On Apr 2, 11:29 am, "Jay Honeck" wrote:
I simply cannot afford to fly anymore. I am
going inactive as a pilot until my financial situation is good enough
that I can justify it.

That sucks, Dean, but I've got an idea. In fact, I'm executing it myself.

I've gathered together six fellow pilots (most of whom already own other
aircraft) and we're going together to buy an LSA Ercoupe. Total investment
will be (at most) $4K per person. Fuel burn will be 4 - 5 gallons of mogas
per hour.

Mary and I realized that burning 25 gph at takeoff in an airplane that
carries four people at 142 knots and can haul 1460 pounds is great when
you're traveling, but makes little sense when we're flying to a nearby
pancake breakfast. Who cares if you're going more than 90 knots, when it's
the *flying* that is the point?

So, for less than the cost of a motorcycle, we're all going to get an LSA
aircraft. In the long run it will save us money AND be a lot of fun! You
might look into some similar set up?


I had Ercoupe fever until I went to a seminar on them at OshKosh last
year and learned about intergranular spar corrosion. You might want
to look into it if you haven't. All Ercoupe spars (except for the
Alons apparently) were manufactured in one batch in the 1940s and
passed down from company to company. This corrosion results from
manufacturing defects, not environment, so there's no way to prevent
it. Nasty stuff, and virtually undetectable until the plane is no
longer airworthy. Pity, Ercoupes sure are cool (and relatively
affordable).