Golden State Ercoupe Owners Club, Region 7, California
FUN STUFF
News of interest & fun stuff;
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My Favorite Ercoupe
>This is worth a good close look from the technical members of the group. This is courtesy of From Dan Caliendo, William Baynes, and Ed Burkhead on the Tech list; "Bill Bayne brought this to my attention and I’ve been reading through it this evening. It looks really good if I’m reading it correctly. What do you guys and gals think?" Ed http://www.faa.gov/aircraft/draft_docs/media/DraftAC23-27.pdf
>For those who have
not see it before, this is a very nice photo presentation of a vintage J-3 Cub
flying from Corona CA to Lock Haven PA, then on to Oshkosh before returning to
CA.
http://www.vintageflying.com/page2.html
Linda Abram's flight into LAX in her Ercoupe SkySprite was
published in the 99's newsletter;
Here's a
link to the magazine, and part way down it there's a place to click to download
a pdf of the entire issue. My LAX story is on pp. 12-15. Most of the
fabulous photos were taken by Walt Wasowski. Linda
http://www.ninety-nines.org/99news.html
From the Ercoupe Fly-In list, courtesy of John Craparo;
I had some business last week in Milan, Italy. Because I had a little extra time between Milan and my next destination in Asia, I decide to take a day trip up to Lake Como... only 20 minutes by train out of Milan. I had always heard it is magnificent, so why not a $15 train ride to check it out.
Well, it was great. In fact it was made better by an unexpected side excursion. When my buddy and I got off the train in Como, I saw a Lake Amphibian taking off from behind a stand of trees. I said to Anthony that we needed to figure out if that was operating from the lake (water was not in view from station).
As we got down to town, we figured out where the plane originated. It was the Aero Club Como on the edge of the lake. A pretty historic place and the only seaplane base in Italy and largest in Europe. To make a long story short, I went over to the hangar and struck up a conversation. Within 10 minutes one of the pilots said, hey come with me and let's go for a tour... I even got to be the sole manipulator of the controls for 20 minutes... right to final in fact, but our host did the landing... Cool on many levels.
1. No idea that the
club existed
2. Beautiful place
3. Pilots all over the world seem to have the same open arms and hearts for
fellow flyers
4. We got to go for a ride
5. First time for me in a pontoon equipped plane (Cessna 172 on floats)
6. All the begging in the world to convince our host to take some money or go to
lunch was of no avail... he merely said, make sure you get your face back here
soon to fly again... and get a rating! Maybe an LSA Mermaid or Lockwood is
in the future?
7. Club manager gave me one of every post card they had in stock (probably 15
with old and new scenes of the club)6. Priceless!
I can go on and on...
Here are two links
to the flight... Part 2 is where my new friend through up his hands and passed
me control of the ship.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3j7z8pVHqo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cwp8e6RtHJo
Sun-n-Fun Report from Ercoupe Fly-In list;
My biggest concern about the Fly-in was conforming to the extensive arrival NOTAM published for the event but it turned out to not be a concern at all. The Arrival controllers do most of the work and all of the radio calls. All you have to do is listen and follow instructions.
For example, the arrival procedure stipulates that you fly over the power plant and Lake Parker on a westbound heading. They have mobile aircraft controller trailers at the power plant and they start talking to you as you approach the plant. In my case it was, "Low wing aircraft over the power plant rock your wings". So I did.
"Low wing proceed straight ahead to Interstate 4 follow that to the two water towers then turn south between them to the airport". So I did.
Approaching the downwind on a southerly heading, tower called and said, "Low wing turn downwind". So I did. Then, "Low wing turn base, cleared to land do not acknowledge". So I did.
After clearing the runway, first marshaller had a paddle that said "Sign?" because you are supposed to have a sign indicating where you want to park. Mine was Vintage Aircraft or VAC and he waved me through to the next guy. After a couple of turns, you pick up a motorcycle escort the rest of the way to parking. Neat.
Turns out, I was the only one in the pattern at the time, following by a long way a couple of Piper Cubs, because a cold front was to the north of the field stopping most of the traffic headed south. No wonder it was easy.
Then the rains came. Sunday and all day Monday. A lot of people were camping in the middle of a temporary lake and found out real quick if their camping spot was low ground. You can see the results of the rain on YouTube and ironically, it seemed only the seaplanes were parked on high ground.
One Piper Twin Comanche from Canada got stuck trying to taxi outside the orange cones laid out by the ground handlers. A Mooney had a prop strike while trying to taxi through some mud and the nose gear tire dug in. I heard that the marshaller kept motioning him ahead so he kept adding power until the prop hit the mud. Bent the prop, got a sudden stop on his engine and there was mud everywhere on that airplane.
The rest of the week was dry and severe clear and by Thursday the place was really mobbed. Van had two RV-12's (the new Ercoupe if you will) down there and the kits went on sale on Tuesday at 8:00 am. So I bought one. Then I took a ride in a P-51 and worked every day part time as a volunteer in the camping registration booth so I got to meet a lot of people.
The EOC had a dinner at Sam Seltzer's Steakhouse on Thursday and it was well attended. The steak and the beer were fantastic after eating nothing but "circus food" the days prior. Had an auction and raised money for the Fred E. Weick education fund so that was good.
So much for now. Departure narrative is next in a couple of days. Bart
Sun-n-Fun Departure (Ercoupe Fly-In list courtesy of Bart);
I mentioned in a previous note describing arrival procedures at Sun-n-Fun that I would also describe the departure out of there. My reasoning is there may be some people who do not attend this event and Oshkosh because they are intimidated by what seem to be complex procedures. Not so. Everything is predicated on Keeping It Simple and safe.
The Departures on Friday were to commence at 5:30 PM after the Air Show. During the air show the field is closed and there is a red flag flying above the control tower, a procedure I might add that dates way back probably into the 40's or 50's or earlier.
Well, the
Thunderbirds were late, screwed up there grand finale bomburst so went back to
try it again and screwed it up even worse (I am a critical retired Air Force
pilot so I can say these things). The Marines had to have a go at showing
their stuff so they got an F-18 and a WWII Corsair airborne to fly some
formation over the field and
they made a couple of passes over the field in formation. Then another
couple of passes. Then another. Each time they went a few miles away
from the field to line up there next pass and 5:30 came and went, then 6:00 and
finally about 6:15 the Marines landed and the red flag came down.
It was now "gentleman, start your engines" time.
On engine start, one of the marshallers rode his 4 wheeler over to your position to escort you from the grass parking area to a taxiway where you fell in line, a long, long line of other airplanes taxiing for takeoff.
Everyone was on a published ground control frequency but all control was exercised by ground marshallers with signs. Guys on motorcycles rode on the side for wingtip clearance and by this time, you were going to take off if you wanted to or not. I had to get back down to Naples before sunset flying LSA rules so I was really getting antsy about taking off and arriving before sunset.
Approaching the active parallel runways, a big sign instructed us to change from the taxi frequency to tower frequency. You initiated no calls during taxi or takeoff, only listened and followed instructions using Mafia radio rules, i.e., "Everybody a shut up". Some aircraft were directed to cross the inside runway to the outside runway so 5 of us booked on across. The controllers were standing on the back of flat-bed trailers with their radios and would clear about 6 airplanes on the runway at a time then pulse them off one at a time.
Now, I had spent a lot of time polishing my coupe before I went up but it was nowhere near a pretty as Syd's coupe. However, when it was my turn my clearance went like this. "The CHROME aircoupe is cleared for takeoff". Yay! It was a straight out departure then turn on course and I made it home with 10 minutes to spare.
Moral to the story is don't be afraid to go to these events because everything runs smoothly and if you screw up, you won't be the only one to do so, and as long as no one crashes, nobody really cares. Bart
Explanation about "pulsing".
The controller would clear airplanes on to the runway by saying something like,
"Lancair, taxi onto the runway. Stay on the left side and taxi down about
300 ft. Waco biplane, taxi on to the runway and stay on the right side.
Ercoupe, taxi on the runway and taxi up behind the Lancair. Lancair you
are cleared for takeoff" and so on. As soon as one aircraft was
airborne, the next one was cleared, or "pulsed" off.
One point is that you have to monitor your takeoff track so you don't drift over to the extended centerline of the other parallel runway on climb out, but if someone is overtaking you, they can see you ahead of them and get separation. I really think that at these events, everyone is scared just enough so they are super-alert and big problems are therefore avoided. A little bit of being scared is a good thing, you know. If you are not, you may not understand the problem. Bart
Just for fun cross country 'Air Race' (RV's);
Subject:
[SoCAL-RVlist] Sharpie 500 Race RESULTS
Results & rankings are posted on the site: (bottom of the page)
http://rvproject.com/race.html
Should we have something similar for Ercoupes ???
I just uploaded my video of the Sharpie 500 race last weekend.
It's 15x normal
speed (so that you don't fall asleep). Get "Mach 4" here:
http://www.thedukes.org/rv/video.html
Enjoy,-Groucho
For those who may be interested in watching some Aerobatic Competition;
here are the dates
for the California IAC contests in '08.
June 5-7 Paso Robles (box is over the field)
Aug 29-31 Delano (box is E of the runway)
Oct 16-18 Borrego (box is N of the runway)
A great video from James Brennan on the Ercoupe Tech list about
College Park airport - home of ERCO & many of our Ercoupes;
great little video (part 1 of 3) on College Park from aero-news.net (a lengthy
but interesting daily newsletter, apparently free - yesterday I learned of
Cessna bringing back the 195; there's a lot of stuff they report that is not in
my ballpark, but from time to time, they come in and hit a homer):
http://www.aero-tv.net/
Courtesy of Linda Abrams;
Pilot
thinks he may have shot down Saint-Exupery
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080316/wl_nm/france_saintexupery_dc
These videos are provided courtesy of Ed Kesgen;
The
biggest difference
between men and boys
is not their age,
but the price of their toys.
http://www.snotr.com/video/568
White Cliffs of Dover (Spitfires flying);
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUx3MU9iM6c
SoCal RViator personal aerobatic video by Bryan "Groucho" Duke (download takes about 8 minutes);
I just finished
another aerobatics video, "Acceleroto." Download it here:
http://www.thedukes.org/rv/video.html
Enjoy! -Groucho
Bryan "Groucho" Duke and his wife Tanya also shared this report on the RV list about their flight out to see the Shuttle Mission STS-123, and it's too good not to share, so ENJOY!
There & back again. STS-123 trip report;
I finally finished
my trip report for our recent trip to see the Space
Shuttle launch. It's pretty much a small book worth of reading. If you
print it, you'll end up with over 40 pages Lucky for you, there are
lots of photos. :)
I've divided the trip report up by days. When you get done reading one
web page worth of it, click on the "Next" link at the bottom to
continue the fun! For you non-high-speed internet folks, please be
patient for all the photos to load.
Here's the trip report:
http://www.thedukes.org/rv/sts123.php
Enjoy!
-Groucho
Here's an idea
for those who are fond of our furry four legged friends (Courtesy of Dan
Caliendo on the Ercoupe Fly-In list);
Animal Rescue info; http://pilotsnpaws.org/RescueInfo.html
Tips for flying with dogs;
http://pilotsnpaws.org/Tips%20for%20Flying%20with%20Dogs.doc
Harnesses;
http://www.hunterk9.com/site/870877/product/watso1
Mutt Muffs;
http://www.safeandsoundpets.com/index.html
>>>Poetry in motion
. . . absolutely!
http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=qJU6SWcSxr0
>>> Horsemen
P-51 Acro Team courtesy of Ed Kesgen.
Just beautiful flying ! As Ed Kesgen said; "A virtual aerial ballet
. . . "
http://www.airshowbuzz.com:80/videos/view.php?v=022754bc
>>>Stick with it until the end... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81DK99Kr6vQ
>>>Ercoupe trip to Alaska (good story from 1982); http://ronkilber.tripod.com/alaska/alaska1.htm
>>>Courtesy of Fred
Willson; Subj: Interesting airport
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNFNFZq2BFY&eurl=http://www.ize.hu/index.php?sort=date&p=1
>>>A salute to the
guys in the tower. Talk about EARNING your salary!
“Who is that? And you’re where? And doin’ what? Short of who?”
“You guys should come up here one day.”
http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=SUnVlyyar4M
>>> ... up ...down
... flying around ...
Looping the loop and defying the ground ...
http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=r8lv9mWTqtE
>>>Take-off video
Glen
Davis put this video of a lengthy take-off roll on the Ercoupe Fly-In list, and
says; "It is very, very similar an Ercoupe, on a hot summer day, at gross,
with two aboard." Click on this link to see it.
http://tinyurl.com/yqqbzp
>>>oh, those
russians! always so dramatic . . .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWtdtuspnoM
>>>Courtesy of Wayne DelRossi from the Ercoupe tech list
(unedited);
Aircoupe Stability and Control
It's always good to go flying with a master aviator once in a while. Today I went up with my neighbor, Steve, to do some basic hood work. I haven't maintained my IFR proficiency since I sold my 172 years ago, but I like to think that I can fly instruments well enough to save my butt if I ever mess up bad and get into IFR conditions. So today's mission was to see just how rusty I'd become, and to try to knock some of that rust off. We accomplished that, and I also got to see some textbook stability theory demonstrated that I had never actually seen before.
We started out with me under the hood doing the usual straight and level, standard rate turns, steep turns, climbs, descents, slow flight, stalls, etc. I did well enough on those maneuvers that Steve got bored watching me, so he then gave me a series of instructions that he said was designed to induce a good case of vertigo. He did have me working pretty hard, and I almost got a bit behind the airplane going through all those gyrations, but I never felt like I had any vertigo at all. He did give me a case of vertigo (or was it the bends?), in the RV-6A a while back, but that is a different story altogether.
Next he had me trim the airplane for straight and level flight at 80 MPH. When it was trimmed out and settled down, he told me to let go of the yoke, maintain heading using only rudder, and very, very slowly increase power until we were climbing at 500 fpm. (I'm thinking "Oh great, first I can't see outside the airplane, and now I can't touch the yoke either. Why was it that I wanted to fly with this guy?") It was pretty neat to watch the nose slowly pitch up, with the airspeed staying within a needle width of 80 mph as the power was slowly applied. Slowly adding tiny increments of power increased the rate of climb, but never affected the airspeed. We finally arrived at a 500 fpm rate of climb at exactly 80 mph without ever touching the control wheel or trim knob. Next he had me very, very slowly reduce power until we were at level flight, and then very slowly reduce power further until we were at a 500 fpm rate of descent. All throughout this sequence, the airspeed never moved more than about 2 or 3 mph, and it would settle back on exactly 80 mph with no trim adjustments.
We next did 20 degree banks left and right, level, climbing and descending, at 80 mph, using only the rudder and throttle. In theory, I always knew that an airplane was "supposed" to fly that way, but it was a kick to actually see it happening. When they say there is one given trim setting for one given airspeed, they're not kidding.
Next we got back to straight and level at 80 mph, trimmed to fly hands off, and he had me quickly push the throttle in to almost full power. This time instead of maintaining a constant airspeed, the airspeed increased, the nose went up, as the nose went up, the airspeed decreased, as the airspeed decreased, the pitch angle decreased, and the airspeed increased, and this series of events repeated about three or four times, with less and less deviation in airspeed and pitch angle each time, until the airplane finally settled out at guess what? 80 mph in a nice, straight, wings level, constant pitch angle climb. It was about this time that Steve started muttering "Damn, this airplane flies sweet."
We did the same thing with a large, fast power reduction to the same rpm that gave us straight and level at 80 mph before, and again, the airplane went through 3 or four decreasing oscillations and then flew straight and level at 80 mph. All of this was done without ever touching the yoke or the trim. Then we did the same thing with another quick power reduction, went through 3 or 4 oscillations, and ended up in a nice 500 fpm descent at 80 mph.
