer on the ground with the control wheel, even with rudder peddals. I also mentioned that the odd configuration could cause trouble in a crosswind landing where rudder authority is critical, but reader (and Ercoupe owner) Rich Green wrote in to disagree: An Ercoupe is supposed to have a demonstrated crosswind component of 25 knots. FSX – ERCO 415 Ercoupe. However, good airmanship. Talk about x-wind fears! If you really want to try, my dad watched someone do 2 loops in an Ercoupe back in the 1950's, then crashed on landing because he was drunk. Fred Weick, owner of the patent on the tricycle landing gear and later Chief of Design at Piper, carefully developed and extensively researched landing with the tricycle gear. One comments on the Ercoupe only with extreme caution, ... you will join the ranks of the embarrassed who have departed the upwind side of a runway while negotiating a crosswind in an Ercoupe. An ercoupe pilot encountered a crosswind on landing and departed the runway at jxn. Crosswind Landing the Ercoupe at Harford County Airport OK, flying the Ercoupe on a windy day is easy but getting the video “right” was not. Well, I can relate to that, so I joined in the discussion. Even fewer are aware that its design means it can handle a crosswind of double the velocity that can be dealt with by almost any other airplane. in the Aircraft Specification No. 1. It was first manufactured by the Engineering and Research Corporation (ERCO) shortly before World War II; several other manufacturers continued its production after the war.The final model, the Mooney M-10, first flew in 1968 and the last model year was 1970. This was the first production tricycle aircraft and was designed by Fred Weick.Fred is famous for many things, including the NACA cowling and the standard "takeoff/landing over a 50-foot obstacle" specification. To facilitate crosswind landings without rudder pedals, a trailing-link landing gear system was incorporated. The aircraft damaged the left wing leading edge on a runway light and was not inspected by a … One comments on the Ercoupe only with extreme caution, ... you will join the ranks of the embarrassed who have departed the upwind side of a runway while negotiating a crosswind in an Ercoupe. Current Configuration (Model 415-C) (Model 415-E) Engine Continental C-75, 75 hp Continental C-90, 90 hp Propeller Sensenich 2-blade, McCauley 2-blade, The idea to this collection of articles was born when Al made a detailed description of the replacement of a bottom skin on the Ercoupers tech list.To avoid losing this information in an ever growing pile of messages from us Coupers, I decided to … For a kit Ercoupe, it should have rudder pedals with the nose wheel hooked to he rudder pedals and not the ailerons. Ralph wrote: I chanced upon the Ercoupe.com web site and there on the home page was your 2679H. 2. I applaud you for your judgment on landing at another airport with more favorable wind conditions. That video (and listening to ATC) gave me goosebumps, brought me back to … TAKE-OFF in the Club-Air was accomplished in 12 seconds from a standing start and crosswind. This was designed by several engineers at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) in response to a Bureau of Air Commerce design competition during the mid 1930s for an easy-to-fly, safe airplane. ERCO stands for "Engineering Research Corporation" whose first product was the Ercoupe. No way was that landing hard enough to break the nosegear. Welcome to the Ercoupers repair pages. ... low-wing, single-engine airplane, equipped with fixed tricycle landing gear. Approach-and-landing Accident Reduction FLIGHT SAFETY FOUNDATION • FLIGHT SAFETY DIGEST • AUGUST–NOVEMBER 2000 189 FSF ALAR Briefing Note 8.7 — Crosswind Landings Operations in crosswind conditions require adherence to applicable limitations or recommended maximum crosswinds, and recommended operational and handling techniques, Since it can't be sideslipped, to accommodate crosswind landings, the main landing gear has a very long stroke so a wing tip won't drag on the ground. This one appears to be significantly smaller. The Ercoupe has been the subject of production runs by several aircraft manufacturing companies. But the airplane racked up a number of firsts, including being the first successful production GA airplane that had a nosewheel, plus a fully cowled engine.