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Mike:: I flew quite a bit with Jack Compere, and Jack had less leg strength than you have apparently, However the wheels did disconnect from his wheelchair and it was feather light, and jack could sit down on the wing walk disassemble and store his wheelchair behind the seat of his coupe, then he would push himself backward up the wingwalk to the side of the cockpit and pull himself backward up to the coaming edge of the cockpit and kinda tumble in. The cockpit is almost four feet wide and it allowed Jack to maneuver around inside. When he had help to hand him his wheelchair parts he could step up with the help of his "Sticks" (canes) and walk the wing in a normal fashion, and step into the cockpit. Jack and I and Charlie Eck flew back to California from the Kalispell Montana Nationals in 1995, and we had a ball. Jack did a superhuman job, probably similar to yourself to make sure he was not a burden on anybody, and I admired him tremendously for that. He would fly his Ercoupe to selected places to see if handicapped people could get into an Ercoupe by themselves, I would accompany him from time to time to see if an Alon presented an easier configuration for access. The biggest danger is a person that is paralyzed, and they could cut or bruise themselves quite badly getting into the cockpit and they wouldn't feel it, and fly themselves into a serious situation. Jack always warned about that. Jack's Post-Polio began returning about 10 years before he passed away, and he began having real trouble getting around, he also had a heart bypass, and tested and maintained his pilots license. He was one hell of an inspiration. Wayne Woollard ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mike Dean" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, March 17, 2005 7:04 AM Subject: RE: [COUPERS-FLYIN] disabled pilots and CBS News ----[Please read http://ercoupers.com/disclaimer.htm before following any advice in this forum.]---- High wings, other than later model Cardinals, have their problems also. Generally the seats are mush higher than a wheelchair, so the lift in can be difficult. Then there is the problem of the wing struts being in the way. Also, on the C150 & C172's that I trained in, there isn't much room between the seat and the front door jam, even with the seat all the way back, to swing your feet/legs through. In my opinion the easiest planes to get in & out of would be the Piper's, Mooney's & those types. Where you can slide up the wing, then slide into the seat. Though even they are not always a "breeze". The Cardinal is nice because it has a very wide door and no strut. The other problem with most planes is the ability to get a wheelchair into it. My chair collapses (the seat goes up and the wheels/sides come in, so it's only about 6" wide) and it still will not fit through the door of a C150, and it's a bear to get into C172. (Especially if 4 are going up and you need to get it behind the seat.) The Arrow is a little better, but still no piece of cake. It would help a bunch if the wheels came off easily. My next chair will fold even more compactly. Mike -----Original Message----- From: Kevin Gassert [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] I have seen a Skyfarer on the market several times in the last year by a guy in Texas. It was on EBay a couple times and in Trade-A-Plane. This seems like a great plane for someone handicapped. I would think that the high wing would make it easer to get in and out of. Kevin ========================================================================== ==== To leave this forum go to: http://ercoupers.com/lists.htm Search the archives on http://escribe.com/aviation/coupers/ ========================================================================== ==== To leave this forum go to: http://ercoupers.com/lists.htm Search the archives on http://escribe.com/aviation/coupers/
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