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The Oregon Ercoupe Erforce assembled for their usual 'road trip' cum
regular meeting today.
The Noon Patrol granted us a very inspiring visit to their airplane
factory
in Independence,
Oregon. For those who did not make EAA Arlington in Washington State this
July, The
Noon Patrol (Dawn was already taken) is a budding squadron of 14 Nieuport
11 bi-planes.
These are being assembled from Graham Lee's plans of that famous World War
I French
fighter. All these planes are being built at one time in the hangar of
EAA
Chapter 292 right
there on the field at Independence. Each plane is being constructed by
thirteen builder
groups, with the last one to be auctioned off. The proceeds from the
auction will go to
support the Chapter. One neat thing is that no one knows which plane will
be theirs! They
will draw numbers out of a hat at the end. Each plane will be exactly
alike, with the eventual
owner adding squadron and personal markings after the project is done.
We had lunch at Annies at the Airport. Nobody had the turkey
sandwich. Wonder why...
I collected Reg and Joey for the trip down from Portland. Bob, Dan and
Don
made the
journey from the south, with Pete and Dick walking in. Sure is nice to
live on an airport.
Our presence was graced by Larry Kruljac, Ercoupe Guru (see Joa's post of
last week).
Many stories passed over the table. Maintenance tips and other wisdom as
well.
After viewing the Nieuport factory, we were treated to a look inside one
of
Larry's many
hangars. He has the only retractable Ercoupe hanging from his
ceiling. This makes the
wheel wells easy to see. He also has an STC'd alternative wing for the
Ercoupe. This
wing is of sparless aluminium sheet construction, and mounted on an
excellent Ercoupe,
ready to fly. Both projects, along with an orphaned Alon right wing, are
for sale.
After seeing Larry's treasuer trove, my group went searching for another
project on the
field. We couldn't find anyone with the keys to the hangar, but did get
to
visit Al's. He
had someone drop off a Skyraider (single-place, ultralight, Cub-a-like) at
his door, saying
"just fly it." Guess Al's breaking it in for the guy and going to offer
advice/lessons/etc.
Just as a reminder, the OEE meets the Last Sunday of every month at
various
locations.
Membership dues are $10 per year and Bob ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) provides an
excellent
newsletter. Next year, we are considering touring the "Spruce Goose" in
McMinneville,
and, of course, the Weenie Roast in September.
Percy in Portland
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