I was pretty amazed at how well behaved the airplane was through all of this, and by the time we were done, I was starting to think that you really don't need a control yoke in an airplane at all, unless you want to land or something! Steve commented two or three times how well behaved and how stable the airplane was. I could tell that he was really impressed with how it behaved. Seeing as he was an instructor pilot in the USAF, has lots of hours in F-15's, A-10's, Hawker jets, Delta jets and his RV-6A, I guess I'll take his word for it that the Aircoupe must be a pretty well behaved airplane.
So just to drive the point home, on the way back to the airfield, I'm still under the hood, we're cruising at about 110 mph, and Steve says "OK, descend and maintain 1800 feet at 110 mph, and if you reach for the trim knob I'm going to break your arm."
OK, I got it. Power coming back. One airspeed, one trim setting! Too much fun!
Best Regards, Wayne
DelRossi, Alon N5618F, Hours logged since restoration: 359.2
"Nobody has ever scientifically proven that life is supposed to be serious."
>>>Please join and support our National Club organization (The Ercoupe Owner Club or EOC, based back in NC). They really help us all in many ways and are well worth the VERY modest annual fee ($30). To join up please either contact Carolyn Cardin @ coupecaper@aol.com OR (news flash!!!) the Ercoupe Owners Club is now accepting credit cards for memberships and renewals on their web site @ http://www.ercoupe.org/ & http://www.ercoupe.org/Pay%20Pal.htm
As you already know, my term as EOC Region 7 Director ended 11/06, and there is an immediate opportunity for an enthusiastic EOC Region 7 member to assume the role of Director for the California wing of the Ercoupe Owners Club! It's time for someone with new ideas to take the reins. Please let us know if you are interested in nomination for the 2008 / 2009 Region 7 Director. Please contact Skip Carden @ coupeclub@aol.com . Feel free to contact me directly if you have any questions about the Region 7 Director role. d.hall@cox.net
Here's a potential regulatory enhancement for Sport Pilot / LSA suggested by Ed Burkhead that would likely benefit the EOC & Ercoupers, as well as potential Sport Pilots;
"What I’d like to
do would be to get an official document from the FAA saying that any aircraft
whose airworthiness certificate never allowed a gross weight
higher than 1320 lb. (600 Kg.) is eligible as an LSA and that no other documents
override this. This will bring in a bunch of Coupes for which people never
changed the airworthiness certificate.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
I’ve added a new thought. I still think the FAA will not, for anything, change the gross weight limit. But, in addition to what I’ve written above, I’d suggest we also try for a change in the actual regulation stating that:
Whereas a certificated airplane (note that word is NOT “certified”) is fully regulated in its structure, performance, maintenance and condition. If it is eligible under its type certificate at a gross weight not exceeding 1320 lb. (600 Kg.), it may revert to that model and gross weight limit even if it has, at some time previously, been certificated at a higher gross weight.
Note that this may get through the Feds. It is still a regulation change but it’s small enough, is tightly restricted by the word certificated, and is loosening the regulation, not tightening it. They may be able to do the change without an NPRM like they did with the repositionable landing gear on the amphibians.
Also, this might be claimed to affect a similar number of planes to the amphibians for whom they have made a similar small regulation change.
The downside is that while the amphibian change fosters new manufacturing, our change does not."
Ed suggested that the Sport Pilot authority office, AFS-610 would probably be the place that would have to work on it @ http://tinyurl.com/bnjug Mark Hardin suggested that the VAA may be of some assistance too. Does anyone have experience working with the FAA and care to comment and / or help out to give this one a try???
>>>Flying the Ercoupe is an exercise in 'grin control'.
How to Marshall
an aircraft (humorous & entertaining)
From Glen Davis on Ercoupe Fly-In list;
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Vz7FI_S0_NE
Courtesy of Linda Abrams;
"...with enough
bad decision making, one can overcome any skill level."
- Bruce Landsberg, AOPA Air Safety Fndn.,
in the Jan. '08 AOPA magazine.
Shared
by Wayne Woollard (photo of Vitas & his Ercoupe are attached);
I am forwarding the letter forwarded to me concerning the death recently of
Vitas Lapenas, the Lithuanian pilot who we gave my Ercoupe to in 1992.
Vitas was able to fly again in his Ercoupe and went on to return to
Aerobatic competition through the Ercoupe gift. Vitas also became a
member of the Lithuanian Parliament.
The letter;
The aerobatic world suffered a big loss yesterday, and Vicki asked me to
pass on the sad news. Vytas Lapenas was killed in a gyroplane accident
in Lithuania. I don't know any details from the crash.
I was fortunate to get to train some this summer with Vytas prior to the
World Championships in Spain. He was the coach of the Spanish
Aerobatic Team, and since I flew a plane owned by Jorge Alonso, member of
the Spanish Team, Vytas offered me coaching as well during our practice
before the contest. He was so generous with his time, and I will
forever be grateful.
A little about Vytas (forgive me if any of this information is off since I'm
trying to translate it from Spanish):
He began flying at the age of 17. At 22 he became the Lithuanian
Aerobatic Champion. At 27, he became the Russian National Champion.
In September 1989, he was involved in a crash in a Yak 55M, resulting in the
loss of his leg and severe burns over half his body. Vytas had to
relearn to walk, drive, etc., but most importantly fly. In 1990, Ramon
Alonso asked Vytas to come to Spain to coach him. Vytas quickly
learned Spanish, and then began coaching Ramon and eventually the Spanish
Aerobatic Team. Vytas created a flight school, continued instructing
aerobatics and coaching from the ground. In the following years Vytas
returned to competition and air show flying, even appearing at Farnborough.
I hope I can speak on behalf of the IAC and the US Aerobatic Team to express
our sincere condolences to Vytas' family, friends, and the Spanish Aerobatic
Team for their loss. The Spanish Team has set up an email address for
anyone who would like to send condolences or any fond memories about Vytas.
They'll be collecting these and putting them into a book for Vytas' family.
The address is:
graciasvytas@copatriangular.com
Allyson Parker-Lauck
Photo of Vita and his then brand new Ercoupe (courtesy of Wayne Woollard)
From Marty Duke Ercoupe N10743 @ KRT, on the Ercoupe list;
A pretty neat
two part movie made by Arthur Godfrey in the early 50’s that I thought some
of you might enjoy. Midway through part two, he shuts down three of
the four engines on the Super Constellation to show how safe it is.
After getting it up to altitude, he fires up a Chesterfield! (He later
had a lung removed due to lung cancer). It starts off with him interviewing,
Eddie Rickenbacker, the CEO of Eastern at the time.
Part 1:
http://www.archive.org/details/Flyingwi1953
Part 2:
http://www.archive.org/details/Flyingwi1953_2
Another short documentary on flying in the 50's. It has a nice section on learning to fly (get your private for only $500 back then). I liked the B26 Luxury Business Conversion too.http://www.archive.org/details/FlyingBu1953
***Hartmut Beil is a former SoCal Ercouper now in Germany (and on our email list). - Dan H.
http://jimsladesairlines.com/beil.html
Check these out (courtesy of Ginette);
Airshow photos;
http://www.richard-seaman.com/Aircraft/AirShows/Midland2007/Highlights/index.html
Humor; With the success of low-cost airlines, many charge for usually free services. Cheapo Airlines goes one (many!) step further:
I think my husband has a mistress
I think
my husband has a mistress
I've suspected for a time
I think I used to know her
When I was younger, in my prime
I can just picture her perfection
Not a blemish, not a flaw
Young and peppy and adventurous
Making me feel old and blah
I can tell when he's been with her
By the way he smells when he comes home
His clothes a little wrinkled
His hair could use a comb
I can tell that he's been with her
Because he has a special glow
She makes him feel so free
Like there's nowhere they can't go
He doesn't even lie to me
When he wants her to be near
He just takes off and goes to her
When skies are blue and clear
She can make him walk on air
And go around and down and through
She can make his world go upside down
Something I can't do
My husband has a mistress
And not my beauty or my brain
Can compete with her at all
Because his mistress is his plane
--Jennifer Checkoway
***Linda Abrams posted this on the Ercoupe Tech list about her flight to LAX;
The Rules: Some of you may remember a few months back, where one
of our number posted some correspondence with Joe Norris at EAA, in which
Joe concluded that licensed Private Pilots flying under Sport Pilot
rules ("PPouSP") were barred from flying into the list of certain (big, busy)
Class B airports that appears in 14 CFR part 91, appendix D, section 4.
I have been researching this quietly behind the scenes (for reasons that appear
below), and have now received 3 written opinions to the contrary from (1) AOPA's
Aviation Dept., (2) AOPA Legal Counsel, Ron Golden of the John Yodice law firm
that advises AOPA, and (3) Jon Thornburgh, an older, well-respected CFI who was
involved in the creation of the Sport Pilot classification. The bottom
line on all 3 of those opinions is that IT IS LEGAL for one who holds a
Private Pilot Certificate and flies using a driver's license medical to fly (a)
into Class B in general, and (b) specifically including the list of selected big
Class B airports that appears in Appendix D.
I gave copies of all that correspondence to Ed B to hold. Ed:
you can post/release/copy them now for folks, as you think suitable.
As a precaution, I also phoned the FSDO at LAX and mailed a packet containing
copies of all 3 letters above to the inspector there, with a cover letter asking
that IF he *disagrees* with the conclusions reached by those 3 letters, please
advise me by Nov. 21, 2007. He did not reply. In the absence of a
clear prohibition, I was content therefore to rely on the legal opinions of
AOPA, etc.. Most significant to me was the one from Ron Golden that delved
into the legislative intent (as shown in the Federal Register) and concluded the
significant difference here was the *level of training* that
PP-certificate-holders get...and that PP training evidenced by the PP
certificate remains present whether one holds a 3d class medical or flies with a
driver's license medical.
Now, please, don't flame me on this research! I am just sharing what I
learned, in case it helps anyone else: I don't want to debate the logic of
the law (we all know law isn't necessarily logical), nor what the law ought to
be, nor debate anything at all. The statutory wording on this subject isn't the
clearest the world has ever seen. I respect Joe Norris highly, I just agree
with the 3 letters above that his conclusion is not the correct one in this
instance.
The Experience: This all came about because I was approached a couple of
months ago, by an acquaintance who works at the FedEx facility at LAX, who
asked if I would be willing to bring my Ercoupe to display at a 1940s-themed
Family Day, to be held at the FedEx Maintenance Hangar at LAX on Dec. 1.
Fly my 'lil ol' Ercoupe into LAX?!?! Whoa, that would be cool!
Sure!!!
Initially, I was told there would also be 3 planes from the Museum at Torrance
(KTOA, where my 'Coupe is, too) flying in together.
Step 1 was the research above, since I hold a PP certificate, and fly with a
driver's license medical. I needed to know I would be legal.
Then there were 2 conference calls during the week before the event, set up by
the FedEx folks, between the LAX Tower and "all the pilots." Both calls
ended up being just me and a very-experienced-sounding T-6 pilot, conferenced-in
with ATC staff from both LAX & TOA, plus 2 FedEx reps. Everyone was very
nice, helpful & professional.
LAX is only a 15 min. flight from TOA: we were to be assigned special squawk
codes, instructed to fly straight up Hawthorne Blvd. at 1500', report in at the
Hawthorne & 405 Fwy. intersection, and the TOA Tower would already have alerted
LAX as soon as we were wheels-up that we were on the way, so they'd put us
directly onto a left base leg for Rwy.25L or 25R. The big challenge of the whole
project was when & how LAX could get us sequenced in for landing, among all the
big scheduled airliners stacked up for straight-in finals, and then taxi all
across LAX, without getting turned into a crumpled ball of tinfoil by someone's
jet wash! After considering their schedules, and our airspeeds, the LAX
Tower Procedures Supervisor & his colleagues came back to us with two windows of
opportunity when they said things were less-busy than usual: Plan A was for 2:30
p.m. Friday, Nov. 30, and Plan B was 8 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 1. We
opted to try for Plan A (since it was the one that didn't require getting up at
5 a.m., and also gave us a second shot still left if Plan A had to get
scrubbed). The forecast for Friday was "light showers," but we thought
we'd wait and see.
Overnight Thursday, it started pouring -- the very first rain of a very dry L.A.
winter. Friday morning it was still pouring. We watched hopefully
all the way up until 1 p.m, then regretfully scrubbed Plan A. Doubly
regretful, because the T-6 pilot wasn't available beyond Friday. So now it was
down to just me and my 'Coupe, coming in alone. (There was also a Mustang
expected at some point from the Museum, but with his greater speed they just
told him to call L.A. Center and come in with the regular traffic.)
Thankfully, my CFI, Walt -- despite 30+ yrs of flying -- had never landed at LAX
himself, so he opted to drive all the way in from Fontana to be my passenger for
this run, just for fun & to take photos. That I have any pictures of this
adventure at all is thanks to Walt: I couldn't find my camera that
morning, and wouldn't have had time or attention to use it if I had! He
was also very helpful writing down frequency changes, when LAX Ground seemed to
give frequency changes every 100 yards or so of taxiing!
The departure time originally proposed by LAX for Plan B was 7 a.m. Saturday,
but TOA has a weekend curfew that prohibits departures before 8 a.m. --
and 8 a.m. was quite bad enough, thank you! I am not at all a morning
person, but had little trouble jumping up when the alarm went off at 5 a.m. on
Saturday. It was pretty funny, when I telephoned for the de rigueur wx
briefing, to hear a surprised FSS briefer ask, "Does LAX allow little planes
like you to land there?!?"
The TOA Tower supervisor had given me a back-line phone # to "the cab", and I
called-in as planned at 6:50 a.m., before they opened, to check local weather
and get a final "go." She laughingly said she'd been expecting my call and
almost answered her phone, "Good morning, Linda!" Yes: we were Go
for the LAX flight. I rushed out, met Walt at TOA and did pre-flight.
It was unusually cold for So. Cal. (~42 degrees), so just warming up the engine,
taxiing & doing run-up took 15 min.; our time window became Go Now.
We were wheels-up at 8:15 a.m., and approved for a cross-wind departure,
northbound along Hawthorne Blvd. I have to admit, it felt pretty cool to
hear, "Frequency change to LAX approved!" It was a beautifully clear, crisp L.A.
morning.
Very quickly we were reporting in over Hawthorne Bl. & the 405 Fwy. Then
instead of the expected square base-leg entry, LAX ATC had us bend the path of
base leg outward for a couple minutes to slow us while an Airbus came in on
final. Then she instructed us to "point toward the numbers NOW, cleared to
land 25L, there's another Airbus 10 min. behind" and come in on what was an
interesting 45-degr. final...I rather liked that, it kept us out of anyone's jet
wash. Before I even touched down, she was saying, "Ercoupe keep your speed up,
and exit to the right as soon after the construction area as you can clear the
runway."
So I landed fast, stayed fast, and did as she said.
(Needless to say, their runways are huge.) While controlling a
moving-faster-than-normal Ercoupe, I was really glad of Walt's presence writing
down all the progressive taxi instructions and rapid frequency changes suddenly
coming at us.
Our landing point was in the southeast corner of LAX; our destination,
the FedEx Maintenance Hangar,
was almost in the northwest corner. They crossed us from the South
complex to the North complex via Quebec (locals call it the "50 yard
line," bisecting LAX). Turning into that "alley," which is marked on
the chart as being not visible from the Tower, a huge jumbo jet loomed ahead,
apparently holding short right where we were to go & hold short (at Delta).
I couldn't tell if its engines were on or not, and I wasn't going to pull up
close behind to find out! After a while of them not moving and us not
moving, Ground called again repeating, "taxi north on Quebec & hold short at
Delta," with that where-are-you-lost-at sound in her voice. Just then the
jumbo jet started to turn out of our way, so we acknowledged and were able
to follow.
When our yellow taxi line finally ran out at the apron of the FedEx ramp area, I
found that area was so huge we could easily have landed right in their front
yard, without benefit of runway. Pulling up to a hangar that looked like
it could hold the Taj Mahal with room to spare, the Sky Sprite (now feeling the
approximate size of a thimble) was met & welcomed by a pit crew of a half-dozen
guys.
