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Glen Ward wrote: > If it was so great in a crosswind, then maybe it would not have a proven > bad record of running off the side of the runway! I am so sick and > tired of hearing what a great crosswind plane that thing is. Turning on > the ground is yawing, and it should be hooked to a seperate rudder > control. Fred Weick was no genius on this one. This was not his big > invention - in fact it was a fad in the 30's among airplane designers > wanting to make flying cars. It is not even a sensible idea because we > are talking about two different axes here. It works fine most of the > time until it catches you wrong one day, and then it will scare you > good. Gotta disagree with you, Glen, on almost everything you wrote. Fred was a genius on this. In the air, there's no need for separate pedals in a properly designed airplane. In the dark ages before we figured out about tail droop being such a problem, a LOT of Coupes had drooping tails. When I first got my Coupe, 21 years ago, almost all the coupes at the fly-ins had that tail-dragger ready-to-take-off attitude when sitting on the ramp. At the moment of touchdown, if the landing gear is poorly maintained and the tail droops, the up-wind wing can lift. When the up-wind wing lifted, people tried turning the yoke to bring it down and that resulted in a sharp turn off the runway. Now, no problem. Just do the normal maintenance and, if necessary, get the shims so the tail is 75" high. Then Coupes behave VERY well in crosswinds. I agree with the majority on this one -- I'll take a Coupe in a strong crosswind on a VERY narrow runway before any other general aviation airplane. > Somebody will tell us the story of how God/Fred just happened to > notice how driving with the wheel comes naturally to people, blah blah > blah. That true story accounts for why, in the ERCO pedal kit, the nose wheel stays linked to the yoke -- so you can steer VERY accurately on the ground and, when it hits the fan and you get flustered, you STILL steer correctly. And it works. But, in any other plane, if you come down in a slip and HOLD your foot down on one rudder pedal, not letting up so the nosewheel can caster to align with direction of motion, you will leave the runway or tip over. You just gotta lighten up on the pedal/wheel that controls direction on the ground -- just for the moment the nosewheel needs for that alignment turn -- in ANY plane. > Somebdoy else will tell the 45 knot crosswind story. Rudder > pedals are fine for steering on the ground, unless of course they are > Ercoupe pedals. Having or not having pedals doesn't greatly affect Coupe crosswind performance. True, the Alon pedal kit lets you rotate the ailerons to kill the residual up-wind wing lift. But with the normal on-the-ground tail-high/low-angle-of-attack attitude, it just isn't a problem. I do have an Alon kit and, though I've never tried it, I'd bet my life on a successful outcome with a 45 kt crosswind -- if I had to. But in those conditions, I'd a lot rather divert to an airport where the crosswind component is a comfortable 30-35 kts, thank you. (By the way, when the crosswind component gets over 15 mph, I level the wings and land crabbed like any other Coupe.) > Also the plane does land too darn fast. The normal touch-down speeds of 45-60 mph are higher than some competitors and we are at a disadvantage there. I flew for years out of an airport with 1800' of usable grass (with no obstructions) with no problem. More challenging was the airport with 2400' of asphalt (and obstructions at both ends) with enough of a slope that landing on 31 took more brakes than I liked. > It comes down > at a ferocious rate if you let it get slow. Yep, sort of. At 70-80 mph indicated, I get my best glide ratio and it's comparable to other planes. At 65, it's like adding 10 degrees of flaps to the 172 I trained in. At 60, it's like adding 20 degrees of flaps to the 172 I trained in. At 55, it's like adding 30 degrees of flaps to the 172 I trained in. At 50, it's like adding 40 degrees of flaps to the 172 I trained in. Cessna later took away the 40 degree flap option -- too steep for some pilots and those pilots didn't handle it well. I know the speed/sink-rate performance of my Coupe and use it deliberately. I know that, if I'm low, pulling up on the nose won't stretch my glide, it'll worsen it. Instead, I drop the nose a bit and get a better glide ratio at the higher speed. If it's not a zero-power emergency, I'll add a bit of power sometimes -- but it's a fun challenge to do it right every time, without needing to add power. "Takes guts"? No. (Does take some brains.) > I think it is a great > plane, but I hate to hear the same dubious "advantages" recited over and > over by enthusiasts. You can't fly an Ercoupe like most old planes, > that is all I was saying. True, you can't fly a Coupe like most planes. You shouldn't be flying ANY plane like "most planes." You should be flying it as IT was designed to fly. > It won't slow down worth a heck and that > makes your manuevers wider. Glen Ward Huh? Yeah, it's a lower-drag airframe than a Tri-Pacer or some others. That's why we go the same speed on 15-30 hp less than some other planes. Being high and fast on final will mean a go-around or you'll have to use one of the Coupe techniques in the Ercoupe Maneuvers book. Sure isn't any big deal, though. ----- Here are some comments on your other questions, Patrick. Someone told you it's not good for sight-seeing because of the low wing? Looking down at a particular object on the ground on my side of the plane isn't as good because of the wing -- it's true. When I took the TV news cameraman up to shoot the natural-gas storage fire, he was favorably impressed -- as we banked around the 400' flame I adjusted the bank angle so he never had the wing in the picture and there was no strut to get in the way. But when I get into those high wing planes, I get claustrophobia. Yeah, on MY side I can see something close below me but I can't see over the OTHER side any better than in a Coupe. And I can't see up and around hardly at all in those planes (high OR low wing). There are some new designs coming out with visibility as good as a Coupe's and when I can afford the $100,000 I might consider getting one. But can THEY fly open cockpit? "Climb with 2 people is scary on a hot day." If you have a low-powered engine and a cruise prop, that can be true. Because of my personal weight, I fly my Coupe with a 7146 prop that gives me very good take-off and better-than-Coupe-average climb. It limits my cruise to about 100-102 mph, though. A good choice for me. I've never needed more than half the runway to take-off except once. Normally mid-field is my go/no-go decision point -- I SHOULD be off by then so if I'm not then I want to stop and find out why. The one exception was on a day when it was 95 degrees and the grass was too long, there was zero wind, the field was short and my passenger and I made it right at 1400 lb gross weight. I got off the ground as soon as possible and stayed in ground effect till I got to my chosen climb-speed. And we WERE off the ground before my chosen decision point at about 65% of the runway. If you live in a high altitude area, getting an O-200 engine may be worthwhile -- the 15 extra horsepower mostly goes into climb. It's true that a 100-108-114 mph plane (depends on model, etc.) is slow for cross country. But I've had mine to the Atlantic ocean, the Pacific, Florida, southern states, and much of the Canadian border. (Having pedals cramps my knees up after a while.) If I can ever afford a BETTER plane, I'll get one. But for the last 21 years, I don't get spring new-plane-fever because there aren't any better planes, for me, at less than four times the price. You might read the "Why Buy a Coupe" and the "Frequently Asked Questions" on http://www.ercoupe.org which have, I humbly submit, some decent and more detailed discussions of these issues. Ed Burkhead __________________________________________________ To unsubscribe from this list please send mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ___________________________________________________________ T O P I C A The Email You Want. http://www.topica.com/t/16 Newsletters, Tips and Discussions on Your Favorite Topics
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