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#21
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First flight in our "new" Ercoupe...
Jay: Glad to hear you kept your feet dry....Did the airport
and/or its occupants suffer any damage? Nope -- but our FBO sure sold a lot of fuel to all of us getting out of Dodge ahead of the flood waters. I haven't seen that many planes flying out of Iowa City, ever! It was close -- but neither we nor the airport got wet. -- Jay Honeck Iowa City, IA Pathfinder N56993 Ercoupe N94856 www.AlexisParkInn.com "Your Aviation Destination" |
#22
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First flight in our "new" Ercoupe...
congrats on your purchase. I was hot for Ercoupes for several years,
but going to an Ercoupe maintanence seminar at Oshkosh 07 cured me of that. Of course I don't have an A&P for a partner either.... |
#23
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First flight in our "new" Ercoupe...
congrats on your purchase. I was hot for Ercoupes for several years,
but going to an Ercoupe maintanence seminar at Oshkosh 07 cured me of that. Of course I don't have an A&P for a partner either.... Can you share some of what you learned? Other than the wing service bulletin that requires an incredible 17 inspection panels in the bottom of the wing, I haven't heard about any real Ercoupe maintenance bugaboos. It's a remarkably simple aircraft. I helped with the annual inspection, and there was nothing that didn't come apart easily, and everything seemed very robust. It was designed as an "Everyman's Plane" (kinda like the original Volkswagen cars), and was designed to be simple to fly and easy to maintain. Of course, it *is* 60 years old. Luckily, ours has many new parts. -- Jay Honeck Iowa City, IA Pathfinder N56993 Ercoupe N94856 www.AlexisParkInn.com "Your Aviation Destination" |
#24
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First flight in our "new" Ercoupe...
On Jul 2, 12:47*am, "Jay Honeck" wrote:
congrats on your purchase. *I was hot for Ercoupes for several years, but going to an Ercoupe maintanence seminar at Oshkosh 07 cured me of that. *Of course I don't have an A&P for a partner either.... Can you share some of what you learned? *Other than the wing service bulletin that requires an incredible 17 inspection panels in the bottom of the wing, I haven't heard about any real Ercoupe maintenance bugaboos. Mainly intergranular corrosion. I learned that, except for the Alon models, all the Ercoupe spars were made in one batch in the 1940s, whichever year it was that most 'coupes were made (1947?) , and that same batch of spars was passed from type owner to type owner over the years and continued to be used. Now it's turning out that they have significant manufacturing defects (I think having to do with the interface between different metal types) and they are all rotting from the inside out. Since the corrosion is internal and intergranular, it's pretty hard to detect without specialized equipment, and once it can be detected visually, the spar is already a total loss. Also, because it's intergranular, no amount of keeping the spars dry or anti- corrosion coatings will help. Note that this is not the same as the conventional corrosion that prompted the swiss cheese AD, which was thought to be caused by leaks, mouse urine, etc. Like I said that may not be as much of a problem with an A&P for a partner, but it was enough to scare me off. However on the bright side, last year at OshKosh someone announced that he had completed an STC to bring the sport pilot eligible Ercoupe's gross weight up to the sport pilot maximum -- a 60lb increase. I agree with you that the 'coupe is a blast to fly, screw the snobs who hate it because of no rudder pedals, or its ability to land at ANY airspeed (as long as the gear and tail heights are rigged right), or its other "quirky" features -- flying is supposed to be fun, right? However I do sort of agree with your insurance company on training, they are very easy and fun to fly but some things (like xwind handling) are different enough that someone trained on a conventional airplane has to unlearn a few things, or at least do some things that feel very uncomfortable at first (taking off in a left crosswind is, umm, fun). It would probably be easier without years of conventional two-control airplane experience under your belt . |
#25
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First flight in our "new" Ercoupe...