I can't say enough about FedEx's great hospitality, and how nice everyone was to us. From bullet points about the Ercoupe that
I'd sent, their graphics guy had made up a lovely large poster and gave it to me
to keep; when I needed something to hang that from the prop, another man took it
and came back with super-wide adhesive Velcro strapping (and pressed some extra
into my hand "for next time"); others showed us around, stopped by every so
often to see if I needed anything, gave us tours of their MD-11 & Airbus &
Cessna 206 planes ingeniously fitted out for cargo handling, gave us handfuls
of earplugs, and sent engineers over to see if they had any Dzus fittings to
replace the one I'm currently missing. (He didn't, but a few minutes later
someone else pressed a handful of various washers & screws at me, because the
front two on my cowling don't match each other and he thought they should!)
The employee families that visited were also very nice, enthusiastic about the
"cute little plane," and I met some interesting folks, including my liaison's
wife, who had been an ATP & CFI in Canada. Although the Mustang (which I'd
heard had mechanical trouble at TOA, but finally pulled in ~1 hour after the
event began) was roped-off, I opted to let the kids touch my 'Coupe, and helped
a few to stand on the wing walk. This only backfired once, when I turned
around to answer an adult's question and turned back to find two very
little kids sitting in my cockpit! Thereafter, the FedEx folks
immediately made me "Please Don't Get In" signs to post, and sent someone over
to help me keep an eye out.
That extra staffer proved very valuable when the event closed at 2 p.m., and the
public was hustled out one side of the building, and I looked out of the other
side and saw our infamous coastal marine layer of clouds starting to come in.
He said he was experienced at ground handling and he and 2 friends got us moved
out and first-in-line to leave as soon as the temporary barrier fence was
removed.
Two unexpected problems then arose: (1) Security forbade us to leave until
"the canine sniffing units" came (huh? no one had sniffed us on arrival!).
I tried to explain that if I didn't get going right now, I could miss ATC's
departure window for us, and/or be unable to land at TOA due to low marine layer
ceilings, and they'd have me for unscheduled overnight company...but he was
unmoved. When the van with the "canine sniffers" came, a large puppy-ish
dog bounded out, we had to get out of the plane and step away from it, and he
and his handler circled the plane and sniffed at it before allowing us to
get back in and depart.
Problem (2): the starter wouldn't start. This had also happened
a month ago, the diagnosis had been "battery," and I'd gone to some lengths to
get the battery replaced before the LAX adventure. But here it was again,
even with a new battery. Fortunately, that watchful extra staffer offered
to hand prop it to get us going, and -- even more fortunately -- knew what he
was doing.
Clearance Delivery gave us a nice, expeditious departure route, and we taxied
out to line up for take-off, Rwy. 24L...right behind a "Lufthansa Heavy!"
I have no experience being around the exterior of jets, so you can bet I gave
Lufthansa Heavy about a 3-city-block separation.
Shortly after takeoff, ATC had us "turn left to join the shoreline" and that
turn brought us right over the top of LAX at just a few hundred feet, with the
ocean beyond -- a pretty view and great photo
op. The flight home to TOA was all-too-short again, and I got the plane
down before the clouds closed in....but I don't think I've come down yet. :D
A great flying experience and a grand adventure! Not something one gets to log
every day.
I'll try to attach a couple of Walt's photos.
Linda, N3437H (Sky Sprite), 1946 415-C, L.A.
***Now Available; The official Ercoupe Owners Club T-shirt. Specify M, L, XL or XXL. Only $12 each which includes shipping and handling plus a $2 donation to the Fred E. Weick Scholarship Fund. Here’s a link to the picture of the new Official Ercoupe Owners Club T-Shirt: http://edburkhead.com/Ercoupe/EOC_T-SHIRT.jpg
Send
your order to:
Syd Cohen
705 Kent Street
Wausau, WI 54403
Checks payable to Syd Cohen
Questions?
sydlois@charter.net
Or 715-573-7063
>From EAA Chapter One @ Flabob Airport in Riverside; John Lyon just
uploaded to Youtube some footage of an early
Chapter One flyin (50 years ago?);
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gC3qLSTEPyg
>Gang, This youtube video is all about the low flying, as many of
us do in our Coupes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4vrV-pbJ8g
Glen
>Courtesy of Jim Lozano; 'Thought you'd enjoy this, especially the
video.'
http://www.aopa.org/members/files/pilot/2009/april/backcountry0904.html?WT.mc_id=ebrief
(Nice mountain flying video - check it out.)
>Link to some nice photos @ McMinnville 2007 (Dan in 68H, & Linda
in 37H);
http://www.flickr.com/photos/planephotoman/1431977462/in/photostream/
>Here's a link to some great pictures, & a comic, both courtesy of
Curtis Smith, the Region 8 Director;
http://www.vg-photo.com/airshow.html
>Marty Duke from the Fly-In list posted this video link taken in
SoCal in the mid-50's. Does anyone out there recognize this Ercoupe
Video or the people in it????
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOCInFH2i_Q
I did definitely recognize Whiteman (I took my pvt checkride there in 1955) the old San Fernando airport. I think the desert scenes are either El Mirage or Rosamond Dry Lake. Of course who could miss Van Nuys. The Air Guard shared the field and we all took our pictures sitting in the P-51s. It was kind of like a time machine---all those clean cut young kids-- I went the CAP Cadet route I never heard about the Air Scouts. Cheers: Paul, 1431A, KSDM
>I have a nice video of the Ercoupe Arrivals at Oshkosh 2008. Here is the link: http://www.vimeo.com/3256913 Jose Gibert
>Courtesy of Sean Farrell (film of Wright Bothers flying in Europe) http://www.europafilmtreasures.eu/PY/322/see-the-film-wilbur_wright_and_his_flying_machine%27
>The SR-71 Video for Pilots; http://www.greatdanepromilitary.com/SR-71/index.htm
>Here's a link to an old video featuring the Blue Angels and the Van Halen tune "Dreams" (it rocks, 1980's style); http://www.metacafe.com/watch/982143/van_halen_dreams/
>Courtesy of Jim Grimes; "Here's some more info on the
"Miracle on the Hudson." One clip shows the plane's "perfect ditching
attitude" before splashdown. The black boxes seem to prove that the crew
did all the right stuff. They just didn't have enough time to complete the
checklists ... three pages long! There's also a good recipe for goose
stew!
http://avherald.com/h?article=41370ebc/0005
>Garrison Keeler (NPR) wrote a song to Sully & Crew - "Pilot".
Have a listen at;
http://download.publicradio.org/podcast/nflw/2009/01/19/phc_pilot_20090117_128.mp3
>Hey folks, here's some good news to share courtesy of Linda
Abrams... Jessica Cox (AZ) just made the news again this time on CNN (flying
an Ercoupe)!
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2008/12/03/dnt.az.armless.pilot.kvoa?iref=videosearch
>A bit of levity; Airline Pilot: YouTube - Dean Martin & Foster Brooks
>Just for a little fun diversion - try flying the helicopter. read the directions before you begin. Left click the mouse and hold to fly up and release to go down. Have fun & don't forget the sound! http://www.hurtwood.demon.co.uk/Fun/copter.swf
>Courtesy of Ginette: Here's the web site and film trailer for a
documentary film about Pancho Barnes.
Great stuff, be sure to check this out !!!
http://www.panchobarnesfilm.com/
>This from Kim Blackseth in NorCal (APC / Napa);
Group... As most of you know, I've been working on my Private Pilot
license for almost two years. Being a quadriplegic had meant I had a few
extra issues to work out, so its taking a bit longer than the average pilot.
I did a short video a year or so ago and many of you appeared to enjoy it.
I made a second video of my SOLO cross-country and posted it on YouTube.
The link is below...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syxxM487vzQ
I'm pretty much finished with my training and plan to take my check ride on
Dec 12th...Let me know what you think....
Kim Blackseth, ICC, CASp
310 17th St, Oakland, CA 94612, 510-839-1760
Take a 30 minute video tour of a flight from NJ to Wausau, WI, tour all the
Coupes @ the nationals, join the flight on to OSH, then see the Coupes @
OSH.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=HmCB3vWkaZ8
Ercoupes landing @ OSH;
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2855697623687927486&ei=d77ZSJn1HofA-wGVqJGlCw&vt=lf&hl=en
You just have to listen to this video (6 minutes),. Comedian Bill
Engvall takes a ride with the USAF Thunderbirds.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=idPaefrFio8
A bit of now almost forgotten aviation history and some GREAT stuff
!!!!!!!!!
Even if you've heard or know of Wrong Way Corrigan, you need to check out
this video.
http://www.youtube.com:80/watch?v=ttIEtl7j7k0
>>>
I have been re-living some video adventures of Sky King from the
50s. After a few minutes you hardly miss the color. Story lines
are short and to the point. Acting is, well, different, but it IS aviation!
I say re-living because I viewed it the first time around. Here is the
site. Bill Coons
http://www.americanflyers.net/entertainment/skyking.asp
This is the most comprehensive collection of aircraft info that I
have seen. Want to check out almost any airplane ever built in the World?
Old, new, military, civilian? Browse this site for a few minutes. You
will be amazed at what has been done in airplane design. The amount of info
available is unbelievable. Ginette Alony
http://www.aviastar.org/index2.html
Courtesy of Al DeMarzo on the Ercoupe tech list; "Great Site For Playing "What is this plane"!http://rareaircraf1.greyfalcon.us/UNITED%20STATES.htm
Be sure to
check out this video; poetry, music & flying - RV Dream
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7ZsAyY6UBE
Courtesy of
Ralph Finch & Jack Saare;
$1.4 Billion gone in a flash - B-2 Crash;
http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/exclusivevids/ExclusiveVideo_B2Spirit_StealthBomber_CrashReport_198060-1.html
RV-8 formation flight over England - gorgeous photography & countryside, (from RV list);
http://www.lovethecamera.com/gallery/5191853_VPihk#314892443_n64zm
or, if
too long try;
http://tinyurl.com/4qgh49
Interesting
video courtesy of Fred Wilson.
http://www.avweb.com/eletter/archives/avflash/1147-full.html#198121
Here's some GREAT ground & aerial photography of WWII aircraft from the Chino Planes of Fame Air Show 2008 (I was there, and saw Gary Dallugge fly his Ercoupe in before the airport closed down - Dan Hall);
BZ's Chino's Planes of Fame Photo Gallery
http://home.comcast.net/~bzee1b/Chino/Chino.html
(Courtesy of
Fred Wilson)
Courtesy of Ed Burkhead on the Ercoupe Tech list;
EAA news announced that the FAA will be publishing NPRM for changes to the SP/LSA rules on April 15. The EAA says the changes look good but the EAA article only mentions a few of the 22 revisions. We should watch for this in the Federal Register on Tuesday. The EAA article includes a link to a draft of the NPRM:
http://www.eaa.org/news/2008/2008-04-11_sport_pilot.asp
Great video of young student pilot Allison doing aerobatic work in an RV;
For those that
do not read the Van's Air Force Forums, I thought I would repost this link
to a video that I enjoyed. It is 9:45 long. Allison has hopes of
being a fighter pilot and is currently in the ROTC and has 2 flights in a
C182..And a little help from Frank. (courtesy of SoCal RViator
"Condor" - Gary Sobek)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_nTuSnN3xk
Here's a fun video if you want to 'rock' and don't mind watching
Euro-fighters;
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=PaM-0bLW--o&feature=related
Cool videos courtesy of Walt Wasowski;
http://media.putfile.com/UNDER-THE-RADAR-9
http://media.putfile.com/eagles-fly
Jay Leno flies in a P-51 Mustang (courtesy of Linda Abrams)http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/video/video_player.shtml?vid=255306
***Courtesy of Bill Biggs from the Tech list.
Here
is an interesting video
from youtube on how a prop spinner is 'spun'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gwrk0SwDJhI&feature=related
***Just in case
you have not already seen this, it's some fun
video footage of a reporters
experiences while flying in the back of a Blue Angels F/A-18. How
would you do...?
Subject; flight in a FA-18
Click here: http://alt.coxnewsweb.com/ajc/swf/blueangels/blueangels.swf
***Here's
a link to a fun Youtube video of the Reklaw Texas fly-in:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCtVunrwkkk
It runs 7
minutes 40 seconds.
***Courtesy of
Ralph Finch; Quite the amateur balloon experiment! Check
it out...
http://www.sbszoo.com/bear/sable/sable3.htm
***This video
link courtesy of Ginette A; (This is a bit too wild for me...Dan)
http://www.biertijd.com/mediaplayer/?itemid=4262
Some dark humor
aimed at the FAA; FAA Air Traffic Control Video - Unofficial Update
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaJJLBlCIYQ
Great photos
from the Shuttle in earth Orbit Shared courtesy of Linda Abrams;
http://www.texasjim.com/NASApix/NASA%20pix.htm
Courtesy of
Linda Abrams;
When you get to the web site click on any of the plane photos and it will
open up to show you the cockpit for that plane. Ever wonder what the
cockpit looks like? Click on the plane and it will show you the
cockpit...
http://www.codeonemagazine.com/test/archives/2007/articles/jan_07/cockpits/cockpits.html
Ever see the video of the 707 airliner being rolled? If not it's worth
a look & listen (courtesy of Linda Abrams);
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vHiYA6Dmws&NR=1
A pylon racing video that is great fun to watch! Click here: Goulian Berlin_CrashAbuWEB_player.swf
Check out this video, just for the fun of it; You should enjoy this 9 minute video short. (Does any one know the origin of this short?) http://www.patricksaviation.com/videos/Chichi/1747/
Anyone enjoying low level flying will like this video. These guys are flying so low they are "in the weeds"! Nearly as fun as flying an Ercoupe...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9T51UsuaPU
This video of
the Swiss Air Force is a must see (Thanks to Gary Sobeck);
http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=3448650583768959103
Here's a link
to a video taken from inside of a fighter flying through the Swiss Alps;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qMRl57t1aU&feature=PlayList&p=FE5392E70D38CCED&index=0
Here's an interesting video clip of Harvard's (T-6's) flying formation including formation 'water skiing' If you have not seen this before it's wild - Do NOT try this in your nose wheel airplane! http://www.flightzone.co.za/media/harvards.wmv
Check out this video of Bob Hoover! http://youtube.com/watch?v=vQpVI_aldB0&search=aircraft
If you love
flying, you'll enjoy this 5-minute video. It'll take a while to
download on a dial-up but I'd agree that it's worth it. Beautiful.
(Ultra-light trikes) Ed Burkhead
http://www.matteam.com/Video/MATTEAMPROMO.WMV
Here's a great
trailer from the film One Six Right about Van Nuys Airport.
http://www.onesixright.com/video/aerials.html –
beautiful
!!!!
Here's a link to
the aerobatic video clip again. If you missed it the first time, it's
VERY impressive!
http://guyrevel.free.fr/WGP/Haute-Voltige_au_Japon.wmv
For a some fun and a big grin, click on this link and select the EAA Video "The Spirit of Oshkosh", then just sit back and enjoy the ride !!! Ya just gotta BE (go) there...http://www.airventure.org/video/index.html?videoId=1178173387
VIDEO; Here's some stuff just for fun - an amateur aerobatic video (not Ercoupe!) with music. Takes a while to load, so be patient and enjoy the video!; New video…18 rolls, 3 loops, 4 cloverleaves, 1 split-s, 4 Immelmans & 1 spin. The video is "This Was Fun…" here: http://www.thedukes.org/rv/video.html
I posted my
last video a little over a month ago. After 4 weekends in Alaska for a work
trip, I'm back & just put together another video of me doing aerobatics in
my -6. The camera is my soon-to-be tailcam 170deg wide-angle bullet camera
mounted with a RAM-Mount in the cockpit. The video for this release was shot
on a single 30 minute flight - no footage was repeated.
If I can bring myself to do it, I'll start cutting into my vertical tail on
the 4th to mount the camera.
When I finished putting this video together & played it on our big tv, my
wife (aka "Tanya Productions") asked if I was going to buy another bullet
camera once I had this one mounted in the tail…"You're going to need a
second one to shoot video from the cockpit still, right?" I love my wife.
