I had a phone conversation some time back with Mr. Leeon Davis of Midland, TX who designed the Davis DA-2, (remember the one with the Bonanza type tail?), and he said that he had owned an Ercoupe that he modified for long range flights with extra tankage. He modified his Ercoupe for extreme long range and made non stop flights from Texas to some state up North. He set some kind of endurance record flying a closed loop for 24 or 48 hours, I remember not which. He is still interested in long distance flight and is currently designing airplanes with this in mind. You may have seen some recent articles in EAA Sport Aviation magazine about his latest designs. But back to the Ercoupe; he is friendly and corporative on the phone. I recommend those interested in modifying their Ercoupe for long range flying to call him. I used telephone company information and asked for Leeon (spelling?) Davis in Midland, TX to find his number which I believe I still have at home. You may find his number looking in the internet white pages, people search or whatever. In any event, the EAA can tell you how to call him in Texas.
One caveat in modifying fuel systems, I remember that one of the fatal accident reports were because someone had modified their fuel system so be sure yours is well designed and tested before betting your life on it. One last "opinion." I think the easiest way to get increased range is to simply replace your 8 or 9 gallon wing tanks with two of the 15 gallon tanks that come with the mod kit and leave your 5 or 6 gallon nose tank in. Leave the fuel system completely stock other than the larger wing tanks, with the engine driven fuel pump just like Fred designed it. just swap the stock small wing tanks for the larger wing tanks. You will have a total of 35 or 36 gallons for a range, at 4 1/2 gph of about 7 1/2 hours at 100 mph which is 750 miles. For all other flights not requiring long distance you can partially fill your tanks like you do in a Cherokee. Skipper Barfield Ercoupe 99398 ___________________________________________________________________ Get the Internet just the way you want it. Free software, free e-mail, and free Internet access for a month! Try Juno Web: http://dl.www.juno.com/dynoget/tagj.
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