This is a true story. Names are omitted for obvious reasons. A very close friend of mine, who has owned several airplanes in the past, told me that he was looking around for a nice, low time, Ercoupe. he wanted it for two reasons. [1] He felt it was a true classic. [2] His twin Comanche was too expensive to fly out for breakfast, or just go for a local ride. The first ting I told him was, "I would much rather have a well-maintained high time (3000-4000 hours) airplane that was hangared, well maintained and had no accident history. I think airplanes that are not flown are Hangar Queens and are nothing but trouble. He asked me to keep a lookout for him. About a month later I got a call from him to come down to the airport. He just bough an Ercoupe with 600 ORIGINAL hours on it. I was out of the house in a flash! I had visions of this highly-polished airplane that looked like it just came out of the factory. When I pulled into the airport driveway, ther it sat, on a hugh trailer. Parts were hanging off everywhere! I said nothing. I did a walk around and almost got sick. "Where did you find this thing, _____? I found it in PA. It has been stored in a barn for 35 years! It only has 600 hours on it since new! Here, look at the logs! I looked at the logs and indeed it was like walking back in time. They appeared to be very accurate, and they were. The new owner was so proud of his find, I could not bear to tell him he had a pile of junk for $7,000.00! He unloaded the airplane, poured some gas into the header tank, put a battery in it and started the engine. I will have to agree, it did not sound bad---but--- The A/P-AI said he would not license ANY airplane that had an engine sit that long without a full teardown, no matter how good it sounded.. I agreed. Two years later, this is what it took to get the airplane flying. The engine needed EVERYTHING but the two halves of the case and the accessory cover. Rust and corrosion had eaten holes into everthing! The original wings needed cover. (I will admit, thay looked like new inside). Both ailerons were junk! Mice had made a home in them and the corossion was too expensive to even consider repair. The entire belly of the airplane, from the firewall to aft of the rear spar had to be replaced for the same reason. All the glass had to be replaced. The horozontal stabilizer and elevator were replaced with NEW from Univar. (Fortunately, he had plenty money). Tires, brakes, hydraulic lines all had to be replaced. He needed a metal prop to replace the old wood one. The Eiseman mags were replaced with Slick mags. The entire muffler system, including headers were replaced. Then he bought a Combination Nav-com to mount under the panel. The generator was junked and replaced with an alternator. All the control cables had to be replaced. ALL the instruments were overhauled. The airplane needed a complete new interior. It was painted overall in three colors of Imron. He ended up with a $50,500 Ercoupe. Yes, it is the nicest Ercoupe I have ever seen. Now he told me the other day that he might sell both of his airplanes and buy a nice 180-Comanche. He owned one once and has regretted selling it ever since. My it must be nice to have that kind of money! george frebert
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