To many of you, this may be old information. However, to those of us who are relatively new to the list, and/or do not have access to the Ercoupe books that are no longer in print, the following may be of interest:
I wrote to the U.S. Air Force and inquired about any Ercoupes that may
have
been owned or operated by the military. The Air Force was not very
helpful, and referred me to microfilmed articles that appeared in the
Saturday Evening Post, and other references, but provided little
hard historical data. They also suggested that I contact the United
States
Air Force Museum (USAFM) for additional information. Unlike the Air Force
itself, the USAFM responded within about 7 days instead of 7 months and
provided the following information:
"Yes, there were a total of three Ercoupes that served the AAC/AAF. One
was a YO-55 41-18875 and two XPQ-13 41-25196 and 41-39099. We aren't
aware
of any known photo of the YO-55, as we have searched for years. There are
several views of one of the YPQ-13 target drones taken here at Wright
Field
in the ex-AAF collection as part of the National Archives Still Photo
Branch, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD 20740-6001.
That RATO take-off series were not done here, but in southern California
with a stock, civilian marked 415C Ercoupe. We have photos (in B&W). We
hope to possibly restore an Ercoupe into these markings someday, and
display her as a sister ship was in WW2 during these tests. That is a
long
way in the future.
Since the latter three seem to have retained full Ercoupe factory
markings,
would assume the YO-55 was that way also. Information on dates of service
would be on the record cards, which we do not have. It is possible to
obtain this information by sending the designations and serial numbers to
AF Historical Research Agency/RSA, 600 Chennault Circle, Maxwell AFB, AL
36112-6424. Be prepared to wait several months for any answer, as they
are
really backed up."
D. Menard
I have mailed inquiries to both of these agencies, and will forward any
further information I am able to obtain. I hope this answers the
questions
I have heard some people ask as to whether there really were military
Ercoupes, or whether the "warbugs" have no factual basis.
Michael J. Nutt
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