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Gene, I think we would all like to see every Coupe updated with new parts where needed. Many can not afford them and some of us find it a empty promise. If I understand it correctly the spar caps that are available as "New" are in fact "New Old Stock" probably from 1946 production potentially made in the batch that has had the bad heat treat. We do not accomplish much by making the change. From what I have seen the spar caps come in good and bad. If you jut happen to be lucky and have good ones you are good for many more years and if you have bad it may be hard to tell with out X-rays of eddy current inspections. Most people with a Coupe do not have access to these methods of testing. It may only be a short time before the FAA inflicts the tests on us and many more Coupes will fall to neglect because they will be grounded and then left to go to seed. We have seen to much of this already. A killer AD would do just that to many more. Yes the ones that have bad spar caps should be removed from service and I fear that the metal clad wings are the place that this problem is hiding. If it is it will be found and it will be a sad day for many. Yes Cleveland brakes are much better and they are affordable. Many should be moving to them. I do not share your love affair with the 30 gal. fuel tanks. The current fuel system works very well and it is very simple. If the engine driven pump fails you have almost an hour to work out the problem (find a place to land). With the 30 gal. system if you loose the Electric pump you are a glider and we have all heard how much fun that is in an Ercoupe. I do agree that the tanks need to be well maintained and many need to be opened cleaned and reassembled with proper procedures to make them safe and fuel tight tanks. The Piper Cherokee had the same problem with the same fix. The larger engines with greater hp leave a lot to be desired. The 0-200 is heavier and has a poor propeller which does little for the improvement of performance. The Franklin is vapor ware, it does not exist and I do not hear of anyone who is working on it. The 85 hp Cont. with 0-200 pistons, rods and crank may well be a better engine. With new cylinders and a good case it is a fine engine that will make over 90 hp in fact and uses a much better matched propeller. The rest of the engine accessories can be new if you want them to be it is just money. Slick makes fine new production mags and a Marvel carb that has been properly overhauled is as good as new. It is all in the care level that is put into maintenance. All to many people just do not budget correctly to have the proper level of maintenance care provided for their aircraft (some just do not have the money and I have been there) and some just do not know what is needed. It is hard to find a shop that is interested in doing good work on Coupes and harder still to find an owner who wants to pay for first class maintenance service. I think we as a community need to focus on ways to deal with the real problem of educating our community on what is vital in the way of maintenance to assure that the aircraft are flown safely. If we do not do this the FAA will give it a try and none of us will like their version of FUN. It has been clear form the recent discussion on what caused a members crash (on airport total of a Coupe). It was generally agreed that the problem was pilot related but there were many ideas as to what he should or should not have done. I was not there and do not want to Monday morning quarterback the man, but it is clear that the Ercoupe most of us love need a particular kind o flying technique to operate it safely. I would think that one of the very best things the EOC and this group could do is to get some of the people who do have the best experience with the Coupe and after good sound debate publish some solid recommendations on how best to fly a Coupe. Yes there are some fun issues like calibration of airspeed indicators so that the numbers would make sense. Some still fly way over even the 1400 pound limit because they enjoy the lie in the log book about the weight of their aircraft. A good start would be to weigh each and every Coupe and correct balance problems as well. This could be done at group regional flyins as a day project. All you need is a decent set of scales and a hangar to do it in. It does not take very long to do it right. I would like to see many more aircraft converted to split elevators. This is also a cheap fix if done as a group project. It is all in the working together and focus on the important issues. Have a very good day and I hope you all get to go flying this week. Best regards, Vern N94892 415G __________________________________________________ To unsubscribe from this list please send mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ==^================================================================ EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?aVxiLm.aVzvvT Or send an email To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] This email was sent to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Learn More. Surf Less. Newsletters, Tips and Discussions on Topics You Choose. http://www.topica.com/partner/tag01 ==^================================================================
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