Mainly intergranular corrosion. I learned that, except for the Alon
models, all the Ercoupe spars were made in one batch in the 1940s, whichever year it was that most 'coupes were made (1947?) Big snip Thanks for that. The intergranular corrosion issue is a huge one, and not just for Ercoupes. Cherokee spars have experienced it, too. It's fatal, and expensive to fix. Service bulletin 1006 addresses it, and performance should be a mandatory part of any pre-buy inspection. If it hasn't been done, either do it (it's not hard) or pass on the plane. Luckily, intergranular corrosion is fairly easy to spot, once it's started -- so it's easy to rule out a plane that's got it. Unfortunately, it can be lurking inside any spar, unseen. However on the bright side, last year at OshKosh someone announced that he had completed an STC to bring the sport pilot eligible Ercoupe's gross weight up to the sport pilot maximum -- a 60lb increase. Yep, that's another reason we passed on the LSA Ercoupes. I can tell you right now that if you see two full-grown men flying in a '46 model, that aircraft is over gross. How in the heck any CFI gives instruction in those models is beyond me -- they must just look the other way at the FARs and go fly. However I do sort of agree with your insurance company on training, they are very easy and fun to fly but some things (like xwind handling) are different enough that someone trained on a conventional airplane has to unlearn a few things, or at least do some things that feel very uncomfortable at first (taking off in a left crosswind is, umm, fun). It would probably be easier without years of conventional two-control airplane experience under your belt . I spent some quality time with our insurance policy yesterday, and was delighted to discover that the company had listed ME as "Honeck, Sr" and my son as "Honeck, Jr." Since *I* am "Jr.", and my son is "III", I was mis-reading my insurance requirements to show that I needed a bunch of dual. I don't. So, today we're off to fly the 'Coupe! -- Jay Honeck Iowa City, IA Pathfinder N56993 Ercoupe N94856 www.AlexisParkInn.com "Your Aviation Destination" |
#26
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First flight in our "new" Ercoupe...
On Jul 2, 11:10*am, "Jay Honeck" wrote:
Luckily, intergranular corrosion is fairly easy to spot, once it's started -- so it's easy to rule out a plane that's got it. * Unfortunately, it can be lurking inside any spar, unseen. You mean it's fairly easy to spot once it makes it way out, right? What I learned was that once it's spottable, it's unrepairable because it's worked its way from the inside of the metal to the outside. This may be different between Ercoupes and Cherokees depending on how deep inside the metal the interface is? I'm not an expert, only speaking from a 1 hour seminar at OSH. |
#27
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First flight in our "new" Ercoupe...
Jay Honeck wrote:
With our schedule, that probably won't happen -- but Joe's just too green to fly it in by himself. Maybe next year! Have Joe fly it up the Tuesday or Wednesday before and it's just like flying into any sleepy, controlled field. He can park it in Vintage (almost anywhere he wants!) and set up his pup tent. I'm sure there will be plenty of places he can volunteer while waiting for you to show up at OSH, or if he wants to come to the party one of his parents can fly up to get him the evening he lands. Margy |
#28
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First flight in our "new" Ercoupe...
Have Joe fly it up the Tuesday or Wednesday before and it's just like
flying into any sleepy, controlled field. He can park it in Vintage (almost anywhere he wants!) and set up his pup tent. I'm sure there will be plenty of places he can volunteer while waiting for you to show up at OSH, or if he wants to come to the party one of his parents can fly up to get him the evening he lands. Great idea! We're talking about that right now. He's gonna have to work on his tower procedures, and he's still got to get checked out in the Ercoupe -- but it sounds like a great experience for him. -- Jay Honeck Iowa City, IA Pathfinder N56993 Ercoupe N94856 www.AlexisParkInn.com "Your Aviation Destination" |
#29
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First flight in our "new" Ercoupe...
On 2008-06-28, Jay Honeck wrote:
pull starter seems odd but remember that contemporary aircraft of the Ercoupe -- Taylorcrafts, Luscombes, Cessna 120s -- all had to be hand-propped, so this set up was way ahead of its time. The Cessna 140 had a starter from new (it was the posh version of the 120), with probably a very similar pull handle for starting! Glancing nervously at the wings (that we so recently had moved on a trailer), I was gratified to see no signs of flex or twist. The little plane kept accelerating, slow but sure and we were soon climbing out at a whopping 300 feet per minute. Sedate, to be sure -- but with 420 pounds of "guys on board", and hot weather, we were happy to see even THAT anemic rate of climb. Now imagine crossing the Sierra Nevadas in something like that :-) Our 140 had a cruise prop. I did cross the Sierra Nevada in it. It took about 100 miles distance before I had sufficient altitude after leaving Sacramento! Leaving SLC on a 90 degree day (elevation 4000') was interesting too. To gain extra climb rate, I slope soared the 140 off the mountains. It made a huge difference to the climb rate. The highest airfield I took the 140 into was Four Corners, elevation 6000'. The climb rate was impressively unimpressive. But once at 11000 feet or so, it used 3.5 gph at wide open throttle doing just under 90 kts. -- From the sunny Isle of Man. Yes, the Reply-To email address is valid. |
#30
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First flight in our "new" Ercoupe...
On 2008-06-28, Morgans wrote:
Are you kidding? You going to pull a trailer with the 'coupe, with all of your camping gear in it? g It's possible to travel light! When I had the 140, I got enough gear in it to do a coast to coast camping trip (coast to coast in the US). I didn't have anyone with me, but the right seat was empty bar my charts - I could get everything I needed behind the seat. -- From the sunny Isle of Man. Yes, the Reply-To email address is valid. |
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