DISCLAIMER: All flying was done in VFR conditions following all FARs. 1500'
AGL, greater than 4nm from an airway, not over airports or populated areas,
no non-chute wearing passengers, no traffic, etc. Don't try this at home. If
you do, be smart about it & don't mort yourself out trying. My
tailcam project info is here:
http://www.thedukes.org/rv/tailcam.html
Enjoy! -Bryan
http://www.thedukes.org/rv
For fun; nearly every military cockpit known to man!! http://uscockpits. com/
Ercoupe & Flying stories
ERCO IL-116, the engine originally planned for the Ercoupe by Erco:
Today I was in San Diego, so I thought I would follow up on something
mentioned here some time back. I believe someone asked if any of the
original ERCO-built prototype engines were in existence. Included in
the responses someone mentioned the San Diego Air and Space Museum.
I have family in town and visit the museum several times a year. It is great talking to the docents and some allowing you to pore through their logbooks and scrapbooks. Today I decided to inquire about the engine.
I started by going on a tour of the basement. Here is where they do the restorations... engines to airframes. Today they were working on a P-26 Pea Shooter, a Corsair, and a 1903 Wright Engine (and what the mechanic called its pissline carburetor). When I asked the group of volunteers sitting around a workbench about the ERCO engine, several were puzzled, then one said it had been moved or maybe even sold. He brought me to the Senior Curator Tom Beres who took the time to talk to me about Ercoupes.
He explained the engine was stored out at Gillespie Air Field in the Museum's hangar there. I took the 30 minute drive in traffic to Gillespie trying to get there before they closed at 3:30. I made it in 15 minutes leaving me an hour and a half to find someone who could help locate the engine. When I made it to the grounds at Gillespie, I found a miniature version of Silver Hill waiting for its Steven Udvar-Hazy. Among the old airframes and full ships on the ramp, I found someone who might be able to direct me. When I told him what I was looking for, he said it was no longer there. He then paused and said, "I could be wrong though."
He pointed me to a hangar where a fully restored P-19, a WACO, a beautiful 1929 glider built by the students at San Diego High, and a 1911 Bleriot hung from the rafters. The men in side brought me into a room filled with engines on stands. Each one looked like it was ready to be installed as a zero time power plant... behind a diesel rotary Packard engine, the tiny ERCO was wedged against the wall. We moved several engines and the IL-116 came into full view. I snapped a bunch of pictures which I have posted in the Ercoupe Tech yahoo group pictures area. They await our moderator in order for you to view them.
I hope a few of you find these useful and of interest.
Best, John Craparo
Discussion about the term "Scare Coupe"
Darick wrote:
> I'm in the hangar working on my beloved Ercoupe . . . when in walks an old
friend of his and she says, "Hi Russ, I see you're working on a scare
coupe"!
Darick,
Starting in the late '50s, and throughout the '60s, '70s and most of the
'80s, the fleet of Coupes mostly had drooping tails due to old, compressed
rubber donuts in the landing gears. Some drooped severely. Some
were so bad they looked like taildraggers as they sat on the ramp.
Their behavior during crosswind landing was nightmarish. With the tail
low and the resulting high angle of attack, after touchdown the upwind wing
would still be at enough angle of attack to lift WAY UP HIGH! I heard
people describe it, saying that they thought the wingtip was 15 or 20 feet
in the air and the other wing would touch. Directional control was
terrible or nonexistent and many went off the runway, flirting with runway
lights and parked planes.
They WERE "scare-Coupes."
Coupes earned a reputation as being incapable of handling any crosswinds.
By the late '80s, some owners and club members were figuring out the causes
and relating back to the design. By design, with the tail high and the
window sills level, the on-the-ground angle of attack is so low (not zero or
negative, according to Fred, but very low) that very little lift can be
generated and the wing CANNOT lift after touchdown.
Bill Coons knew a very good FAA person - the old-fashioned kind who was (I
think) an aeronautical engineer. Bill went to him with the description
of the problem, the design information and the proposal for the landing gear
spacers. The good engineer FAA guy understood immediately and issued
the first form 337 for the landing gear spacers.
The word got out and was publicized and pushed. Maintenance got done
on the landing gear donuts. People added spacers using Bill's form 337
as evidence of approval. And, therefore, the Coupes went back to
landing like Fred had designed them to - well behaved even in strong
crosswinds.
Coupes became, once again, the best behaved planes on the field and in the
air for landings in strong crosswinds.
I don't know of any other reasons for Coupes to be called "scare Coupes"
other than ignorance and prejudice. However that tail low
crosswind-wing-lifting, wild-ride behavior certainly earned the name.
Feel free to explain the history to people who come out with the
"scare-Coupe" name. You'll win them over and, along the way, look
pretty darn smart.
Ed Burkhead (Ercoupe Tech list)
I agree with all that Ed shared. I would, however, respectfully
suggest that a person can be neither "nice" nor a "lady" that would use a
derisive term in public without knowing it is derisive OR that would seek to
advance their own credibility by such discourtesy and obvious lack of
personal experience.
Andy Anderson's experiences with the older pilot and the young CFI better
exemplify a somewhat related and persistent level of ignorance. Whenever
something unflattering is said about an Ercoupe, always consider the
source.
I believe (and no one is likely to prove one way or the other) the primary
reason for this derisive (and it IS derisive) term is that way more than a
few proud and well experienced aviators with the not-uncommon attitude that
"I can fly anything with wings" one day got into an Ercoupe without the
slightest awareness of its design and/or capabilities and proceeded to prove
it [you guess which] ;<)
Flying is largely a matter of power and lift. Every season tornado or
hurricane winds prove flight is possible without intelligence. Controlled
flight, however, is somewhat more complicated; particularly in crosswinds.
Even a brand new Ercoupe with level sills and tight, properly rigged
controls, is going to do what it was designed to do. If the flight was begun
and ended in relatively calm air, our aero wizard will likely prevail by the
"luck of the draw".
Such persons are usually unable or unwilling to perceive any limit to their
skill(s). If the day was one of significant crosswind the stage was
set for an impromptu "show" for spectators one and all.
Whether taking off or landing, the moment our proud and confident aviator's
"seat of the pants" tells him to lift or lower a wing at a time the nose
wheel still has steering authority his control input is directly contrary to
the one absolutely necessary in an Ercoupe. As things take an unexpected
"turn" (pun intended ;<), his reflexive actions can only increase such
(incorrect) input.
If he is taking off, desperation may cause him to chop power and hit the
brakes, with all sorts of attendant possibilities. If he is landing and the
nose wheel touches with a vise grip on the controls and the nose wheel at an
angle to the runway, it takes little imagination to visualize the chain of
events thus set in motion!
Such an experience is so uniquely and distinctly humbling that the only way
to salvage one's dignity is for the person actually responsible to instead
attack the handling characteristics of the Ercoupe so as to draw attention
away from his personal stupidity and ineptitude.
Then let one of these talk to another and, over time a chorus of kindred
spirits sings loudly to all who will listen. With each telling, each of them
feels a little more the victim of a poor design. They make up in passion
what they lack in knowledge. The falsehood repeated far and wide gains
credibility undeserved every time the telling goes unchallenged.
"Preaching to the choir" is a supremely ineffective method of spreading the
truth to the uninformed. Perhaps if our choir became more "involved"?
Best regards, William R. Bayne (Ercoupe Tech list)
>Using Ercoupes for large aircraft training November 1998 AOPA pilot page 100 talks of Alvin Tex
Johnston test pilot for Boeing training 707
pilots in coupes.
>There is an article written & edited by Darrell Graves that states during
the 1950's Boeing 707 pilots trained in
Ercoupes to learn how to land in a cross wind with-out dipping a wing (you
would drag an engine on the ground in a 707 if you did).-
dgraves549@aol.com
From the Ercoupe Tech list (Courtesy of Harry Francis);
para from : "Ercoupe
Pilots Smile a Lot",
by Rick Durden, in AOPA Pilot November 1998.http://www.aopa.org/members/files/pilot/1998/ercoupe9811.html
"Touchdown on the trailing beam gear can be one of those "are we
down?" affairs, for the gear travel is some 12 inches. Mr. Weick was among
the first to discover the benefits of trailing-beam main gear, something the
rest of the industry did not place into large scale production until the
1970s. Yes, Virginia, you will touch down in a crab in a crosswind. No, the
gear does not cas-ter, the trailing beam design simply turns the airplane to
point in the direction in which it is traveling, although with a bit of a
sideways jerk to the occupants.
Famed
Boeing test pilot Tex Johnston put his pilots into Ercoupes to teach them
how to land in a crab so that they would not hit the pods of the prototype
707 and 717 (KC-135) on the ground in crosswinds. The design
also means that you must be prepared to fight the tendency to weathervane by
turning the wheel away from the wind, contrary to everything you learned in
three-control airplanes."
Although I am now disabled, I enjoy reading about the events and wish I had some way to attend. Incidentally I have recently published a new web site. Go to: www.lamecouper.com to see it. Wish I could join you sometime. Bob Faley Mission Viejo, CA
>>An amazing history review in a video / slide show courtesy of Linda Abrams
& Marie-Jo C.;
Thought you would enjoy this trip down memory lane - for those of us
who are old enough to remember these years - otherwise for the younger
folks, a good view of recent history.
http://www.funstufftosee.com/goodbye.html
>>SoCal lost a coupe recently at Corona however; thankfully Herbert Guiness and Thomas Wixon are reported to be OK. http://www.pe.com/localnews/rivcounty/stories/PE_News_Local_W_plane27.4890201.html
>>Courtesy of Parrish Traweek in AZ;
Just a quick note. I soloed Jessica Cox a young lady born with no arms (she
fly's with her feet) and it has gained a lot of media interest. Should be
good for the coupe community. We also had four coupes flying in the pattern
here at E-77,(tch/goes) all students, last week-end for over an hour. We
have a 415C we rent wet for $75.00 hr and if someone wants a check-out or
lessons we charge $28.00 hr instructor fee.
PC Aircraft maintenance and Flight Services
Parrish Traweek P.O. Box 846 San Manuel, AZ 85631 520-664-4812
>>Here's another great piece by Wayne DelRossi;
"At the speeds that we fly at, if you knew where
you were 30 minutes ago, you still know where you are now."
;>)
>>The Swamp Trip
Sometimes not
knowing when to say “no” is a good thing. My ex-fighter pilot
neighbor, Steve, got bored again last week.... Heaven help us
when that happens.... (Last time he got bored we ended up flying 20+
hours to Wyoming and back.) Steve called me up last week and said, "I
can get us reservations to camp out on a platform in the middle of a swamp
in North Carolina Sunday night. You in?"
Not being all that intelligent, I said "Sure, why not?"
So Sunday morning at 9:00 AM we launched in his RV-6A for points east. 185 MPH, 9500 feet, an hour and 45 minutes later and we land at Martin County Airport near Williamston, NC. Banks, the Kayak company guy picks us up at the airport in an old crew cab pick-up and takes us to the boat ramp where we stuff our gear into dry bags and stuff the dry bags into these little skinny plastic kayaks. Then I get in one kayak and Steve gets in the other. Somewhere right along in here it strikes me that I ain't never been in no kayak before. Our kayak rental man asks "Do you want to just paddle it around a bit and see if you like it ok before you head out?" I took a glance at Steve, who looked like he was starting to get bored again, and told the kayak man that I'd probably just better figure out if I like it or not on the way up the river. We then commenced to paddling. For four hours.
I didn't realize it before, but when you are paddling a kayak in the middle of a swamp, there is no place to pull over and get out for a few minutes to stretch. It's either paddle to the platform, which is something like 6 miles away, or swim. So we paddled, and paddled and paddled. We made it to our designated platform an hour or two before sunset. I even managed to get out of the kayak and onto the platform without falling into the swamp. (We're talking major achievement here.)
We unloaded all the gear, set up the tents, and decided that before we broke out the canned tuna fish and canned chicken feast, we really needed to wash some of the sweat, sun block, insect repellant and mashed mosquitoes off of us. We just spent four hours paddling in 95 degree heat, 146 percent relative humidity, and 216 percent mosquito density. We didn't smell good. Even the bears were staying away. We discussed the bathing options, which basically came down to swimming out to open water or kayaking out to open water. After Steve mentioned something about leeches in the muck, I quickly settled on the kayak bathing option. I can now lay claim to having taken a "bath" using only a kayak, a coke bottle and swamp water. And it felt pretty darn good too! I made it back off the swamp and dried off and changed while Steve headed for the swamp water.
When he got back we cracked open the canned tuna fish and chicken feast, and sat around the one candle that we brought with us that would stay lit. One candle light in 6000 acres of black swamp. Pretty cool. Well, not cool exactly. It was still all of 94 degrees two hours after sunset. But a couple of hours after we climbed into our tents, the temperature had plummeted to a comfy 93.5 degrees. I couldn't believe how hot it was in the middle of the night in that swamp. A couple of hours before sunrise, it finally got cool enough to sleep. And I would have slept too, if it wasn't for that 80 pound swamp bird that kept yelling BEEEYYAAAHAWWWAWEEE every time I dozed off. I didn't actually see what was making that noise, but based on the volume of noise it made, it had to go 80 pounds easy.
When 6 AM came, Steve was up and stirring around, and I knew that if I wasn't ready to leave when he was ready to leave I would not only be paddling back through the swamp alone, but thumbing a ride back to South Carolina too. So I got up, packed up, mounted up and we started paddling again. The kayak trip back was pretty uneventful other than having a few fish try to get in my kayak with me, and Steve bagging his limit of deer flies and mosquitoes. I once again managed to not fall in the swamp. The swamp is really a beautiful place. It is very pristine and there isn't a sign of any trash or people anywhere. Probably because the nuts who actually manage to get themselves into the swamp like that just aren't the kind of people who throw trash around.
The kayak guy met us at the boat ramp at 11 AM as planned, and after telling him that we didn't need to "unload" the 3 inch diameter PVC plastic pipe bomb that he had supplied us with (you have to bring your own toilet paper, but he supplies the "depth charge", as Steve called it), he seemed to be relieved and asked us how we enjoyed the trip. He then drove us back to the airport, where Steve offered him a ride over the swamp in the RV-6A. An offer that he couldn't refuse. Twenty minutes later they landed. Turns out the kayak guy's dad was a fighter pilot just like Steve's dad was. Strange coincidence. I don't know how Banks is going to feel about paddling that route in 8 hours next time, when he flew over the whole thing in about 6 minutes in the RV. Quite a contrast.
After saying our goodbyes we loaded up the RV, taxied out to the end of the runway, lined up, and Steve says "Your take-off." This was not a question. My take-off. Hmmm. That RV takes off three times faster than my Aircoupe, and four times faster than I can think. OK. Ready, Aim, Fire. And we are airborne. Clear of the ground Steve says "Climb 140 MPH, for engine cooling." I hate it when Steve tells me to fly a certain airspeed. 'Cause 140 is 140, not 138, not 142, and I really have a hard time maintaining +/- 1 knot, which seems to be the deadband within which Steve will remain relatively happy. (I'm pretty sure he still has the head of a copilot that he used to fly a Hawker jet with tucked in his flight bag. Something about the copilot being 4 knots off of a calculated approach speed while 4 miles out on final....It was ugly....) Anyhow, we climbed out to 8500 feet with me keeping the airspeed locked between 40 and 240 MPH, and Steve trying hard not to notice.
The flight back was great as always. Those camper people are right: RV's are the only way to travel! Cool. Clear. No traffic. On top of the clouds. Glass cockpit displaying more performance, navigation and engine data than NASA could process in a week. Life is good. Except I am having a really hard time staying awake. The only thing that keeps me from dozing off is the fact that I'm hand flying the airplane, and I don't want to hear BEEEYYAAAHAWWWAWEEE from the left seat. So I stay awake.
