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Gary:
Some
of the later Ercoupes, Forneys/Alon/Mooneys come close to
your specs. The earlier coupes have a limited gross weight (1250 I
think) that might preclude loading full fuel, you and your wife and any
baggage. Mine is a 1950 "G" model, the last version built by the
original ERCO company. It has the upgrade to the Continental O-200 and has no
problem getting off the ground at max weight of 1400 pounds. I believe it
is off in less than 1000 feet. Mine climbs out pretty well.
Fully loaded I see about 500-600 FPM rate of climb on an average 70 degree
day. My aircraft has the following weights:
Empty 925lbs
Max 1400lbs
Fuel
Cap 24 gals (144 lb)
Pax/Baggage
336 lbs
Now, I've been over max by 10-20 lbs a couple of
times with no problems. I imagine the Titan is
quite a bit lighter and probably climbs out pretty well. Any Ercoupe
loaded out on a warm day is going to have a pretty shallow climb angle. Is
your strip limited on either end by trees/buildings etc?... Something to
think about.
How is the coupe as a cross-country cruiser?
Well, I've had mine for about 10 months and made a lot of trips with my wife or
kid of 1-3 hours. I've cruised from 1000 feet AGL all the way up to 10,500
ft. The plane performs well, has great visibility and allows you to open
the windows for fresh air. If you are cold, just close the
windows and it warms up nicely. Trimmed out, mine holds altitude well and
stays on course just fine. It is noisey, but headsets take care of
that. Mine has an internal Comm radio and a good transponder. That
was a necesity for all the Class B flying I do around San Diego and
Los Angeles. I also get flight following on cross-country
trips. Sometimes the controllers are puzzled - they don't hear too many
Ercoupes up on
flight-following.
Comfort/loading? If you aren't too tall it will
be fine. I'm 5'10" with a 32" inseam. After about 3 hours, my legs
get pretty stiff. Keep in mind that mine has rudder pedals. A
lot of them don't and that gives you a lot more legroom. My seat is also
fixed so I can't really slide it back. The Alons and Fourneys have
sliding seats I believe. Original Ercoupes had a pretty tight
baggage compartment. There is a mod that opens it up quite a bit.
Mine has the mod and can carry 2 overnight bags and a garment bag with no
problem. I've also loaded it up with a 3 person tent, 2 sleeping bags, a
small cooler and an overnight bag. Look for the "9cu ft baggage
compartment" or the "Large baggage
compartment"
Ownership? The plane is so simple and efficient
that it has to be the most affordable certified plane you can own.
I've put 150 hours on mine in 10 months and only had one repair - the
gascolator. Parts and labor = $150.00. My cross country flights
average 5.5 gallons per hour block to block including start, taxi,
climb. It will run the wing tanks dry in 3.2-3.4 hours so I plan for 300nm
mile legs. The header tank holds another hour of gas but don't
like to get into that one unless I'm very close to an
airport. It uses a quart of oil every 10 hours or so. I
cruise at 2400 rpm which is about 60-65% power and see about 95 knots
average. Running it up to 2500 or 2600 doesn't get you much more
speed and makes the engine run hotter and burn more gas. I have run it
flat out a few times to see how fast it can go, and it does almost 120 knots
max.
Intangibles? The coupe is a unique plane
that I've come to love. It is dead reliable for me and just plain fun
to fly. It is so simple that you can do all the regular
maintenance yourself. I highly recommend
it.
Tim
Briggs
N94413
Erco
415G
-----Original Message-----
From: Gary Vacin [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Thursday, October 14, 2004 11:25 AM
To: [email protected]; [email protected]
Subject: [COUPERS-FLYIN] Should I be interested in buying an Ercoupe, Forney, Alon, etc.
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