If you want a sliding canopy, you have to go for an Alon manufactured Aircoupe. These have the slide back canopy, but there is a canopy open airspeed limit of 100 mph. (Top cruise speed about 115.) These were made in the '60s and cost ~60% more than a 415C.
415C Coupes have max weight of 1260 lbs. All later models gross at 1400
or a smidgen higher. Coupes older than the Alon (i.e. ERCO, Saunders,
Forney) have the sliding down side window-doors. These have no air
speed limit with the windows open and it's great to fly open-canopy
whenever the weather allows.
Reasonably priced planes available
Yes.
lower operating costs than many other 2 place planes
Yes. But keep in mind, you must do good maintenance each year to
avoid
balloon payments when you get a good mechanic to catch up on things
overlooked by the lesser mechanics.
My fuel burn is about 4.5 gph for puttering around. 5.4 gph for
high
speed cruise. If you can use autofuel, that's really cheap. Airport
priced avgas -- it's still cheaper than most other planes.
Really cool looking tail
Yep.
Great safety record
For it's time, the safety record was phenominol. Remember that
was
competing with designs now 50+ years old.
The rest of the fleet caught up and now we're closer to the
average of
new production planes in terms of safety.
Some categories of problems we don't have: spins into the ground.
Some categories we share with some other older design airplanes:
Fuel
tank in the cockpit behind the instrument panel can break in an accident
causing a fire.
Some categories we do better than others: fuel mismanagent -- if
you
have fuel in the plane and the fuel system hasn't failed, it will get to
the engine.
The biggest categories that kill people aren't affected by the
plane
design: flying into clouds, rocks, the ground, etc., because of
stupidity. Fred Weick, designer of the Ercoupe, Ag-1, Pawnee, Cherokee,
etc., kept telling us he underestimated the factor of the _pilot's_
_judgement_ in the accident safety statistics and that is the most
important factor in safety.
Even cooler sliding canopy
Only on Alon models. They cost more money. They also are better
in
other ways.
If money is an obsticle now, get an older Coupe in good mechanical
condition, fly it for five or seven years, then move up to the Alon
model.
My girlfriend (soon to be fiance') thinks they're "cute"
Keep this one! (A Coupe is also a plane she might be more
inclined to
fly on her own as well.)
Fabric wings have a few advantages:
1. Fabric weighs less, as much as 40 lbs.
2. Fabric can be smoother and some metalized wings don't have the
slight indentation just behind the leading edge on the bottom side of
the wing. Not having this slight indentation is supposed to cause
important degradation to the low-speed handling/safety.
3a. Fabric wing planes are left outside much less than metal wing
planes. Either can get corrosion in the wing structure. If I had to
have a plane to tie outside (hangars not affordable/available) I would
choose fabric and would recover them periodically. My plane (fabric
wings) has been hangared almost entirely since new in 1946. I bought it
in 1979. The only corrosion I ever had occurred during a two-year
poverty period (I went back to college) resulting in mouse-pee damage to
some wing ribs.
3b. Since any plane could get corrosion, I like the idea that
the cover
is taken off fabric wings every once in a while. Even though hangared
Ceconite may last "forever," mechanics I trust like to recover fabric
wing planes every 20 years or so to see and fix what's inside. (Seeing
what is inside is now easier because of the "swiss-cheese" 16+
inspection holes on the bottom of each wing -- an airworthiness
directive instigated by reports from one of those same mechanics I
trust.) DON'T forget to do a good corrosion inspection of the center
section!
I think that a __GOOD__ pre-inspection corrosion inspection is a
_very_very_ good idea. Check the inspections listed at
http://www.flash.net/~dmprosvc/dave/friends.htm
See the other articles on that website, too.
Even though I really can't afford to keep my plane right now, I just
have to. Not only do I want to fly, myself, but my daughter is 2.9
years old and she'll need to get her license soon. (She keeps saying
"Tonight we fly to the fireworks!")
I strongly suggest you join the Ercoupe Owners Club with a 1st class
mail subscription. The social and safety information is absolutely
worth the cost. Since you are in the market, be aware that good buys
get snapped up by the 1st class mail subscribers long before 2nd class
mail people get their monthly issues. Also check back issues in case a
good buy didn't get snapped up when advertised and is still available.
Membership 1 year (allow 4-6 weeks to receive 1st issue):
$32 1st class mail
$25 snail class mail (up to three weeks in the mail possible)
Ercoupe Owners Club
7263 Schooners Ct. SW A-2
Ocean Isle Beach, NC 28469-5644
Send name, address, phone home, office, fax, e-mail and, if you have
one, plane N#, model, serial number and year manufactured. Mention if
you are a new or renewing member. You will be listed in the club annual
membership list.
And, did I mention? Coupes are more FUN to fly than anything else in
which I have ridden. It's a fun plane year-round but there's nothing
like flying just at dawn or sunset at 500' (or 12,500'), open cockpit on
a nice day.
--
Ed Burkhead
East Peoria, Ill.
N3802H, 415-D
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