Fifteen minutes from home I tell Steve it's time to start down. He says "Nah, wait until this number right here shows about 900." OK. Who am I to argue? What that number is, I have no idea, but I'm watching that number. It gets to 900 about 5 minutes later. I just know we're going to fly right past the airport. "OK, go 900 to 1000 FPM rate of descent." 1000 FPM??? Won't the wings fall off? OK. 1000 FPM on the VSI and we are headed down in a real hurry. We tuck under the edge of the Class C airspace, 3 miles from destination. The stick shakes and Steve says "I have the aircraft." Thank God for that. I don't think I could make the landing with my eyes closed like I did the take-off. The RV rolls out on the home turf at 1 PM exactly on schedule. Too much fun. Cold Cokes in the hangar. A few laughs. A few lies. Can't wait until Steve gets bored again. That'll probably be in about 3 days.......
How do people live without flying?
If anybody else is interested in checking out this fantastic swamp get-away experience, check out www.froghollowoutdoors.com. Banks runs a pretty cool operation. The best in the swamp!
Best Regards, Wayne DelRossi, Alon Aircoupe N5618F, "Life begins at 50...... knots
>>>
All...
Been a pretty good day at my house. I soloed today after about
30 hours of instruction over the last 10 months.
As most of you know, I'm disabled (C-5 quadriplegic) and to the best of my
knowledge (and I've looked hard) the only quad that has done so. Most
of the disabled pilots you hear about are paraplegic. Due to their
ground breaking work, I was able to build on it and achieve this goal.
Everybody on this forum helped, encouraged, cautioned and generally were
invaluable.
THANK YOU TO ALL.... Kim Blackseth, N2332H, Napa, CA
Below is my CFI, Mike Walcker and myself, after my solo earlier today.
(Refer to photo; Kim Blackseth & instructor @ first solo June 7th, 2008.jpg)
>>>Hi 'Coupe
Groupe!
I had a call this morning from Jessica Cox in Arizona; she solo'd!
She is the young woman born without arms that has been determined to
learn to fly. <www.rightfooted.com>
She trained at first with Glen Davis in his 'Coupe in FL & then last year
with him in my Sky Sprite in L.A.. After another year of trying to
find a 'Coupe whose controls were in the best position for her, she resumed
her training this spring with 'Couper Parrish Traweek in the Tucson area,
where she lives.
All her family & friends & videographers were out at the airport yesterday,
but she didn't feel quite on top of it enough. Then at 6 a.m. today --
with no one around but one of Parrish's other students -- he told her "give
me 5 good landings and you can solo." So she did it! And the
other student caught it on Jessica's own videocam, so I'm sure we'll get to
see film eventually. (When she was here last year, the Oprah show
expressed interest in having exclusive film, so we may not get to see it
right away.)
What I was happiest to hear was that she used her judgment well and did a
"go 'round" on the first attempt, then got into good control of airspeed and
everything for a real landing on the second attempt.
I've heard that Glen is out of the country at the moment, so I took the
liberty of posting this so everyone knows of her success. She believes
it is the first time an armless woman has solo'd a plane -- yay for
the Ercoupe! And a big YAY for Jessica!!!
Linda
3437H (Sky Sprite)
L.A.
Linda and all,
I am out of the US at the moment, in Central America. I just received
an email from Jessica telling me the great news. Linda, thank you for
sharing this momentous, historic and FABULOUS news with the group. If
any of you want to send Jessica a congrats, her email is:
admin@rightfooted.com
My sincere thanks to Linda for allowing us to use her Coupe for part of
Jessica's training. And thanks to all that have offered support, both
material and emotional, on Jessica's behalf.
Also, a huge thanks to Ableflight (www.ableflight.org)
and particularly Charles Stites, who provided the scholarship to Jessica
which fully funded the remainder of her training with Parrish Traweek.
Without their support, this would now have happened.
Glen Davis CFII
Ercoupe 3103H
>>>>Hi All!
Lauran Paine, Jr. encouraged me to share this with you:
Woody Harris, our local EAA Chapter 1230 President, button-holed me last Fall into becoming more active in our local chapter. Ever try to give a cat a bath? Brave man, our Woody. Persistent, as well. With the beginning of our 2008 Young Eagle season and my restoration still months away from flying, I felt constrained to do something for the YE cause, if nothing more than escorting the youths to their planes. At the pilots’ briefing, I remembered that I had a fairly capable digital camera in my truck, and we had a ‘foto-op’. We had a modest turnout that blustery February day, but I was able to take several images for our website.
Remembering that: ‘They also serve, who only stand and wait’, it occurred to me that as important as a 1st flight is, remembering and sharing that moment is just as important. If I could not fly YE missions, at the very least I could take ‘Hero Pictures’ of all of the kids after their flights AND PRINT THEM OUT ON-THE-SPOT, ready for their pilots to autograph.
After presenting the idea to our Chapter at large, and with their approval, we put that program into action (3) months ago, and have provided nearly 200 kids with their 1st images for their ‘I-Love-Me’ walls. All it takes is a willing photographer, a digital camera, a laptop computer and a fairly inexpensive printer. (It occurred to me today that there are many photo printers that can print directly from a camera’s chip, without the need for a laptop). The cost of the ink and paper is much less than the cost of the av-gas that each of our pilots donates to the cause. We’re now sporting three photographers, with two of us taking turns processing the images.
The reaction from the kids (and their parents) has been overwhelming and though I’m not a statistician, I believe our Young Eagles turnout has increased. What could be more eloquent than a picture of a Young Eagle’s excited grin and big ‘thumb’s-up’ standing with their pilot, next to the airplane they just flew in?
See y’all
at OSH 2008,
Ward ‘Cleaver’ Marsh, EAA #693600 Chapter 1230 Vacaville, CA
>>>The story of an recent off airport forced landing by Tony in Jim Grimes Coupe 99180;
Three miles north of Petaluma airport, the engine quit in flight and landed in a alfalfa field. The first three hundred feet went well however; the tall grass raped around the wheels and spun it around. The next 50 feet the airplane become a canard, and the tail section dug-in and did damage between the canopy and rudder. We got it back to Petaluma airport and check all fuel lines; it had 5 quarts of oil 12 gallons of in the wing tank and 5 gallons in the header tank. It occurred last thurs, the air temp. was 85 we got it back to the airport and the engine started up right away, all instruments said go! We could not find way the engine quit. In-flight the engine sputtered like it was out of gas, then it cleared up for about a minute, the it starting sputtered again and quit. On a clear day is it possible to pick up ice, and three years ago I had the same problem and had it quit in the air. I had the carburetor checked and they never found the problem, look forward to some responses from any of the coupers. Looks like I'll be grounded for a while. Jim Grimes, 99180
I was flying the Coup with a friend of mine (old time pilot and AP) when the engine quit. I have the wings at my house and the fuselage is at Petaluma. The damage is to the rear area, from the back of the cockpit to the tail. The landing was fine, but some tall weeds must have wrapped around one main gear, causing it to do a 180 turn. No one hurt and we walked away without a scratch. Because I was slowed down to about 30mph by then, the tail dropped and impacted the ground, causing the middle of the fuselage to CRINKEL. Maybe the club can help us find the parts we need to rebuild the plane, as I have promised to make it right for Jim. Tony Anthony N99180
N99180 in alfalfa field near Petaluma after off airport forced landing;
Here’s the story regarding
Sean’s incident with his new RV-7A N269SD and a GOOSE!
A simple touch and go on a grass strip east of Watsonville, I do it all the
time.
I land, Retract flaps, Apply power. Up to speed, Rotate, See large
goose, hope like hell he stays low while I climb.
No such luck,15 to 20 in the air, Goose impacts dead square on leading edge
just outboard left fuel tank, (flying right to left). The plane starts
to bank and yaw to the left, I tried to straighten the plane to land on
remaining runway but full right aileron would not correct, nor right rudder.
About 150 feet to the left and just past the water strip adjacent to the
grass strip, the left wing starts dragging on the ground, after 20 feet of
this, the plane cart wheels up on the
nose, then right wing and tail, then the back flip and landed on the nose as
seen in the picture.
We were both still alive so I turned off the gas and electrical, pushed what
was left of the canopy, unhooked my 5 point seat belts (I highly recommend )
and exited the aircraft.
I ended up with a sprained ankle, my passenger needed 7 staples to close a
cut to the scalp.
I think we're extremely lucky (and insured). I'm also ready to start
my next plane.
N269SD II
There you go, now off to work.
Sean
This
is flying related, so I figured it's ok for this list. You'll fall out
of your chair laughing thinking back to your first check ride. Enjoy!
Laird Owens
http://www.digital2digital.com/gallery/checkride.wmv
Airbus cross
wind landing in Germany.
Pilot landed it safely the second time around; with I assume a planeload of
pucker.
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=ddb_1204404185
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/03/03/germany.plane
WHEN A PILOT DIES....
Whenever we talk about a pilot who had been killed in a flying
accident, we should all keep one thing in mind. He called upon the
sum of all his knowledge and made a judgment. He believed in it
so strongly that he knowingly bet his life on it. That his judgment
was faulty is a tragedy, not stupidity. Every instructor, supervisor,
and contemporary who every spoke to him had an opportunity to
influence his judgment, so a little of all of us goes with every pilot
we lose.
As seen on a hanger wall
Hey gang. Some of you might have seen this but those who have not got to see this video of a 1/3 scale Ercoupe on floats. I really enjoyed it and appreciated all the work that must have gone into building the thing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ir8QXESmOZY
EAA Sport Pilot Magazine contained a feature article on Linda Abrams and her Ercoupe (Sky Sprite). Be sure to check it out:
Dear Ercoupers,
EAA's Sport Pilot Magazine has now posted to their web site the correct
as-published version of the article about me & my Ercoupe in their June
issue. It can also be accessed online at
http://www.sportpilot.org/magazine/
Click
on the article title, "Returning to the Air." The editor has also selected
it as a featured article, which means that after this month's issue, it will
be permanently archived on the same web site! Fun Stuff!
SimCoupes; While learning to fly, I spent many
hours on the computer with Flight Simulator. Here's some images
and links of "SimCoupes." Ken Iwahashi.
Fly Away
Flight Simulator screenshots and photos - Fly Away Simulation, Flight
Simulator #1
Bears Cave
AVSIM Minireviews: Bearracing W/E 10-19
JATO Ercoupe & NASA video link courtesy of John Craparo;
I was with Col. Joe Kittinger this week at the Smithsonian doing some work we are involved with in ballooning. As you may know, Joe was the pre-Astronaut (Craig Ryan so-named him and others in his book) who did a series of tests in the late 50's into 1960 that lead to him jumping from a balloon gondola from nearly 103,000 feet setting records still in place today. I digress... we were talking about my Ercoupe and I mentioned to this longtime jet pilot that the Ercoupe was used in the first JATO tests at CalTech... he was surprised. I sent him a link tonight to the JPL history site. There I found this film of the flights. While I have seen the takeoff film and still pictures in B&W, I have never seen this film in color, nor have I seen the Porterfield more than a few inches off the ground which was used as a reference. There is also a segment of the JATO propelled Ercoupe in cruise...this I have never seen.
For those who
have not seen it, nor know the context which this website sets, here is this
fascinating link. I am sorry they do not mention Homer Boushey the pilot...
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/jplhistory/videos/ercoupe.php
I believe the Jet Propulsion Laboratory did have an STC approved. They were offering it through John Cooper (formerly at Skyport) last time I checked. My understanding is that he has the STC and a parts kit for $800,000.21 but it has not sold well. I may have dreamt this though. JC ;-)
Here is a nice
article on the JATO work done in the Ercoupe. Seems that CalTech has
recently shown renewed interest in the history here.
http://calteches.library.caltech.edu/117/01/JATO.pdf
John Craparo
The Ercoupe is in the Restoration hangar at the Wright-Patterson AFB on behalf of the USAF Museum in Dayton on a long list of projects to be accomplished. I am sorry to report that the Ercoupe in the restoration hangar is NOT the JATO coupe...If my memory serves me correctly it is S/N 78. The Jato Coupe is S/N 11. The last known record of any activity on the JATO coupe is in 1942 according to CAA records. I believe they (Museum) have put off the restoration of their replica - hoping to find the real deal. Regards Mark Hardin Terrell TX
An Ercoupe
flying story, courtesy of Larry Snyder on the Ercoupe flying / social
list;
Today I flew a friend across the state from Sullivan, Missouri, near St.
Louis, to Grain Valley, Missouri, near Kansas City, to look at a Navion.
After checking the plane out (I like Navions) we flew back and about 40
miles east of Whiteman Air Force Base I was getting flight following from
Mizzou Approach (they are in Columbia, MO). I heard them talking to
"one-one-heavy" but heard nothing from the plane they were talking to. Then
I heard them inform them of our position. They called me and said "99340,
traffic at your 2 o'clock and it will be passing under you to the northeast.
It's a B2."
I strained and finally caught sight of the bomber off my right wing and watched in absolute awe as it flew directly to me and crossed under my nose about 1000 feet below me. And I was at 3500! It banked gracefully as it flew away.
I called ATC and said "Mizzou Approach, traffic is not a factor. AND IT WAS AWESOME!"
Approach replied "I thought you might like that!"
Then I heard them calling the B2 saying "The traffic you just passed had nothing but compliments for you!"
At 13:00 the controller was off his shift, so he called me at 13:00 and told me he was leaving now, but was really jealous I got to see the B2. I thanked him!
Flying across Missouri can be pretty interesting. I've flown past an A-10, a large Air Force transport, and now a B2. BTW, the B2 looks as graceful as can be in the air.
I just had to tell this story. What a wonderful thing it is in America to share and skies (and controllers!) with such a marvel!
Larry Snyder N99340
Ercouper journey
from Oregon to Kansas;
Last month I ask for and received recommendations on flying a 415C Ercoupe
from Oregon to Kansas. My wife and I completed the trip last Tuesday.
It was a very scenic and exciting experience.
I had shipped a 7148 prop and intended to install it in Oregon before we
started out. The day before we departed Oregon I spent about an hour
in the plane with the existing 7150 prop, the airplane loaded to gross
(or maybe a few pounds more). It performed well beyond my
expectations, much better climb compared to previous 75 h.p. Ercoupes that I
have flown. And I really liked the idea of 100+ mph cruise, so I left
the 7150 prop on the airplane. The fact that this airplane has an
empty weight of 810 was a major factor in my decision.
One of the factors regarding my choice of prop was the fact that the
forecast weather for our planned northern route was for cool temperatures.
Had we planned on flying the southern route, with
temperatures approaching 100 degrees or more, I would have changed the prop.
As it worked out, the only time I was concerned about climb performance was
due to an error in judgment on my part. We had departed St. Maries,
Idaho fairly late in the afternoon with temperatures in the upper 80's.
We had intentionally planned legs of 1 to 2 hours in order to make the
entire trip as pleasant as possible and allow me to inspect the airplane
often. The destination for that particular leg was Ronan, MT.
Wind and temperatures picked up during the flight. By the time we
landed at Ronan, the temperatures were in the mid 90's, and winds at 270/24
with gusts to 30. Ronan has a north/south runway. I should have
turned around and flown 20 miles back to St Ignatius where the runway was
pretty much orientated into the wind. That was my first mistake.
The second one was to almost fill the tanks before departing Ronan. I
did not need to get any fuel at all since we could have made it to Kalispell
just fine. However, I had decided earlier that we would always have at
least one hour of fuel reserve for this entire trip.
My landing at Ronan tested my piloting ability as well as the Ercoupe gear.
But we managed to stay on the hard surface, despite the gusty crosswind.
My take off, with the airplane now at gross
weight, was not pretty. The airplane did not want to climb out of
ground effect. And there was no way that I could keep it over the
runway. We flew just a few feet above the ground, for what seemed like
a couple of thousand feet. Keeping the nose down, and slowly gaining
airspeed, we finally started a very gradual climb. The airport
elevation is about 3100 feet, density altitude had to be well over 4,000
feet, and we had a serious crosswind as well. As we flew along Flathead
Lake, we finally reached a cruising altitude of at about 6,500. By
that time we needed to start letting down for Kalispell. I am not sure
how much higher we could have climbed. I was glad the mixture control
was working.
We spent two days in Kalispell with a rental car touring Glacier Park.
