I think the group is missing the point on the elevator throw issue. The coupe will recover from a spin as well as most other planes will given enough time. The problem is that with the extended up elevator limits and 1400 lb weights the coupe can demonstrate a departure stall which usually leaves too little altitude to recover. A PA-28-235 with four people aboard demonstrated this maneuver at my 2000'
airport a few years ago with the classic results. The aircraft stalled at about 50 to 75' above the end of the runway and impacted inverted on a heading 90 degrees left of the runway heading. The PA-28 cherokee family of planes have about as nice a stall behavior as any and should have been easily controllable on this departure but the pilot failed to manage the situation for several of the usual reasons. The problem with the Ercoupe is then that the D model is fully controllable at 1260lb but at some higher weight it can demonstrate a stall behavior which could lead to an unpleasant low altitude stall. With rudder pedals that stall would be more manageable, without the stall should roll off to the left and be uncorrectable until back pressure is released and the wing resumes flying. A further problem in this direction concerns the choice of wing for the Ercoupe. Fred chose the 43000 family wing because it and the 23000 family were the darling of NACA at the time. These wings exhibit good low drag high speed characteristics and good lift characteristics at high angles of attack. The bad news is that they have poor stall characteristics because once stalled they do not recover easily. A wing that stalls at say 50 would not recover until the speed increased to 55 which makes stall recovery somewhat more of an adventure. The only aircraft which use these wings are aircraft which are never allowed to stall. The only other aircraft to use the 43000 family was the ATR-42/72 which has had some complaints from its pilots because of its flight behavior. The Ercoupe matches the performance of a C-150 on 15% less power because of its low drag wing but it was not meant to stall and experimenting with up elevator limits places the pilot deep into test pilot territory which is no place to take family and friends. Bob Condon
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