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Fred wrote:
> Why would anyone want to put rudder pedal's in an
> ercoupe? With the limited rudder travel, it can't
make
> much difference in control and you could, I guess,
> spin the plane if you cross up your controls?
Lee,
Could you please tell prospective
purchasers which kind of kit you have?
- The
Alon kit steers the nose wheel with the pedals.
- The
ERCO kit steers the nose wheel with the yoke.
Fred,
I’ll put in a milquetoast endorsement
FOR the rudder pedals, for those who want them.
The downside of the pedals:
- They
cramp the pilots legs on long flights. My knees didn’t like
them on long trips.
- They
cramp the passengers legs all the time since the passengers try hard to avoid
pushing on (or touching) the pedals in fear of causing a crash. Note
that I never had ANY control problems when passengers DID accidentally
push on the rudder pedals – see the cross-control report below.
- You
have to push on them all the time to keep the ball centered.
- Most
pilots will not keep the ball centered any better than will the 2-control
linkage.
Advantages of the pedals:
- You
CAN get better glide path control by slipping. It’s not
dramatic, but the increase in sink in a full Coupe-slip is real and
worthwhile. I felt comfortable pulling power to idle on base or
final when I had the field made because I could factor some slip into my
mental calculations. By planning to use the slip, I could just not
use it if I found I was lower than planned. This let me make the
runway with no power, even if I pushed the throttle and nothing
happened. That does improve your safety some. Yes, the
2-control Coupe has tools to accomplish this but I found slipping worked a
bit better for me.
- You
can land one-wing-low in crosswinds up to about 15 mph crosswind component
and keep the fuselage lined up with the runway and direction of motion –
thus you make an elegant landing with a bit less tire wear. (Over 15
mph crosswind component you still need to level the wings and land in the
crab and that works well in strong winds.)
- You
can use both hands to fold maps or just rest your arms, steering and
keeping the wings level with your feet alone.
- Since
you have to push the darn pedals all the time, you have very little
transition back to spam cans. You do stay in practice.
- If
you have to take your license check-ride in the plane AND get an obnoxious
DPE, you don’t have to worry about getting a license restricted to
2-control. (Note that we’ve had a couple of recent reports of
2-control Ercoupe owners who took their tests in their planes and got an
unrestricted license. “You bets you money, you takes you
chances.”)
I’ve heard that the Coupe is still
certificated and required to be placarded as “characteristically
incapable of spinning” even with three-controls. I heard one person
who said that placard is supposed to be removed on the three-control planes but
I’ve never seen confirmation of that. (Documented proof of the
truth of this issue would be appreciated.)
In my three control plane, I did (high
altitude) stalls with the controls FULLY crossed – i.e. full left rudder
and the aileron needed for level flight. This testing was done at about
1350 lbs. on a winter day and I had lots of power from the engine – the up-pitch
attitude at the stall was WAY up. (On the straight-ahead stall with
coordinated controls, the engine stopped from fuel exhaustion due to the
extreme up-attitude.)
At low to moderate power settings and
crossed controls, I still had adequate aileron control even with full left
rudder (the worse condition) and had directional control in spite of the full
left rudder.
At high power and crossed controls, about
100 rpm below max climb power, after the stall break, I found myself in a slow
left turn with burbling and with full right aileron. As soon as I relaxed
the control input, full control was instantly established. That ride was a bit
of a roller coaster and I chickened out on the full power test. (I always
have been a chicken-hawk.) Anyway, I would be inclined to believe a
statement that the 3-control Coupe is still “characteristically incapable
of spinning.”
So, guys, I’d not give anyone a hard
time for wanting pedals in their Coupe. They are, according to what Fred
Weick told me personally, a valid part of the design.
If I can someday shop for another Coupe, I
will give equal consideration to planes with either rudder pedal kit and with
no rudder pedals. All are excellent examples of Fred Weick’s
design.
http://edburkhead.com
ed -at-
edburkhead???.com (change
-at- to @ and remove "???")
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