We had planned on that, and as it worked out the weather was IFR for those
two days. I had decided to make the crossing south of Glacier through
Maria’s pass early in the morning. On our first attempt that morning,
I did not like the visibility as we turned east towards the pass and so we
returned to the Kalispell airport. The folks there had been very
friendly and helpful. But I could tell this time they felt I was being
overly concerned about crossing the mountains. About an hour later a
local pilot landed and told us the visibility was ok and the ceiling was
acceptable. The FBO mentioned that if we waited much longer the winds
through the pass would be picking up. So we headed out again. I
had done a complete run-up earlier that morning, but I decided to do another
one. This time, I could get no action out of carb heat. I kept
trying, but to no avail. So we taxied back. Before I got out of
the plane, I knew the folks at the FBO were thing negative things about us
Kansas flatlanders. But when I told them our carb heat was not
working, attitudes changed. We opened the cowl door and could see the
carb heat cable had broken at the carb heat arm. The FBO commented
that it was a good thing we caught it as the weather that day was likely to
cause carb ice. It did not take long to fix the problem, and with a
working carb heat control we made the spectacular flight through the
mountains without incident.
My wife and I enjoy visiting small towns and small airports. Some of
the airports we visited had the pilots lounges unlocked but no one was
around. A couple of them had courtesy cars available. A couple
had motels and restaurants within walking distance.
As we arrived back home, my wife said she wants to go again next year.
We have flown many hours together in our Cessna 182. It is a
comfortable, dependable airplane that will carry about anything. The
Ercoupe limited our luggage to a couple changes of clothing, some emergency
survival gear, and necessary charts. It is a lot slower than the 182,
and noisier. But the visibility is wonderful. And the ability to
fly with the windows down reminds me of traveling on my BMW motorcycle.
We flew 21.3 hours, burned 102 gallons of gas, and used 3 1/2 quarts of oil.
We flew over major highways when in the mountains. I felt that gave us the
best chance of survival in case of a problem with the airplane.
Our route:
Oregon - Independence, Aurora (weather), Country Squire (weather), The
Dalles
Washington - Richland
Idaho - St. Maries
Montana - Ronan, Kalispell City, Cut Bank, Lewistown, Miles City
South Dakota - Spearfish, Wall
Nebraska - Valentine, Kearney
*** From Ward Marsh regarding his recent dead stick off airport forced landing;
As some of you know, I’m an avid photographer and Ercoupes, with their open-cockpit capability, make excellent photo-ships (sorry Alon guys). I particularly like air-to-air and air-to-ground photography. In my book, anyone who straps an airframe to their arse and defies gravity is a ‘hero’, and should have the opportunity to have a picture of themselves flying their beloved kite on their ‘I Love Me’ wall. Shooting from a ‘Coupe, I can and do make that happen for a lot of us ‘low performance’ drivers.
Always looking for a unique shot, I’ve had in mind for some time an early-morning shot of a crop-duster doing his thing. Living in an agrarian community (Dixon, CA), knowing the local ‘duster’, and the ag strip being 3 statute miles from my home made it easy to arrange a shoot for this past Saturday. Again, I seek the unique shot, but not at the cost of safety, so I arranged to have one of my very best friends (also a pilot, and a good stick) along as my F/O to fly while I shot.
I pre-flighted and fueled NC93404 the previous evening, so that I could make a predawn take-off and land at the ag strip at sunrise for the pre-flight briefing with the crop duster and my FO. It was a gorgeous, calm-air morning, with just a hint of pre-dawn haze in the air that framed the rising sun in a broad swath of deep purple fading through lilac, to peach, an finally into early morning blue. A crisp, fresh, promising sunrise. There was not a bump to be found in the 8 minute flight from VCB to the ag strip, and ‘404 was flying like a dream. As it happened, I was the 1st to arrive, and had a chance to get a few static shots before the briefing.
After Steve (the ag pilot) and Leon (my FO) arrived, we briefed the flight. Among my most chief concerns was that whatever Leon and I did MUST NEVER break Steve’s concentration on his job at hand. We briefed on the kind of patterns he would use, how he would turn after each pass, and what kind of boundaries he would maintain. We briefed relative speeds and altitudes. Unfortunately, he did not have comm., so we agreed that Leon and I would loiter no nearer than 100 yds. to his nearest perimeter, and maintain 200’ vertical separation (I’ve got enough lens, now, to compensate for that distance). In practice, it turned out that we needed 200 yds. horizontal separation to get good framing for the shots.
Steve launched first and we followed, loitering well away while we watched his 1st few passes before establishing our own pattern. Our 1st pass was a bit hurried, so we ended up extending about a mile for the beginning of the next passes. We got two good passes (and a few good shots), and were establishing a pretty comfortable rhythm, when, at the end of the 2nd good pass, we both felt a vibration come on, quick and steady. A quick scan of the instruments and such showed oil pressure steady at 35 psi, temp steady at 190° F, header tank showing ‘full’, fuel ‘on’, mixture ‘rich’, mags on ‘both’, and throttle was set for 2500 rpm. Leon rolled ‘404 out on a direct heading for the ag strip, and yielded the controls when I said, ‘My airplane’. For maybe 15 seconds, the vibration remained the same, and the rpms dropped off maybe 100. I cycled the mags and carb heat to no avail (didn’t bother with the master switch, since it wouldn’t affect any engine function). The vibration increased and the rpms rapidly fell away to ‘0’, with the prop positioned 12-6 o’clock. It was clear that we did not have the altitude to glide back to the ag strip, but we had several viable choices for landing, the closest (and therefore most attractive) being a dirt service road graded between two fields of sunflowers. Leon, being a local farmer, saw the direction I was looking and assured me that it was a good road. It turns out the fields were his cousin’s, and he had 1st-hand knowledge. We were still pretty hot and a tad high, but ‘5-fingers of spoilers’ got us down smartly. We flared to a smooth ‘trap’ at about 80 s/m indicated, and I applied generous brake until I knew we were in no danger of over-running the end of the road, then allowed ‘404’ to coast as far as she could. As we rolled to a stop, I turned off all fuel valves, mags, avionics and master, tossing the mag keys on top of the panel, as is my wont (I like to see them on top of the panel when I’m fueling, or pulling the prop through). It might be argued that I should have switched off fuel, mags and master before landing. If I had had a bit more time, I probably would have. I certainly did not have time to set the transponder to ‘7700’ or ‘declare’ on Guard.
Again, it was a smooth dead-stick landing, not a crash. Leon and I were shaken from the experience, but physically absolutely unharmed. The ELT did not go off, and nothing was bent on the airframe.
Elapsed time from initial vibration to wheels-stopped? No more than 90 seconds, but I’d think it might have been closer to 60. I will assure you all that after we stopped, and I knew we were safe, I shook as if with the ague. During the event, I will also assure you that Leon and I were far too busy evaluating options and maneuvering for landing to be afraid.
After we got out, sharing with each other with that ‘Did we just do what I think we did?’ look, I popped the cowl, expecting to find a gaping hole in the case, or a cylinder rattling around in the chin cowl, but found nothing out of the ordinary, except that one of the studs attaching the induction spider to the case was missing (and had not been missing at pre-flight). I pulled the prop through 4 cycles, and noted virtually no compression on one of the cylinders, a bit more end-play than normal, but some lateral play that I gave me pause. I also heard a metal-on-metal ‘clack’, but could not determine its cause.
We secured the airplane and walked the ½ mile to the ag strip (and Leon’s pickup). The ag tender was surprised to see us returning on foot (as one might imagine). After giving him a brief account and asking him to let Steve know that we were all right, we left to gather tools and equipment to transport ‘404 back home.
It wasn’t until Monday evening that I could start investigating the cause of our event, but within two hours, I found that the crankshaft had broken cleanly in two between the #1 and #2 connecting rods. That pretty much means that every bit of the lower end is toast, including just about everything in the accessory case.
The good news is that NOBODY GOT HURT! No private or public property was damaged. I didn’t bend the airframe, or land on a public road. The media has not (to date) been involved. Ercoupes/Ercoupers don’t need any more bad press, though this could be spun as a ‘Harry-Potteresque’ tale of the ‘Ercoupe That Survived’. We landed on private property with explicit permission from the owner’s agent (Leon; my FO and the owner’s cousin).
Did I mention that NOBODY GOT HURT?
Yes. I took a risk, flying at low-level on a photo-shoot. Each of us takes a similar risk, each time we ‘strap-up’. I like to think that the risks we take are ‘calculated’, rather than ‘foolish’. We are aware of the dangers of flight in general, and of specific flight profiles (each up-wind leg), and take precautions and train to compensate for them.
I firmly believe in a ‘truism’ once heard from a ‘jet-jock’: “When the BB’s are flying, you will not ‘rise to the occasion’. You will ‘default to your level of training’.”
I train hard. Hope y’all do, too. I am especially grateful that my passenger, co-pilot, and very best friend Leon was not harmed, and remains my very best friend.
Wp
***Ed Burkhead writes this in response to an emergency procedures question;
As a rule of thumb, in a Coupe I’d use 1.4 times minimum flying speed for “best glide” until you can do actual testing. Erring on the faster side won’t decrease your glide ratio much and, with a strong head wind, might even let you penetrate a bit farther. Speeds lower than that will result in decreasing, and even radically decreasing glide ratio. The Coupe wing has a fairly wide, flat top to the glide ratio curve as I measured it, with gentle fall off on the fast side but steep fall of on the slow side.
But, I urge everyone to do glide testing in their own Coupe and report the results to us all. Firm numbers are scarce. Suggested glide ratio testing procedure: http://edburkhead.com/Ercoupe/glide_ratio_testing_procedure.htm
Mr. Chuck Rosenfeld, of Sun River, Oregon said it best: "When the gremlins are out, there is no better airplane to be in than the `coupe."
Quote of the week; Lady, you want me to answer you if this old airplane is safe to fly? Just how in the world do you think it got to be this old? — Anon
Mike Willis (UK based SoCal Visitor) shared this article which is a bit of Brit humor, written with tongue firmly in cheek;
This was in the
UK Sunday Times yesterday and made me laugh! Jeremy Clarkson is a jokey
columnist and TV presenter, mainly cars, and has a reputation for speaking
his mind and winding people up!
Best regards,
Mike Willis (UK)_
Alon A2
A-188
G-HARY
www.ercoupe.co.uk
From
The
Sunday Times
September 23, 2007
Biggles,
you’re a crashing bore
Jeremy
Clarkson
Last
weekend, a friend of mine was killed when his helicopter crashed in
Scotland. And then, just hours later, another friend was lucky to walk away
when his chopper flipped onto its side while making an emergency landing in
Essex.
Strangely, however, it’s not a fear of dying that puts me off the idea of
private aviation. It’s the surefire knowledge that nothing in all the world
is likely to be quite so boring and pointless.
The idea of piloting your own helicopter or light aircraft, among the clouds
and the linnets, far above the jams and the pressure, is an appealing
prospect for anyone who doesn’t know what to do with his money.
Better still, you might imagine that you could enliven your journey by
swooping underneath low bridges, divebombing fields of cattle, looping the
loop over friends’ houses and landing for the hell of it in beauty spots and
bird sanctuaries.
Only last month, I flew down the Okavango River in Botswana in a
twin-engined light aircraft; following the waterway’s endless twists and
turns just 6ft up, at 150mph. It was a joyous and brilliant thing to do. But
unfortunately, if you tried that at home, skimming the Don in Sheffield, for
instance, a man with adenoids and a clipboard would come round and take your
licence away.
In fact, the whole process of learning to fly, it seems to me, is designed
specifically to weed out those who might want a plane or a helicopter for
fun.
When you want a driving licence, all you have to do is demonstrate to a man
in beige trousers that you can reverse round a corner. But when you want a
licence to fly, you must demonstrate to the entire Civil Aviation Authority
that you are prepared to spend several months with your nose in various text
books on meteorology and aerodynamics. Plainly, it only wants pedants up
there.
Then you have to spend more months learning how to use a radio. Why? I know
already. You just stab away at various buttons until someone comes over the
speaker. Then you tell him what you want.
Oh no you don’t. You have to talk in a stupid code, saying “over” when
you’ve finished speaking for the moment and “out” when you’ve finished
altogether. Why? When I ring the plumber or the local Indian restaurant, I
am able to convey the nature of my request perfectly well using English. So
why when I’m in a plane do I have to talk in gibberish?
“Hello, it’s Jeremy. Is it all right to land?” is a much easier way of
saying, “Weston Tower, this is Charlie Victor Tango on 8453.113 requesting a
westerly approach to runway 27.”
But private pilots love all this sort of stuff. They love doing utterly
pointless preflight checks, tapping dials and making sure that a bunch of
goblins didn’t come in the night and chew through all the wires.
They never think: “I bought this plane to make my life more convenient but
in the time I’ve spent checking it, I could have driven to Leeds.” And nor
do they ever think: “If these checks are so foolproof, how come that in the
western United States, more small planes fall out of the sky than rain
drops.”
No really. In America, more than one person a day is killed in private plane
crashes. Light aircraft, over there, are known as “dentist killers”.
And try this for size. You don’t have to check your plane if you leave it
alone for a few hours in the day. But you do if it’s been left alone at
night. Why? Do the plane goblins only come out when it’s dark? No. Will a
comprehensive preflight check keep your plane in the air? No. The fact is
that pilots love checking things. They love details.
I know this from glancing at the magazines they read. Boat magazines are
full of boats skimming the waves with naked girls on the foredeck. But plane
magazines are filled with lists of serial numbers and adverts for stuff that
no one could conceivably ever want to buy. Quarter-scale cockpit models, for
instance. And hideous pictures of Lancasters, at sunset, over Dresden.
Just last night, I spent some time in the company of two private plane
enthusiasts who never once talked about the speed of their machines or the
convenience, or the sheer, unbridled fun of skimming the treetops at 150mph.
Instead, they talked for hours about parking and refuelling. I bet they
think the best bit of sex is unwrapping the condom.
Certainly, they seem to have a weird love for the medical, which they must
take every 15 minutes. I can’t see why this is necessary because medicals
cannot predict a heart attack, which is about the only thing that will
affect someone’s ability to fly a plane.
And you know what. Hardly anyone with a plane ever uses it to go somewhere
useful. Instead, they take “the old kite” from their flying club
headquarters to another flying club headquarters where they have some cheese
and Branston pickle. And then they fly home again. What’s that all about?
And while they’re flying around, spoiling the peace and quiet for everyone
on the ground, they are having absolutely no fun whatsoever. This is because
they are at 3,000ft, where 100mph feels like you’re standing still. And they
can’t come down low for fear of the man with adenoids.
So, the recipe for flying then. You drive to an airfield, check your plane
for two hours, take off, sit still, speak gibberish into a radio, land, eat
cheese and then sit still again till you’re home again. Repeat until one day
you hear a loud bang .
Ercoupe Range & Endurance Discussion;
Here's more discussion of the Ercoupe range & endurance topic;
Ward Marsh
writes this about his Ercoupe range & endurance experiences;
Hi Dan,
Regarding fuel burn, the best I’ve gotten was 4.1 gph from Elko, NV to Rock
Springs, WY on the way to OSH in 2005 at 9500’ msl with a C-85 making about
2250 turns and leaned slightly rich of peak. I was indicating about 95
statute, but had a bit of help, so made 130 statute over the ground.
By that time of day, and at that time of year, though, I got an ‘E-Ticket’
ride with turbulence. When I finally got to a motel, I wrote ‘Lucky’ in the
neckband of my T-shirt and waistband of my cargo shorts. On a recent
flight from Troutdale, OR back to Nut Tree, CA, I wore the same T-shirt, and
had a few weather issues, successfully avoided. I’m not sure, now,
whether the shirt attracts or protects. I
typically get 4.6 gph, leaned, at altitude. The longest leg I’ve had
was 4.5 hours (20.7 gallons), leaving me with just a tad bit over 30
minutes’ reserve for daytime VFR. I definitely feel the
‘pucker-factor’ when I see the indicator on the header tank start to drop.
I’m thinking I’ll calibrate the tank and indicator to see just how much fuel
it takes to get the indicator off the bottom.
