Hi Keith & al... ...as a journalist of 12 years, I can tell you that the problems with that story don't stop with the "facts" presented. The whole story is based on only one Ercoupe, which is represented in about twelve (admittedly gorgeous) photos; the pilot of that coupe was, if I remember right, a pretty new owner and had never flown anything else except for a C-152 early in his student days, so his remarks were of virtually no value. No effort was made to find a second source for a pilot's perspective on the airplane being reviewed, or even to diversify the photo selection in the story. Even more tellingly, there are virtually no quotes from the pilot, leading me to believe that the writer simply went for a fun ride in the airplane without even bringing a notepad along, then decided to write it up for an article later. Much of the information about 'coupes was the same stuff you'd find on ercoupe.com, or in AOPA Flyer's article maybe. To me, the story had all the marks of something a writer hammered together in 45 minutes under deadline, and you can pretty much tell he'd rather have been writing about something else (Malibus? L-1011s? MiG-21s? Who knows?)
Anyway, I've written stories like that and I've edited them, and I know
the
type. You scrounge through your notes from the one interview you bothered
to do (multiple interviews take lots of time) and any easily-available
information you can find, and you "hammer out copy," and an hour and a
half
later it's being output on the ImageSetter because you're so far past
deadline, and then you end up writing little personal, apologetic
responses
to all the nasty letters to the editor that start coming in three weeks
later.
Also, the writer (Leroy Cook if I remember right) couldn't have insulted
any airplane worse without using naughty words than he did with the last
line: "Don't be afraid of an Erco if all you want is to fly around in the
pattern at your local airfield." He might as well have added, "but if you
want to be a real pilot, get a Bonanza."
Private Pilot is generally a good mag, but they only had about 12 pages of
paid advertising in their last 96-page offering. They can't possibly be
profitable at that level, and I'm sure they have to stretch their staff
pretty thin. Stuff happens when you do that. (I can relate to that, too.
I'm in the same boat.)
PP is my favorite aero mag. I find it more useful and interesting than the
others (which seem to feel that if you haven't logged time in a DC-8 you
aren't their target market) and the low number of ads in it means it's a
helluva lot meatier than the others. But I'm disappointed about that
Ercoupe story. It really shouldn't have been run without a lot more TLC
from someone.
ciao!
--fj
ps. I don't own an a/c -- yet -- but when I do get one, it will be a
coupe,
and the major reason for that is crosswind handling. For this guy to
compare it to Luscombes and C-140s in crosswind landings is a
mind-boggling
display of ignorance. But at least he didn't say anything about
firewalling
the throttle during the flare.
At 4:10 PM 1/14/99, Keith wrote:
>Sorry folks, but the dissemination of bad information just puts about 9
>clicks of Kentucky windage on my jaws. I am referring to the article on
the
>Ercoupe in the February '99 issue of Private Pilot Magazine. I have now
>read this article 3 times and each time my blood pressure goes up a
little
>more. I am unhappy with the author of that article, who obviously did a
>very cursory job of preparing for this article, and I am unhappy with the
>ower of the Ercoupe used in the article for not taking more ownership of
>this article, especially since it was his airplane.
>
>Some of the author's comments, which Mike Hildebrandt should have
corrected
>are:
>
>"The Ercoupe is not an aerobatic mount, but it is harmless
>transportation..." It is that mistaken impression that causes some low
time
>Ercoupe pilots to have a bad day get worse.
>
>"The airplane (Ercoupe) can probably handle as much crosswind as a
>contemporary three-control taildragger" Excuse me! I can handle more
>crosswind...better...than I could with either my Stinson or Cub!
>
>But this one put the final 3 clicks on the jaw
>
>"Don't be afraid of an old 'Coupe if all you want is a pair of wings to
get
>you up and around the local pattern."
>
>There! I have probably dropped my BP 10 points. Thanks folks.
>
>Keith Bolte
>N5663F
-------------
"I got a song I wanta send out today ta all the dairy farmers. It's called
'Don't Never Milk yer Cow in a Winstorm or yer Liable ta be Left a-Holdin'
th' Bag.' "
--Pap Napier (of the Stanley Brothers & Clinch
Mountain Boys)
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