P.S. Welcome to the Ercoupe family. By the way this is how the Ercoupe got a undeserved bad name and called a Scarecoupe by some. Pilots with bunches of hours who thought they could fly anything got in them and because they did not think they needed any instruction and/or the aircraft was out of rig they crashed them and of course it had to be the Ercoupes fault.
Kevin --- In [email protected], "robertbartunek" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > I've read a lot of comments about how easy it is to land an Ercoupe > in a crosswind, even up to 30 kts or so, and all those comments are > quite true. What we should be talking about, though, are crosswind > takeoffs which can become a bit hairy. > On my recent trip bringing my Coupe down to Florida, I landed at > Perryton, TX in a fairly stout crosswind. Now problem. Touch down > in a crab and the nose swings around to track down the runway just > like in a T-38 which uses the same crosswind landing technique. All > this occurs while the aircraft is decelerating so lateral control > down the runway is uncomplicated using the nosewheel steering and the > airspeed is low. > Takeoffs, however, are a differnt challenge. > Departing Perryton, I started a normal takeoff run and reaching about > 35 knots the aircraft wanted to weathervane to the right into the > approximate 30 mph crosswind so I turned the wheel to the left to > track centerline. Then the fun began. > The left turn input on the wheel also made the right (upwind) aileron > go down creating more lift on the right (upwind) wing. I glanced out > to the right and was really surprised at how far downward the right > aileron was deflected. The aircraft fairly quickly assumed about a 20 > degree left bank while still on takeoff roll at about 40 mph. > Instinct resulted in turning the wheel to the right to lower the > right wing but it also turned the nose wheel to the right which > magnified the right turning moment (weathervane) into the crosswind. > Instead of runway ahead, I saw runway edge, grass, runway lights and > trees. As I approached the runway edge, I rotated and the Coupe > became airborne prior to leaving the hard surface because we were now > at about 50 mph IAS. Whew! I'll bet it looked like some drunk had > stolen an airplane, if anyone was watching the takeoff. > So watch out for the crosswind takeoffs and associated roll away from > the upwind wing. I think I have a plan to compensate for this > weathervane/roll effect but I will leave that conversation for later. > Oh yeah, I have about 6000 hours, an ATP and have flown everything > from mach plus (T-38) to mach nix (A-1 Skyraider) so I am not exactly > new to the game. This takeoff really surprised me and caught me > offguard. > Robert Bartunek >
