Ercoupe

Phil J wrote in news:5d15f685-058a-44f2-a9b2-
:

On Mar 11, 10:22*am, Bertie the Bunyip wrote:
Phil J wrote in news:875f835d-861f-4472-80b2-
:







On Mar 9, 3:06*pm, Dan wrote:
On Mar 9, 3:58 pm, Bertie the Bunyip wrote:

Heard of it, never saw one.

Seen a few. There was one for sale on Barnstormers recently.
Bertie

Awful because?

No rudders. Even the ones built by Alon, which had pedals,
didn't
have
decent yaw control.

The big problem with them is, they;re 'idiot proof'. When you
make
something idiot proof, all you do is breed a better class of
idiot.
Idiots are like antibiotic resistant staff infections like that.

Bertie

Hmmm..

Good point. The "spin proof" claim would indicate less than full
control authority, which comes in handy from time to time.

I wonder if there's a way to correlate "improved safety features"
with
"increased accident rate."

Kinda like riding a bike -- the sense of protection a helmet
provides
may encourage risky behavior.

Hmmmm...

Dan

From what I have read, the Ercoupe had a few problems. *If you lost
the engine, it didn't glide worth a damn. *And if you let it get
too
slow on approach it would develope a huge sink rate. *If you didn't
speed up, you couldn't flare enough to arrest the sink rate and you
would slam into the ground.

Actually, the flight manual actually said that if you were to high
and
needed to scrub off altitude, you should pull the stick back into
your
gut and close the throttle. I did it and it does work and is pretty
controllable,but it is very undcomfortable.



As the years went by and the main gear oleos got old, or when the
nose
gear was replaced with a dual-fork strut, they tended to sit too
nose-
high on the ground, and that made them more difficult to land,
especially in crosswinds, because the angle-of-attack stayed too
high
at touchdown.

I think the mains use rubber donuts, but I'm not sure.

Bertie- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

You're right, it was rubber doughnuts. I guess they just got stale as
the years went by.

Good guess on my part then, cuz that's all it was. it was a popular
method of shock absorbption back when. Probably remained on th eairplane
through the Mooney variants at all. Why change what works?

"Bertie the Bunyip" wrote in message
.. .
Phil J wrote in news:5d15f685-058a-44f2-a9b2-
:

On Mar 11, 10:22 am, Bertie the Bunyip wrote:
Phil J wrote in news:875f835d-861f-4472-80b2-
:







On Mar 9, 3:06 pm, Dan wrote:
On Mar 9, 3:58 pm, Bertie the Bunyip wrote:

Heard of it, never saw one.

Seen a few. There was one for sale on Barnstormers recently.
Bertie

Awful because?

No rudders. Even the ones built by Alon, which had pedals,
didn't
have
decent yaw control.

The big problem with them is, they;re 'idiot proof'. When you
make
something idiot proof, all you do is breed a better class of
idiot.
Idiots are like antibiotic resistant staff infections like that.

Bertie

Hmmm..

Good point. The "spin proof" claim would indicate less than full
control authority, which comes in handy from time to time.

I wonder if there's a way to correlate "improved safety features"
with
"increased accident rate."

Kinda like riding a bike -- the sense of protection a helmet
provides
may encourage risky behavior.

Hmmmm...

Dan

From what I have read, the Ercoupe had a few problems. If you lost
the engine, it didn't glide worth a damn. And if you let it get
too
slow on approach it would develope a huge sink rate. If you didn't
speed up, you couldn't flare enough to arrest the sink rate and you
would slam into the ground.

Actually, the flight manual actually said that if you were to high
and
needed to scrub off altitude, you should pull the stick back into
your
gut and close the throttle. I did it and it does work and is pretty
controllable,but it is very undcomfortable.



As the years went by and the main gear oleos got old, or when the
nose
gear was replaced with a dual-fork strut, they tended to sit too
nose-
high on the ground, and that made them more difficult to land,
especially in crosswinds, because the angle-of-attack stayed too
high
at touchdown.

I think the mains use rubber donuts, but I'm not sure.

Bertie- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

You're right, it was rubber doughnuts. I guess they just got stale as
the years went by.

Good guess on my part then, cuz that's all it was. it was a popular
method of shock absorbption back when. Probably remained on th eairplane
through the Mooney variants at all. Why change what works?


Very true, I called and asked the man who owns one--it's donuts.

