Well, after a couple of years of lurking hereabouts, I've gone and done it.... ....I'm the new owner of Jerries Eichenberger and Isbell's N2906H.
Having failed to even cadge an Ercoupe ride, much less fly one, I none the less jumped on a Continental flight from Newark to Columbus on Thursday. Having been 'too busy' to fly for about a year Jerry E. promptly took me flying in 06H, and I must admit to being more quickly smitten by this plane than anything I've flown before. The 'Coupe just has all the things I enjoy--- ---wind in the hair, responsive and light controls (at least once the nosewheel isn't on the ground!), and a forgiving nature in spite of all. Love at first flight. All due respect to Cessna and Piper, but Engineering Research got it a lot more right. Ailerons like a Bonanza, elevators like a 7AC. What more could you want? I was pretty 'rusty' when I got there, in spite of several hours with a CFI prior to arrival. The Ercoupe hid a lot of that. Once I got the 'hang' of not trying to manhandle the flair (PA28-140 will do that to you) the greasers started happening. I begin to believe that old myth about people soloing Ercoupes with five hours. 06H is just as described. Mechanically sound, simply equipped (with a resulting huge useful load), not a show winner but tidy. After the transaction was completed, I couldn't resist heading down to DLZ around sunset, and making my first solo flight in my new (to me) plane as the Midwest sunset was going off. Sure floats more with just 130# of me, rather than two of us. Next day, I flew over to Madison County to fill up the tanks with 80 Octane at $1.64 (!) a gallon. Amazing how much attention these birds attract. 06H made a new friend, owner of a beautiful IFR 172 which was at the wash rack. He'd never flown open cockpit before, so we gave him a hop around the patch on my way home. His remark as we turned crosswind, and as he watched the ball stay centered with my feet on the floor was simple: 'I want one!' Reading the logs was interesting. The old girl has had good and bad times. Got clobbered real good one time (perhaps an inversion). That was around the year I was born! And it got pranged one other time. Had tons of radios (full IFR) jammed into a center rack, along with gyros and had the whole mess, rack and all, removed. Probably sat idle for a couple periods, and in 1990 or 1991 when it came time to re-cover the wings the worst was found on the carry-through. Lots of new pieces and a load of zinc chromate later, we have wings for the new millenium. Alas, the weather began to deteriorate before I was (over?) confident enough to set out on the DLZ-WAY-P34-N85 journey home. So next weekend, a PP-ASEL buddy and I will make our way back and try and make the trip with two heads being better than one, and discretion being the better part of valor. Oh, and the new friend that 06H made? He says to let him know when we want to come... ...if his schedule permits, he might just fly out to NJ and pick us up so we don't have to drive a rent-a-car from NJ to OH. Seems he likes to fly long XC's in his 172, for kicks. that someone would even consider such a thing just reminds me of what remarkable folks swell the ranks of aviators. The Isbells and the Eichenbergers were very kind, both in hanging onto the plane for me in the face of a lot of interested parties, until we could get together. And Candy is SUPER to work with on insurance. So now I own it. I just have to get it here! Please... ....please... ...one day of VFR is all I ask. Maybe without these persistent Northeasterlies that have been blowing in defiance of the norm. They say we may even get such a thing next weekend. Greg
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