What to look for when buying an Ercoupe!
(c) Chris Schuermann - 1996 The Ercoupe (aka Aircoupe, Forney, Alon, and Mooney M10 Cadet) is
a wonderfully affordable airplane. This little jewel has be be one
of the easiest-to-fly, funnest airplanes ever built. If you are
on a tight budget, and won't be able to afford a lot of maintenece,
you should take a look at a 'Coupe.
The Ercoupe was produced in various forms from 1940 through 1971.
The original Ercoupe (derived from Engineering Research Co.) was
powered by a continental 75 HP engine. It had no rudder pedals.
The "steering wheel" controled the alerons, rudder, and nose wheel
steering. Later models received an 85HP engine and conventional
controls. The Ercoupes also had "slide-down" windows which can
be left open in flight. In the '60's Alon put a slide-back bubble
canopy on the Aircoupe which was maintained through the M10.
The Mooney M10 Cadet is essentially an Ercoupe with a Mooney tail.
Although quite rare (only about 50 built) it is a fantastic little
plane.
Aside from the "fun-factor", one of the things that makes an Ercoupe
unusually good to own is the availability of parts. The Univair
Co. purchased the type certificate and now can supply almost enough
parts to build a new 'Coupe from scratch!
The availability of used parts is considerable, and the little
four-banger Continental engines are the cheapest aircraft engine
to overhaul!
Aside from the usual cracks in the cowling, Ercoupes require very
little maintenance. There are, however, several very important
items to be checked before buying an Ercoupe:
1) The wings
Lets face it, the GA fleet is getting old, and the Ercoupe is
no exception. We're talking 50 year old aluminum on an airplane
that may have spent much of its life outdoors. Fabric or metal
skinned makes little difference except in the cost to rebuild a
wing. Have a really good mechanic carefully inspect the interior
of the wings for corrosion. The spar caps should be suspect on
ANY Ercoupe. Let me relate some experience - I've assisted in
the restoration of quite a few 'Coupes, and it is a rare thing
to find an unrestored Ercoupe that doesn't have some corrosion
damage in the wings. For some reason mice _love_ Ercoupe wings,
and it's amazing how much damage they can do. There is a recent
AD (the "Swiss Cheeze" AD) that requires 28 inspection holes to
be cut in the wing.
Don't let this scare you off yet though. Ercoupe wings are unique
in that they are unusually easy to rebuild. They require no
special jigs because the ribs are self-aligning. They are installed
in a "V" shape. A damaged wing can be drilled apart and new ribs
and spar caps installed in a day or two by a good A&P. If you
end up repairing an Ercoupe wing, spend a little extra effort to
alodine and zinc-chromate treat each piece before reassembly.
Your wings should then last for at least another 50+ years!
My personal opinion is that the fabric wings are prefered. They
are lighter, more aerodynamic, and you know that the interior has
been inspected at least several times during the life of the
airplane. A rag-wing coupe also tends to be several MPH faster
than a metal-skinned bird.
2) The interior
While not an "airworthy" issue, Ercoupes seem to have an
unusually high number of unapproved modifications done to them.
I'd bet that over half of the 'Coupes that I've seen don't have
proper paperwork for all the mods that have been done. The
interior is the primary location for this problem.
3) The engine. Like I mentioned above, the little Continentals
are great engines. You're probably going to find that the ones
on Ercoupes are a bit long in the tooth though. It's not unusual
to see a 500SMOH engine that was overhauled in the '60's. You
can pretty much plan on topping the jugs if they havn't been
done yet. Age takes a much larger toll than hours in these
cases. The good news is that a top can cost as little as $250
per jug if the owner does most of the work, and you replace with
a "servicable unit", and used pistons and valves.
Note: I'd NEVER do this on the big Lycomings on my Commander,
but have had good luck on the low power engines. If you plan
on flying a LOT, drop the money to put a set of new cylinders
on. Otherwise, plan on a couple hundred hours and many years
from the "servicable" units.
4) The airframe
Really not much to discuss here. It's a very simple, very
stout little airplane. Make sure to check the rear center
spar section to make sure that the "reinforcement AD" has been
done. It's an old AD, but there's still a few around that
haven't been done.
Check the hinges and heim joints on the controll surfaces.
Easily replaced if worn, but it may cost a couple hundred
dollars to do the whole airplane.
The Ercoupes origionally had a "single-fork" nose gear.
Many people have converted to the dual fork style.. The wheel
bearings last longer, but more importantly, they use a standard
size tire - not the expensive smaller one.
Old wives tales:
Ercoupes do NOT have "swiveling" main gear.
They DO land easily in a crosswind, but touch down in a
crab. This may be slightly unnerving to a Cessna driver - but
only the first time....
Ercoupes WILL stall. You have to work at it though.
Ercoupes (Except for the M10) will NOT spin - I've tried!
Do NOT under any circumstances attempt to loop a 'Coupe.
Due to the limited elevator athority, you will overspeed
coming out. Feel free to read the NTSB reports about the
Ercoupe driver who tore the wings off...
Anyway, I'll be adding to this as time permits, but I
hope I have provided some usefull info for anyone interested
in Ercoupes.
As always, feel free to drop me an email with any questions,
Chris