Dan Hall writes
about his most recent experience;
68H just flew again today from Petaluma to Corona by way of Concord, Tracy,
and Whiteman Pacoima, which works out to about 363 NM or 417 SM, and was in
the air exactly 4 hours & 30 minutes. 18.0 gallons were consumed which
works out to 23 statue MPG. We flew the first 2/3 of the trip at
1,500' and 2250 RPM and had about a 10 knot tail wind. The balance of
the trip we cruise climbed at 2300 RPM to 5,500' and crossed over Gorman,
then began a slow & lower power descent from the Rose Bowl about 30 NM out.
At 28 NM out the main tanks went dry (near El Monte) and 68H began running
off of the header tank.
Wayne Woollard
shares his experience;
In bringing up long distances, the one flight that sticks out in my mind was
from Wendover Utah, the training base of the 506th that dropped both Atomic
bombs, to Casper Wyoming. 418 Statute miles. I actually
planned for Rock Springs, but was detoured by weather, and ended up heading
for Casper, a pretty isolated airport with nothing around the countryside
but Buffalo Wallows and rocks. Total time in the air was 4 hours 44
minutes. I'll check my logs for some others, that I stretched because
of a multitude of airports in the vicinity, but that first one was a real
bladder buster, because we did not conserve fuel for the first half of the
distance. Best regards. Wayne
D. Wayne Woollard CPBE o=iii=<()
Pat Greco
writes (cautionary note);
Hi Dan. I like your record of flying time on your coupe. I will
however say that trying to fly until the wing tanks are empty is not
recommended. Since there are several different versions of tanks and
connections the fuel flow may not be even and you may use more of your
center tank than you think and the gage on the center tank is not
calibrated. I have noticed that the fuel does not always flow evenly
from wing tank to wing tank on the systems that run the overflow from the
center tank to only the left tank on the crossover at the bottom. This
bothers me and I am installing the latest system that is made different.
I would not recommend anyone who is not experienced and knows his plane to
try this record.
I have had the experience of getting to an airport and seeing the center
tank gas gage almost at the bottom. Very scary. Good thing I was
very close to the airport. After banking to the left and entering
downwind I leveled off and the center tank level started to come back up.
I had plenty of gas left in both wing tanks. At least 5 gallons in
each.
My policy for flying is to fly for two hours, stop, gas up, and rest
for the next leg. I also do not know if it is a good idea to run the
fuel pump dry. Could this ruin the diaphragm and valves? Is the
gas being aerated when the pump is pumping air? I would not make
a practice of this. Have a good time flying. Might be a good
idea to share this with the rest of the gang. Pat
July 2009 – Dan Hall
This seems like the appropriate time to tell my story as a sign off as Region 7 Director. As you already know, I've been the volunteer 'Director' for Region 7 of the EOC for about 5 years now. I'm no writer or even an editor however I've done my best for EOC Region 7, with the newsletters and events scheduling. I hope you've enjoyed my newsletters, hope they've helped you stay current on events and what our extended 'Couper family & friends are up to, and hopefully brought us all a bit closer together in some ways.
I am keenly aware that there are many 'Coupers out there with MUCH more interesting stories than my own, and I genuinely hope that they will choose to contribute their own personal stories to future newsletters, as I have done, so we all can learn from them and share in their life & 'Couper experiences. So, how about it folks...?
Here's my (Dan Hall's) story;
I've lived in California all of my life including; San Jose, Santa Cruz, Petaluma, and SoCal / 'The OC' in Aliso Viejo. No one in my family had any interest in aviation however; my 'interest' started early - my mother had to pretend the spoon was an airplane to get to me to eat as a baby (true!). As a child I was the one that looked skyward whenever a plane was heard overheard. Hey I started my bad habit young, what can I say?!
I grew up watching the space race broadcast on TV, vividly remember the broadcasts, especially Apollo 13 and the moon landing, and like all kids of that time dreamed of being an astronaut.
From 1969 to 1985 I lived in Petaluma, about a mile from the old "Sky Ranch" airport, and rode my bicycle out there often. I'd hang out by the fence and watch the airplanes take-off & land, or sit by the approach end as the planes came in to land. Severe hay-fever allergy symptoms during springtime in Petaluma nearly caused me to give up on my dream of flying, which was very depressing to me at that point in my life (severe allergies often disqualified individuals from flying in the military or airlines, and I didn't see myself being able to afford to fly any other way).
I tried to start flying while attending Junior College at SRJC, but was working my way through school and didn't have enough money for school and flying, so I had to stop flying after only about 10 hours.
Next was San Jose State University to major in Aeronautical Operations (Flight Ops) in 1981, and earned my BS degree in 1984. I managed to make the Dean's List, and Dean's Honor List while at SJSU. Summers I continued working to make money to pay for my education.
After I received my degree, I applied to the Air Force and Navy as a pilot candidate, was accepted by the Navy and shipped off to AOCS in Pensacola in 1985. Just a few days into the program I was 'NAMI-whammied" (disqualified from the Pilot slot) due to 20/25 vision. Until that point my vision had been 20/20, but apparently my vision was beginning to decline in my mid 20's. I was offered a navigator slot however; my heart just wasn't in it, so I opted out & received an honorable discharge from the Navy.
I returned home very depressed and not sure what I was going to do for a career, but determined to achieve my dream of flying somehow.
I moved from Petaluma to SoCal / OC in late 1985 to take a job with Yamaha Motors at the Corporate office, and married my High School sweetheart. By 1987 I was taking flying lessons at AFI out of Fullerton Airport. AFI was and is a nice family run business. I received my private Pilot license and went on to earn my instrument rating in 1990.
In 1990 I reluctantly left Yamaha Motor Corp for a better opportunity at Mitsubishi Electronics America, Inc. The increase in pay was too big to pass up. That raise helped to pay to build time, and for my Commercial Pilot license in 1991/1992. In 1992 I was working towards my Certified Flight Instructor (CFI) rating, with the intention of moving to a career in flying from the civil aviation side. However an unexpected separation & divorce forced me to reconsider my plans for financial reasons. I never did complete the CFI or move into flight instruction as I had hoped. However I also did not give up on my dream of flying.
I received a promotion in late 1992 and kept flying as much as I could afford. In 1998 I received another promotion and a raise large enough that I felt I could splurge and actually realize my dream and purchase a modest airplane (YAHOO!).
Of course I had been dreaming and reading about airplanes for many years, and had been researching aircraft types in earnest for a couple of years. I was looking at Cessna 150's, 140's, older 172's, Piper Cherokee 140's, Grumman Travelers, and Ercoupes. The price and cost of ownership were major factors for me. However so was safety and FUN.
I had seen Don Wollard & Gary Dallugge in Ercoupe N3968H; knew it was a good plane, one that could be trusted to be safe and provide good service, and it just happened to come on the market just as I was beginning my search. I had flown the other types before as rentals, but not the Ercoupe. One flight in 68H with Don along the coast with the windows down (!) sold me on 68H. She was going to be my (first) airplane !!!
When I purchased / adopted 68H I began to learn about my new 'extended family', which included 68H's prior owners like Bob Owens (he and His wife June co-owned 68H back in the 50's), and the Ercoupe Owners Club & members. Of course this included Gary Dallugge, who had played a major role in rebuilding 68H for Don in 1994.
Over a decade of wonderful "Ercoupe Adventures" followed. Is there such a thing as an 'affair' with an airplane? If so, I had one with 68H.
I flew 68H up to Petaluma often to visit my parents, my grandmother while she was alive, and my sister and nephew while they were living near my parents (my brother-in-law was stationed over-seas at the time). 68H and I flew to every Fly-In I could; the last Porterville Moonlight Fly-In, the Merced Antique Fly-In (this was my favorite and I attended each year it was held), Watsonville, Moffet Field, Copper State, Casa Grande Antique Fly-In, the Golden West Fly-in, McMinnville Antique Fly-In, Arlington Fly-In, and of course EAA Oshkosh in 2003! 68H won numerous (8+) awards for 'Best Ercoupe', and one award at Copperstate for '2nd Place Classic' (all aircraft types from 1945 to 1965).
68H and I also participated in a number of cross country Air Races including the Copper State Dash and Golden West Air Race, and did quite well in our class with a 3rd, 2nd, and two 1st place finishes. Basically the air races were an excuse to fly cross country to the Fly-In with lots of interesting company. It was highly entertaining, and the radio chatter between the race pilots was often one of the best parts of the event; picture a bunch of smart guys & gals with a sense of humor, WAY too much time on their hands, and a radio to broadcast across nearly half a state !!! Those air races also helped to hone flying skills, which was really the point and a great reason to participate in the fun.
Along the way I have met many 'Coupers and 'aviation people', many of whom I am fortunate to call friends. How many other places today can one drop their wallet (cash & all) and have it returned hours later 100% intact ??? Aviation people are just like that. Aviation people are an honest and generous group, and most also have very interesting life stories to tell, but also tend to be very low key and humble about themselves.
There have been many opportunities for me to learn with 68H and the Ercoupe Group, and I've enjoyed them all. 68H enabled me to finally achieve a life long dream of flying my very own personal airplane. I was very fortunate to own 68H, and after 11 years I wouldn't change a thing. In some ways 68H and our experiences have become part of me and my life, and I cherish those experiences. To me 68H is more than a mechanical thing, she has a 'spirit' all her own that I hope she will be able to share & enjoy with others for many years to come.
Like nearly everyone, at times I wished for better climb and load carrying, a bit more speed in headwinds (I've landed in NorCal after mid-night on at least two occasions due to late starts, weather diversions, and strong headwinds), and have been thinking about a plane that was also as simple & economical as the Coupe. That's a tough one. As I met more and more RVators (people who build & fly Van's RV kit aircraft), I became increasing interested in the RV's.
On June 6th Curtis Smith 'adopted' my beloved little 68H, and took her off to her new home in NM.
Two weeks later I purchased / adopted RV-6A, N670SB from Barry Lippert in Merced.
So now I've made the move from a Couper to an RVator. I've gone from a beautiful and unique custom classic 'show plane', to an RV 'go plane'. It's just a different kind of flying, but most importantly it's still basically fun flying at heart. I look forward to many new adventures and experiences, and more learning. I hope to be living and flying into my 80's and at some point may return to the Coupe when I'm ready to slow down and once again cruise at 100 MPH with the windows down on a warm summer evening. That's about as good as it gets.
Now I have a new airplane and I'm sure I will love it however; it will never 'replace' my first airplane; Ercoupe N3968H.
I'll look forward to seeing you again and renewing our friendships.
Blue skies and tail winds to all my brothers and sisters in the
Coupe family.
As a friend says; Life begins at 50...........................knots !
Dan Hall
1947 Ercoupe 415CD N3968H (1998 to 2009)
RV-6A N670SB
(2009 - ??)
>Region 7 SoCal Ercouper Dr. Kris, his wife Mary, and their Ercoupe made the news in the San Diego Union-Tribune news paper on September 7th, 2006. Here's proof that it's never too late in life for love & romance, and flying off into the sunset together! Don't miss the wonderful short story / article about two kind & generous people that are members of our group. Read more below or @ http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/northcounty/20060907-9999-1mi7couple.html
>My name is Art Pauly. I live in Roseville, CA and did most of my flying out of Lincoln airport. I received my license in 1970 and have flown Cessnas, Pipers, helicopters and yes Ercoupes. I did four years in the California State Military Reserve flying light observation aircraft. My story is one that is still told around Lincoln Airport ( maybe even Beale AFB tower ). About 16 years ago I had a restored 1946 C/D. It was a beautiful aircraft ( 3540H ). I had a good friend who was in the Airforce and invited me to display my Ercoupe at the annual Beale AFB open house. Now anyone who turns down an invitation to fly into an Airforce base is nuts. Another friend of mine named Rich had a Loehle 5151 2/3 scale Mustang. That aircraft is a fabric covered wood replica of a P-51. It has a Rotax 506 and cruises at 65 MPH. We had a lot of fun flying together. It’s not often an Ercoupe driver gets to mix it up with a P-51. Rich was also invited. We took off bright and early for the 35 mile flight north to Beale from Lincoln. Rich went first since I was faster. I caught him enroute and was first into the pattern at Beale. I called “ Beale tower, Ercoupe 40H, abeam the tower for right downwind runway 15( or maybe 16, I’m not sure ). “ Ercoupe 40H, cleared to land” was the reply. Then Rich called,” experimental Mustang………. Abeam the tower following the Ercoupe for landing”, Now, a 5151 from the ground looks like a real P-51 until you see it going very slow and hear the very distinctive sound of the Rotax. The next thing I hear is a frantic voice “ Ercoupe 40H, Make and immediate 360 to the left, there is a P-51 right on your tail”. Knowing that you do what the controller says and thinking that a 13 ft. prop was about to chew me up, I immediately broke left. About half way around my turn it dawned on me that the controller saw Rich and the 5151. Well I landed behind Rich and we both laughed and wondered what that controller thought when he saw the P-51 land at 45MPH. We never did find out but Rich and I still talk about it.
That was followed about two months later when I displayed the Ercoupe at the Travis AFB open house. I landed my Ercoupe at Travis AFB on their 13,000 ft. runway into a 20kt. Headwind. Now you know we always land on the numbers especially with the Airforce is watching. I had to taxi the remaining 12,000 feet. All I kept hearing was “Ercoupe 40H please expedite your taxi”. There are no taxi ways since that runway handles C-5’s which need most of that 13,000 ft.
Art Pauly
YOUR STORY HERE..... !!! (Yes, YOU!) A "Member Profile" or bio section will be included periodically so we can learn a bit more about some of the members of our group. Do you have a story to tell…? We’d like to hear it! (Please share your member profile...we'd like to learn more about our members) Email me lasprite@cox.net
The Ercouper of the month is Barry Wells & Ward Marsh, with this months story as told by Ward Marsh; "The Restoration of Ercoupe NC93337". Thanks to Barry & Ward for putting at least two more wonderful Coupe back in the air again where they belong!! What a beautiful Coupe, and thanks to Ward for sharing this story with us !!!
"The Restoration of Ercoupe NC93337".
HOW IT ALL CAME TO PASS
First and foremost, this restoration would not have been possible without the trust, friendship, sponsorship and support of Barry B. Wells of Vacaville, CA. We met through my younger brother Ben, also a pilot (and restorer of a Czech-built Yak 52) in 2001. Ben and I had planned a hanger party in Ben’s hanger when Barry offered his hanger (somewhat larger and better appointed than Ben’s) as a venue. As Ben worked for Barry, he felt that we should accept the offer, though I had some considerations. On the appointed day, I showed up at Barry’s hanger to find him lying on his back on the black and white tiled floor, hooking up the propane bottles on a new barbeque that he had purchased just for the occasion. I got out of my truck and started to give Barry some good-natured guff about taking over OUR party when a beautifully polished Ercoupe with purple trim caught my eye.
‘Hey, you’ve got an Ercoupe!’ I declaimed.
‘No’ Barry answered, ‘I’ve got SIX of them!’
‘What are you going to do with them?’ I asked.
‘Restore them’, quoth he.
Since I was looking for a project, I asked if he needed any help, hoping that I might get to fly the completed result. I’ve had a special place in my heart for Ercoupes since about age nine when I built a Comet stick-and-paper model Ercoupe. There was something about the streamline era lines of them that has always intrigued me…
A few days later, Barry offered a rare, if not priceless, opportunity to me. If I would do the ‘wrenching’, he’d supply the airframe and parts, and upon the completion of the project, would make me a co-owner. I mulled his offer over for all of five seconds, and gladly accepted! The following Saturday we met and sealed the deal with one of Barry’s exuberant and powerful handshakes. Thus began the refurbishment of Ercoupe NC93404 s/n 727, later to become AirVenture 2005’s ‘Outstanding Ercoupe’.
