Hi Bart,
Many Ercoupes are now in the hands of people who appreciate them for
their inspired design and honest capability. More and more are being
brought up to high cosmetic quality. Most would replace old, corroded
or faded placards with new ones where possible.
Unless stamped data is inappropriately changed, why should engine or
airframe data plates be presumed "suspect". Just as firearms can be
misused, that is no reason to unreasonably restrict their sale to the
general public on the basis of their misuse by those who would ignore
the law. As to what is "appropriate", since a CD airframe is now
apparently deemed Light Sport eligible purely on the basis of whether
or not it was ever "properly" converted to a D Model in FAA records,
why is a C with a new data plate any harder to verify as to Light Sport
eligibility?
While a new dataplate can be installed to mislead, an original
dataplate (and paperwork) from another airframe can (and has been) be
used to the same effect. It is clearly inappropriate in each and every
individual instance in a society where the presumption of innocence is
the "norm" to infer or suggest questionable intent either to those who
sell replacement nameplates on eBay or elsewhere or those who buy them
unless or until there is some evidence to support such suggestion or
presumption.
Those who would speak as an Ercoupe "expert" had best put in the time
and effort to so qualify. The distinction between personal experience
or opinion and fact is one of the very greatest importance when these
differ. The "goal", in every case, should be "the truth, the whole
truth, and nothing but the truth".
Complicated? Well, in the "real world" where decisions are made, few
things are simple. LIFE isn't simple. College (or tech school)
teaches students the "rules", but experience teaches the exceptions.
The value of the services rendered by a professional is almost always
dependent upon their awareness or lack of awareness of the exceptions!
In this context, most things that appear simple have been
oversimplified to such extent that the "whole truth" is no longer
included. The "informed decision" that should in EVERY case be made,
insofar as is feasible, is not possible when too much of the puzzle is
thus missing.
You mention "a quirk about the ID plate on a true CD". This infers
that there is only one type of "factory" CD data plate.
There are those airframes between Serial Numbers 4501 and 4868 (one of
which appears not to have been actually produced, licensed or exported)
that were originally produced (or modified on the production line
before being flown for acceptance as conforming to their Type
Certificate) as 415-CDs. My recollection is that the wording on these
data plates essentially substitutes "CD" where "C" appears on the 415-C
airframe plates.
There are a hundred plus 415-C airframes with serials as low as 3498
that were unsold in dealer hands when the CD model was announced. At
the request of those dealers, these were converted by ERCO in the field
into the 415-CD model. The etched lettering of name plates of the
latter contain the word "modified", and research to date would suggest
that the "new" plate was installed as a replacement for (and not a
supplement to) the original.
Regards,
William R. Bayne
.____|-(o)-|____.
(Copyright 2010)
--
On Jun 26, 2010, at 11:36, [email protected] wrote:
Exellent Donald,
My case is there is a lot of misinformation, either intentional or
intentional, being advertised about Ercoupes. You are right about
getting the CD (compact disk) from the Feds with a given N number's
records, or paying I think it is AOPA, about $50 to get a quick
reading on the records for a given aircraft usually in a day.
Also, recently there have been advertisements for Ercoupe ID plates
being sold for a pretty penny and it doesn't pass the smell test
either. I wish we had a clearing house to identify bona fide light
sport Ercoupes for everyone to view. But then there are people
who----------
One little correction. About your statement "Red flags should come up
if you see an enlarged trim tab" can throw you off because the factory
CD's qualirfy as light sports but have the enlarged trim tab. The
CD's were made after the D's were manufactured so they had most of the
features of a D, except for the elevator restriction, and their gross
weight limitation is the same as a C.
Jeez this gets complicated.
Maybe I'll mention a quirk about the ID plate on a true CD at a later
time. TMI for now.
Bart
