The only way Skip fits into this is that he has the national club up and running, and the rest of us wish we did. I guess there's not enough people with enough drive to get something separate going. Please don't think that I'm crying prejudice, but I'm not the only one that's been treated this way. Some years back the directors elected someone other than Skip as president. Guess what happened? Skip voided the election and made himself president again! Another recent thing was that the fellow that authored the book "ERCOUPE" sent all the directors a letter some months back asking for support for a Fred Weick Memorial, in conjunction with a museum. Never hit the Capers! Why? The Capers quality has been at an all-time low. Downhill since the late 80's. Lets look at the economics. How many EOC members, X $25.00 (average dues) = gross income, - expenses (printing, postage, trips to OSH, etc., endowments, whatever else you can spend on) = net income for Skip! Hey, no 800 numbers, no phone services.
Lets look at another thing. Do you know how to rig the coupe? What about all these hints and tips that get thrown around on this list. A responsible type club would have all the info on their fingertips. Instead, one fellow will give his opinion, another fellow his opinion (probably conflicting), a disagreement ensues, etc., etc. And what about all the good wings that Skip "found" about two years ago? What I'm saying is that although Skip is a helluva guy and extremely knowledgeable about the Ercoupe, his management of the club sucks. We're going nowhere and getting there quickly. I think we've got the reason and the means to save this airplane. Its prettier, cheaper, flys better and has more history than the Luscombe (and that's a plane I really like!), so it (the plane) should be easier to get going. Where are you going to get into the air (in a real airplane) for under 10K? Answer - Ercoupe! True you can obtain a list of current registered owners, but don't forget all the ones sitting around. My guess is that there's probably 2500 flying and another 1000 in garages and desk drawers. Oh well, time to get back off the soapbox. I once again apologize, guess I've stronger feelings that I thought. Al Tom Laird-McConnell wrote: > I like everything that you say, but am a little bit fuzzy on how Skip fits > into this. Clearly, although he publishes the magazine, we DO have a > current list of all of the owners... > > I for one would love to see plans for a 4 seater made available. > > Is he really so power hungry that he won't publish info about you? > > Also, what is a Director? > > -Tom > > -----Original Message----- > From: ADM <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: Ercoupers <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Date: Thursday, January 29, 1998 6:27 PM > Subject: Let Me Explain (this is a long one) > > >Once again, sorry I was so negative in my last post, > >but I really love the little airplane and every day I'm > >watching more of them rot away. Pete asked me to > >explain myself a little, and a bunch of guys have been > >emailing me saying that they thought there were some > >shennagans going on. > > > >The main reason I became a director was because I > >wanted to promote Ercoupe restoration and ownership. I > >really feel badly about kinda "abandoning" my Ercoupe > >folks, but when you see what I've seen, it's extremely > >depressing. Many of us, like Dave (of Dave's Ercoupe > >Page) worked pretty hard trying to get things going. > >Funny thing was, we did! I guess I figured that most > >folks felt the way I do, and counted on their > >dedications also, but I was wrong. Unfortunately, the > >folks with the same dedications were just as hurt as I > >was. To do something good, there needs to be a solid > >core of good people, willing to get dirty cooking, and > >not justing wait to eat. > > > >Anyway I spoke about the Luscombe Foundation > >(www.luscombe.org), because I am somewhat familiar with > >their work. I watched from the very beginning, where a > >couple of guys had a dream about doing something to > >save the Luscombes, (just like we've talked about), set > >up their own deal and said 'to hell with what's already > >out there". They put a master plan together, began to > >promote it by getting in touch with owners and lovers, > >started buying parts and making them available, > >restored an airplane for a raffle, found and bought > >original tooling and finally found and bought one of > >the type certificates. That's right, a non-profit > >organization owns the type for a Luscombe. Isn't that > >amazing? Anyway, visit the web site and get an idea of > >the work they've done. Sounds easy from the way I > >explained it, but it took a ling time (6 years?). They > >should be applauded. After reading the stories and > >seeing what's been accomplished, let your imagnation > >go. This same thing can be done for the coupes, > >including the type certificate. Just takes a dream, > >dedication, negotiation, and some balls! > > > >Off my soap box for now; > >Al > > > >
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