[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > Fred Weick's area of study and expertise, before the Ercoupe, was in > propellers. He designed the rudder-peddle-less Ercoupe with the > following design considerations because you can't hold right rudder on > climbout to counter P factor. (1) Engine mount points the thrust of the > crankshaft and prop to the right and down slightly. (2) The twin > vertical fins are wider than the prop and thus out of the prop slipstream > which wraps aroung the fuselage and strikes the side of the vertical fin > on single vertical fin airplanes. The accelerated, spiraling, wind from > the prop goes right between the two verticle fins which are in > undisturbed air on the twin fin Ercoupe. > > I've been told, or read, that these two things designed in by Fred > eliminate the need for us to have to hold right rudder on climbout, made > it possible to leave out the pedals.
Unfortunately, the horizontal stabilizer is still affected by the spiraling flow and (IMHO) the counteracting effect of the canted engine can only provide the proper offset at one speed. Therefore, Ercoupes tend to fly slightly uncoordinated in climbs and descents while Alons require right rudder while climbing and (less) left rudder descending, even though they have the same engine canting and the same empenage as an Ercoupe. In fact, the steepness of the climb determines how much right rudder is needed to keep the ball centered, just like "real airplanes." David N6359V
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