Peter

"Dudley Henriques" wrote in message ...

I didn't have a whole lot of time in the Coupe but I didn't experience
any specific problems with it. It flew well, handled well in the
pattern, and was stable on the approach. Crosswind was "interesting" but
no big deal really.

--
Dudley Henriques

It was just plain hard to crab all the way in to the flare and landing...

Blueskies wrote:

"Dudley Henriques" wrote in message
...

I didn't have a whole lot of time in the Coupe but I didn't experience
any specific problems with it. It flew well, handled well in the
pattern, and was stable on the approach. Crosswind was "interesting"
but no big deal really.

--
Dudley Henriques

It was just plain hard to crab all the way in to the flare and landing...


It was "interesting" to say the least. I kept wanting to put a wing down
into the wind and press on the brake pedal :-))) In gusts it did
"wander" a bit but nothing critical.

--
Dudley Henriques

"Dudley Henriques" wrote in message ...
Blueskies wrote:

"Dudley Henriques" wrote in message ...

I didn't have a whole lot of time in the Coupe but I didn't experience any specific problems with it. It flew well,
handled well in the pattern, and was stable on the approach. Crosswind was "interesting" but no big deal really.

--
Dudley Henriques

It was just plain hard to crab all the way in to the flare and landing...


It was "interesting" to say the least. I kept wanting to put a wing down into the wind and press on the brake pedal
:-))) In gusts it did "wander" a bit but nothing critical.

--
Dudley Henriques

Straightens right out after touchdown, but then steering it with the wheel was real odd also. X-wind takeoffs are
'different' also. Sorta hold it on, then pop it off, climb a little letting it drift, then turn into the wind, kicking
that brake pedal all the way ;-)

Blueskies wrote:

"Dudley Henriques" wrote in message
...
Blueskies wrote:

"Dudley Henriques" wrote in message
...

I didn't have a whole lot of time in the Coupe but I didn't
experience any specific problems with it. It flew well, handled well
in the pattern, and was stable on the approach. Crosswind was
"interesting" but no big deal really.

--
Dudley Henriques

It was just plain hard to crab all the way in to the flare and
landing...


It was "interesting" to say the least. I kept wanting to put a wing
down into the wind and press on the brake pedal :-))) In gusts it did
"wander" a bit but nothing critical.

--
Dudley Henriques

Straightens right out after touchdown, but then steering it with the
wheel was real odd also. X-wind takeoffs are 'different' also. Sorta
hold it on, then pop it off, climb a little letting it drift, then turn
into the wind, kicking that brake pedal all the way ;-)



That was about it :-))

--
Dudley Henriques

"Blueskies" wrote in message
et...

"Dudley Henriques" wrote in message
...
Blueskies wrote:

"Dudley Henriques" wrote in message
...

I didn't have a whole lot of time in the Coupe but I didn't experience
any specific problems with it. It flew well, handled well in the
pattern, and was stable on the approach. Crosswind was "interesting"
but no big deal really.

--
Dudley Henriques

It was just plain hard to crab all the way in to the flare and
landing...


It was "interesting" to say the least. I kept wanting to put a wing down
into the wind and press on the brake pedal :-))) In gusts it did "wander"
a bit but nothing critical.

--
Dudley Henriques

Straightens right out after touchdown, but then steering it with the wheel
was real odd also. X-wind takeoffs are 'different' also. Sorta hold it on,
then pop it off, climb a little letting it drift, then turn into the wind,
kicking that brake pedal all the way ;-)



I guess I really will have to finagle a ride in the darned thing. It just
isn't really comfortable for me since, if I sit up straight as is normal for
me, I can just about look over the top of the windshield--well, not at the
center, but in front of where I'm sitting.

Peter

Peter Dohm wrote:
"Blueskies" wrote in message
et...
"Dudley Henriques" wrote in message
...
Blueskies wrote:
"Dudley Henriques" wrote in message
...
I didn't have a whole lot of time in the Coupe but I didn't experience
any specific problems with it. It flew well, handled well in the
pattern, and was stable on the approach. Crosswind was "interesting"
but no big deal really.

--
Dudley Henriques
It was just plain hard to crab all the way in to the flare and
landing...

It was "interesting" to say the least. I kept wanting to put a wing down
into the wind and press on the brake pedal :-))) In gusts it did "wander"
a bit but nothing critical.