Skip forward a bit. After completing NC93404, and having flown about 300 hours in it to Barry’s 4 (3 of which were with me) he offered me the opportunity to finish the refurbishment of NC93337 s/n 660 under the same terms. I again gladly accepted. A few months into the project, he dropped by my work hanger and pointed out that it would be silly for each of us to own half of two airplanes, and suggested that upon completion of NC93337, I choose which one I’d like to keep, and he would take the other as his own. I thought about it a bit, and told him that I’d just as soon keep NC93404 for sentimental reasons, and he should take NC93337, as with my increased knowledge and skills, I felt sure that it would turn out the better of the two, and that it would repay my debt of gratitude for his believing in me and offering such a opportunity.
Over the course of 3 ½ years, I stripped NC9337 down to a bare fuselage, repaired and refurbished virtually every system, replaced corroded rear spars in the outer wing panels, re-covered them, replaced each and every wire, fuel and brake line with new, serviced or replaced every bearing and rod end, replaced 90% of the hardware with new, replaced corroded ribs in the wing-walk, replaced a previously damaged and poorly repaired belly skin, epoxy-primed the airframe inside and out, built new engine baffles, overhauled the landing gear, replaced all glass, and painted her in the red-on-white scalloped livery that she now sports, finally installing a brand new Airtex interior.
Throughout the entire process, Barry, without question or complaint deferred to my judgment and preferences, including the paint scheme. Early this year (2008) as NC93337 neared completion, he told me that since I had ‘put my heart and soul’ into NC93337’s restoration, I should take the radio, transponder and Garmin GPSMap 295 out of NC93404, install them into NC93337, and keep her as my own.
Whoa! Time Out! This was not our deal!
My intention had always been to give Barry my best work as proof of my thanks. It took me some time to realize that Barry, with failing health, wanted NC93337 to have a home with someone who REALLY cared about her, would treat her as the Lady that she is, and would spread the ‘good word’ about the many virtues of one of the most influential aircraft that General Aviation has ever known. I realized that I would be niggardly to refuse his offer, so joyously accepted.
Barry’s name will always remain just below the co-pilot’s canopy rail for as long as I own NC93337.
I have come to know that an aircraft restoration, though the actual work may be accomplished by only one individual, is never a solo project. I have been extremely fortunate to have had a host of talented, knowledgeable, and willing mentors who have supported me when the project seemed to be overwhelming. Foremost among them are:
· SEAN DeROSIER: Late airshow pilot, A&P/IA, and my mentor through the refurbishment of NC93404. Sean taught me fabric work and painting, and brought my level of craftsmanship to a higher plane.
· WILLIAM DEKKER: A&P/IA and a recipient of the FAA’s ‘Charles Taylor Award’ for AMT’s who have served more than 50 years in the industry. Bill made himself available for many progressive inspections and shared much of his life-time accumulated aviation lore with me.
· THOMAS MITCHELL: A&P and director of Solano Community College’s School of Aeronautics. Tom is the most meticulous sheet-metal mechanic I have ever known, and encouraged me to embrace aircraft sheet-metal work with passion.
· JEFFERY SHARMAN: A&P/IA, RV-builder, aircraft salver. I have learned to ‘steal with my eyes’ from Jeff, ie: learn new ways to do things by watching others. Jeff used to retrieve damaged airplanes from the ‘bush’ in South Africa and often had to find low-tech and innovative solutions to return the airplanes (and himself) safely to a repair facility.
· RUSTY MAYES: A&P/IA, operator of a limited FBO at our home KVCB (Nut Tree Airport, Vacaville, CA). Rusty has schooled me profoundly in the intricacies and verbiage of documenting AD compliance and writing FAA Form 337’s, supporting my pursuit of my own A&P license.
My heartfelt thanks go to all of them, and the many members of EAA who have shared their own restoration and homebuilding experiences with me.
Ward ‘Cleaver’ Marsh, EAA #693600, July 2008
Percy Wood, based in Roswell, New Mexico.
I am
currently "between Ercoupes," but keep my rescue going, looking for Ercoupes
perhaps in dire straights that I can get into good, new, loving homes.
I received the Pilots Rating (PPSEL) in 1976 after owning a Cessna 150 for
almost 2 years. I continued with that plane for a dozen years after
that. Sold it when my job kept me moving around and the plane was
inconvenient to take along. Was without an airplane for 5 years, then
purchased an Ercoupe from the Used Ercoupe Lot in Tucumcari.
One of the things Ercoupe related I am happiest about is the many web pages
I made up and shared with others via Ercoupe.Org. They were all about
the fun of flying, and bring fond memories every time I visit.
I am currently entering my last year of A&P school at Eastern New Mexico
University at Roswell. Of course, I'm majoring in Ercoupes.
Percy
ERCOOP - the Ercoupe Rescue Cooperative:
http://www.dfn.com/eaachapter1193/ERChomePage.htm
Wayne Woollard - former Region 7 Director;
I have been Flying small aircraft for over 50 years. Learned to "legitimately" fly in the late 50's while I lived in Florida, and worked as an Engineer/Announcer before they began calling them Disk Jockey's.
I returned to Salinas California like the "Joads" in 1965 following the death of my charismatic Boss in a Lear Jet crash. He had been experiencing fuel transfer problems on a flight from Montgomery, AL to Miami, and along about Orlando he could no longer hold the full wing up with aileron at any safe landing speed, resulting in a fiery, tumbling crash that resulted in the death of his Secretary, one of the Company Attorneys, himself, and the Brennan Broadcasting Company.
California had always been my home, I only left to join the Navy during the Korean War. I had every intention of returning, it just took about 13 years. I stayed on the air till the late 70's, and traded out flight time with local Air Academy's. There were plenty of places to obtains structured flying lessons, due to the large number of returning Veterans who took lessons on the GI Bill. My main occupation was in Radio Engineering, and I hung out my shield and began to work more regionally. This resulted in many necessities of flight, and late in the 90's I decided to buy my own airplane. The wife and I were driving around airports one weekend and ended up looking at an Ercoupe in Lakeport. We bought it knowing nothing about Ercoupes, Annuals, Pre-inspections, AD's or flight safety. It was annulled at Lakeport, and I flew it home to Salinas Non Stop with a leaky gas line that continued to fill my right shoe with gasoline. We were quickly smartened up about aircraft ownership, and responsibilities, and overhauled that little airplane completely, complete with an O-200 engine. By this time I had joined the Coupers with Zig Dawid as the region 7 Director. We had a mimeographed single page monthly newsletter crammed with ideas and places to fly. This was way before the internet, and we would place and receive many phone calls concerning "Coupdom" almost every day.
I was involved in an "Off Airport" landing on Cinco de Mayo, 1991 and I flipped 99893 onto it's back in a plowed field south of King City, CA. Before I even healed up properly, Grandma and my best friend Gary Tuovinen, had me back in a 1966 Alon. See!! I had a chance to get out of Ercoupe's, and chose not to! This poor little Alon had been sitting at the Santa Monica Airport, "Clover Field," for 14 years! Just sitting there, and I taxied it out to fly it home, Grandma bravely went with me. The compass stayed at the same heading, it had dried out years ago, and the radio would just barely reach the tower. I have no idea of what route we took. Gary took off from Santa Monica in his 182, and we never saw him again till three hours later in Salinas. Through the efforts of others, such as Patty Wagstaff, Univair, and the EOC, 99893 was completely restored in Denver, CO. and was given to an Aerobatic pilot in Lithuania, who was injured in an accident at almost the same time as mine. I was able to fly that airplane all over the United States and deliver it to Europe in the great Summer of 1992.
Zig came down with a debilitating Cancer and the Directorship of Region Seven moved around for a couple of years till Charlie Eck convinced me I should do it, there was no election, no challengers, no ballot stuffing, no nothing, just "Here it is, a box full of coupons for door prizes and some old expired fly in decals and sew ons'! Gary Dullagge was the Southern California Wing Leader, Joe Chitty in the North, and Max Doubrava for all of Nevada. I began publishing and mailing a monthly Region 7 Newsletter. It had a snappy little title "The Region 7 Newsletter!" We went through a lot of things together during my Director duration. The Swiss Cheese Wing AD. The Kalispell National Convention, Columbia Fly In's
The California Nationals at Salinas. We had some pretty good times together. I'm gonna slap out a list of names, that have passed through.
Joe Jacoby (The
Moose)
Joe and Ruth Brooks
Tom Carson
Jim Plessas
Jack and Marie Compare
Buz Chadwick
Bob Keith
Mr. Wood and the "Donald Duck Ercoupe"
Rick Dozier
Tona Smith
Sandy Bilewitch
Bob Watson
Just to name a few
As some of you know I had a visitor that came to stay about this time. Cody came into our lives and an FCC rule change brought about the conclusion of a great many Broadcast Construction permits, and my Business became very chaotic. I tried to hang on to all the fun things in my life by racing the Alon in all seven of the Copperstate Dashes, I never won, one, but I came close! I continued to race the Coupe until they were discontinued.
Rather than see the Region Seven enter into a decline because I was unable to devote any time to it, I asked Joe Brooks to finish out my uncompleted term of a few months, Joe agreed, and I dropped out of the Ercoupe Owners Club for a few years in order to get my business problems resolved. I finally did so and retired in 1999 or 2000 I forget which. I continued to have great problems with the North Monterey County School District, and in 2003 we moved to Kingsburg, California to alleviate that particular problem. It turned out to be the best move I ever made. Cody is now a Freshman in High school and maintaining a very good grade point average.
I became aware of the National Aeronautics Association, and the city to city speed record histories about this time, and noted that the Transcontinental Speed record for C1-B, propeller driven aircraft (1,000 to 2,000 Lb. gross takeoff weight) was 20 years old and only 18 Km, per hour. I knew I could do better than that, so called upon my best friend, Gary again and we planned a true transcontinental. Great Circle from as far West to as far East, and still remain in the United States. We took off one morning in June of 2,000 from Salinas, CA through Nevada over Great Salt Lake, and Casper, WY, on up the Upper Peninsula of Michigan into Canada to North Bay and on to Eastport Maine. We beat the old record by over 30 miles per hour. The next year, 2001 We attempted a North/South record from Pt Barrow, Alaska, site of Wiley Post and Will Rogers demise, to Key West Florida. We missed that record due to not achieving a total airspeed equal to the "Minimum control airspeed of the aircraft type" or 35 Mph, a brand new NAA Rule of which we were unaware. Our average for the 8,000 miles was 33.8 Mph. Not to be outdone we attempted to capture one more record, (This one still stands) of East/West Transcontinental. from Kitty Hawk, NC during the Anniversary of Flight Year, 2003, to Salinas, CA.
So much for record breaking achievements, they are very expensive, and the thrill doesn't last long. There is plenty of thrill, nonetheless I have not done as much flying since I moved over here, but I still have the Airplane and I'm still ready to go. Grandma and I spend a great deal of our time in making sure Cody achieves a good education, and is presented with a wholesome lifestyle. I am a local Planning Commissioner and a Member of two district Hospital Boards, I also devote quite a bit of time to experimenting with Antenna design, and Broadcast development work.
D. Wayne Woollard
CPBE
o=iii=()
July 2009 - Dan Hall, N3968H
Well, since this is my last newsletter and N3968H has been adopted by Curtis Smith in NM, it's time for me to share a bit about N3968H & her history, and our adventures together over the past 11 years. Much of the past 11 years has been covered in my personal story, so some of those things will not be repeated here. Please also refer to my story (Dan Hall), as 68H and I have had 11 years of experiences, and our stories are really shared during that time (1998 to 2009).
Ercoupe N3968H was 'born' in Maryland on May 6th, 1947. That was about 12 years before I was born, and I know that because it says so in her log book. the ERCO test pilot who made the entry that day was Sidney Brewer.
She has been owned by a number of individuals during her life, among them Bob & June Owens and their partners the Wrights (1950's), the Wrights owned 68H into the 60's, Wayne Olson (1970's & 80's), Don Wollard (1990's), and Dan Hall (1998 to 2009). There were others as well. I was privileged to meet and get to know the Owens, the Wrights, and the Wollard's.
68H has been known by a few different nick names including; "The Golden Nugget" (Wayne Olson) and 'Tweety Bird' (Dan Hall, prior to a complete strip & re-finish).
In the 1990's Don Wollard & Gary Dallugge undertook a rebuild of 68H, putting newly rebuilt flush riveted wings with flush mounted access panels on her, a customized instrument panel, a custom interior, and rebuilding many systems including replacement of a run out C-85 engine, with an overhauled O-200.
In 1998 Dan Hall adopted 68H with 160 hours SMHO, and having been completely gone through and OH'd / rebuilt by Gary Dallugge for Don. At that time 68H was painted white, yellow, and bronze.
In 2003 N3968H was stripped down to bare metal and repainted in white, blue, and gold, and a new custom tan leather interior installed.
While owned by Dan Hall, 68H has won 14+ awards including placing in 4 air races, one 2nd place award for best Classic, and 8+ awards for 'Best Ercoupe'.
In 2003 68H was placed on display in front of the EAA Oshkosh, VAA Red Barn to represent the Ercoupe type & club. (photo included)
A photo of 68H flying past the Golden Gate Bridge in 2006 in her new colors was selected as "Photo of the week' by AvWeb. (Photo included)
In May of 2009, 68H won Best Ercoupe at Watsonville (3rd win there).
I've really LOVED owning, flying, and caring for 68H for the past 11 years and 1500 hours. It has been a wonderful experience with many, many fun flying adventures.
Something I can't fully express, but will try;
To me 68H is MUCH more than the sum of her parts, she represents the realization of my own dream of owning a personal airplane, as I'm sure she has for most of her other owners / caretakers over the last 60+ years. To me 68H has her own 'spirit', and I'm sure many other Coupers feel the same about their Ercoupes.
In June of 2009, 68H was 'adopted' by Curtis Smith of NM, and was flown to her new home there where she will have her own hangar and a good caretaker for many years to come.
I sincerely hope 68H is still flying safely and bring smiles to people faces when she's 100+ years old (37+ years from now), and beyond !!!
>Dr. Kris shared this about his Ercoupe N2617H
I have just completed a 6 mo. total restoration of ERCOUPE 2617-H, using JACK BLOCK's America Aviation, Fallbrook. He is a super Ercoupe mechanic! Has been keeping my Coupe going for 20 years. Has an A-1 Shop at FBK. Just completed my Coupe rebuild. 2617-H was a 3 yr winner at Watsonville Air Show back in 83-4-5. I bought the plane at the close of year 3. Have owned it since '85. Dr. Kris Christofferson, Escondido (Please refer to attached PDF file for more!)
>We had the
Coupe down for about 10 weeks to complete the new Paint & Polish scheme.
We're very pleased with the outcome of the finished product. It's truly a
Coupe like no other The primary objective was to offer a modern yet
classic/vintage look, while minimizing the upkeep of polished aluminum. In
reality, only "approximately" 20% of the entire aircraft's surface area is
polished aluminum. The primary paint color is Ford 2008 Vintage Copper, and
the secondary paint color is Ford 2008 Dark Vintage Copper. IMO, very rich
modern colors that clearly offer an antiquated flavor! We'll probably
go with a new Airtex interior this coming January. For now ... we just want
to fly!
Enjoy, Richard
Pictures:
http://s43.photobuc ket.com/albums/ e380/n99209/
Short
Video:
http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=bLrQWq0aE48
>Courtesy of Buzz Dolim;
I bought my 'Coupe from a doctor-friend of mine. We used to fly radio control aircraft together. He was moving to Costa Rica to teach medicine, and he offered the 'Coupe to me for $2500.00. Couldn't turn that down. That was in May, 1985.
I've had the engine overhauled four times, and I've put over 4000 hours on the airplane. The total airframe time is about 7000 hrs. Having a good A&P/IA is essential to keeping it flying, and I have been fortunate to have Jim Watt. Buzzzzz
YOUR ERCOUPEs' STORY HERE...!!!! (Yes, your Ercoupe!) Along the same lines, an "Ercoupe of the Month" piece would be of interest. We’d like to hear your Ercoupe’s story. Email me @ LASprite@cox.net (Please write up your Ercoupes' story and send it in. Our airplanes each have a life time of history & memories to share, so let's hear about yours.)