I realize that many of you are new coupe owners and many of you are low time pilots with legitimate questions but in reading the messages posted here if I were not an experienced pilot and had a lot of hours in a coupe I would come away with the impression that coupes are a real problem aircraft. Messages have abounded about how difficult the coupe is to land, this is pure BS a minimal amount of general skill as a pilot and knowing the aircraft and it will make almost any fool look good. Then there is this water issue, I won't go into another tirade on that since I did that last night, go back and read my last posting. You guys seem bent on perpetuating old wives tales about the coupe or inventing some new ones. Face the facts these are for the most part a 50 year old aircraft, they are going to need some TLC and you may actually have to give up trying to fly it like or comparing it to a 150. It's not a 150 thank god. I stepped from a Mooney 201 to a coupe with a 6 year gap in flying and with only about 30 min under my belt to get current flew 41C from Charlotte back to it's new home in Dallas. No big deal and being a coupe made the trip a piece of cake except for the fact that the radio packed up 50 miles out of Charlotte and left me with a map and compass. Fortunately when I learned to fly that was how my instructor taught me to fly, it stuck. It was a combination of old skills and a dirt simple plane that made it an easy trip home. Took 3 days due to really lousy weather but as they say that's half the fun. How about you guys try finding something fun about your aircraft, exchanging stories about trips or fun places to go. And for God's sake please DO NOT GET SPASTIC and feel a strong need to run to the FAA and tell them you have a problem that is something you are responsible for such as maintenance or just a good preflight. Everyone makes a big deal out of the corrosion issue and gives the impression that the coupe is the only one with this problem. Well the aluminum used in the coupe is the same type used in a Cessna of the same vintage. They have corrosion problems too, so far the FAA hasn't jumped on them yet but it is just a matter of time. In case you don't pay attention the FAA is not your friend and would be quite happy if they could find a way to ground the whole GA fleet except for the commercial carriers and then they would like to trim that down to 4-5 carriers only. Come on guys turn this into a positive forum, exchange tips on problems but don't blow them out of perspective. These are wonderfully capable aircraft and with the desire to learn it they will do things better than most other aircraft of the same vintage, fly 'em have fun with 'em.
Dave 41 Charlie Dave's Ercoupe Page http://www.flash.net/~dmprosvc/dave
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