Hi Daniel,
28818 is Ercoupe Aerial No. 6, completed in late fall of 1940. The CAA
bought the first 10, but I don't know how long they retained them. The
terrain looks like West Texas, New Mexico, Arizona or California, as
does the architecture. The cars are, indeed, of the same vintage as
the Ercoupe. While the plane has no navigation lights or wind
generator, notice what appears to be an automotive radio antenna just
aft of the cockpit!
The photo is genuine. I would speculate that this photo was taken in
the summer of 1941. After the attack on Pearl Harbor private aviation
was severely curtailed.
Because of the biplane in the background with no engine, this is
probably an aircraft maintenance facility looking our to the gate that
closes off the road at night. It's probably in a good sized town
because of the visible fire hydrant. I'm intrigued by the building
that has an "Enter" and "Exit" door about forty feet apart.
And yes, Fred Weick would definitely qualify as being "ahead of his
time" (and a genius).
Regards,
WRB
--
On Jun 15, 2010, at 20:41, Daniel Arditi wrote:
I am trying to figure out how to express this thinking in English:
I have this marvelous photograph in front of me, and see nothing but a
"Modern design airplane" in a place like a car parking area where a
lot of old cars are parked.
It seems like it is not a real photograph, but a modern digital photo
trick.
In my humble opinion, Mr. Fred Weick was far ahead of his time. He was
a genius !!!
Thank you very much for sharing this photograph with us.
Daniel Arditi
Ercoupe Argentina Group.
Buenos Aires.