--
Dudley Henriques
Straightens right out after touchdown, but then steering it with the wheel
was real odd also. X-wind takeoffs are 'different' also. Sorta hold it on,
then pop it off, climb a little letting it drift, then turn into the wind,
kicking that brake pedal all the way ;-)



I guess I really will have to finagle a ride in the darned thing. It just
isn't really comfortable for me since, if I sit up straight as is normal for
me, I can just about look over the top of the windshield--well, not at the
center, but in front of where I'm sitting.

Peter



There's nothing in the regulations banning seat cushions. I used one in
a lot of different airplanes. Tri-Pacers and Colts had high glare
shields. If I remember right, the Ercoupe could seat you a bit low as
well, especially if the seats had been used a lot.
Take an ordinary chair cushion with you and sit on it. That should raise
you up enough to be comfortable.

--
Dudley Henriques

"Dudley Henriques" wrote in message
...
Peter Dohm wrote:
"Blueskies" wrote in message
et...
"Dudley Henriques" wrote in message
...
Blueskies wrote:
"Dudley Henriques" wrote in message
...
I didn't have a whole lot of time in the Coupe but I didn't
experience any specific problems with it. It flew well, handled well
in the pattern, and was stable on the approach. Crosswind was
"interesting" but no big deal really.

--
Dudley Henriques
It was just plain hard to crab all the way in to the flare and
landing...

It was "interesting" to say the least. I kept wanting to put a wing
down into the wind and press on the brake pedal :-))) In gusts it did
"wander" a bit but nothing critical.

--
Dudley Henriques
Straightens right out after touchdown, but then steering it with the
wheel was real odd also. X-wind takeoffs are 'different' also. Sorta
hold it on, then pop it off, climb a little letting it drift, then turn
into the wind, kicking that brake pedal all the way ;-)



I guess I really will have to finagle a ride in the darned thing. It
just isn't really comfortable for me since, if I sit up straight as is
normal for me, I can just about look over the top of the
windshield--well, not at the center, but in front of where I'm sitting.

Peter



There's nothing in the regulations banning seat cushions. I used one in a
lot of different airplanes. Tri-Pacers and Colts had high glare shields.
If I remember right, the Ercoupe could seat you a bit low as well,
especially if the seats had been used a lot.
Take an ordinary chair cushion with you and sit on it. That should raise
you up enough to be comfortable.

--
Dudley Henriques

I think that we may be talking about taking the cushion out, and possibly
substituting a thinner one, so that I would sit a little lower.

Peter :-)

Peter Dohm wrote:
"Dudley Henriques" wrote in message
...
Peter Dohm wrote:
"Blueskies" wrote in message
et...
"Dudley Henriques" wrote in message
...
Blueskies wrote:
"Dudley Henriques" wrote in message
...
I didn't have a whole lot of time in the Coupe but I didn't
experience any specific problems with it. It flew well, handled well
in the pattern, and was stable on the approach. Crosswind was
"interesting" but no big deal really.

--
Dudley Henriques
It was just plain hard to crab all the way in to the flare and
landing...
It was "interesting" to say the least. I kept wanting to put a wing
down into the wind and press on the brake pedal :-))) In gusts it did
"wander" a bit but nothing critical.

--
Dudley Henriques
Straightens right out after touchdown, but then steering it with the
wheel was real odd also. X-wind takeoffs are 'different' also. Sorta
hold it on, then pop it off, climb a little letting it drift, then turn
into the wind, kicking that brake pedal all the way ;-)



I guess I really will have to finagle a ride in the darned thing. It
just isn't really comfortable for me since, if I sit up straight as is
normal for me, I can just about look over the top of the
windshield--well, not at the center, but in front of where I'm sitting.

Peter



There's nothing in the regulations banning seat cushions. I used one in a
lot of different airplanes. Tri-Pacers and Colts had high glare shields.
If I remember right, the Ercoupe could seat you a bit low as well,
especially if the seats had been used a lot.
Take an ordinary chair cushion with you and sit on it. That should raise
you up enough to be comfortable.

--
Dudley Henriques

I think that we may be talking about taking the cushion out, and possibly
substituting a thinner one, so that I would sit a little lower.

Peter :-)



Oh!! I misread the post. I was thinking you were too short. BIG is
another ball game altogether. :-)) A thinner cushion might just do the
trick :-))

--
Dudley Henriques