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Eliacim asked: > 1. What do you achieve by adding the split elevator to a plain > good ol' 75 HP 415-C? > 2. Who sells this and what's the ballpark cost? Eliacim, A lot of what Fred Weick did when designing the Ercoupe was to make it well behaved. The Coupe is designed, among other things, to minimize behavioral changes when you go from idle to full power. But there's still some pitch-up when you go from idle to full power. The increased slipstream force pushes down even more on the empennage. The split elevator lets most of the slipstream pass through the cutout. With the split elevator, the outer portions of the elevator dominate. With the split elevator, the aircraft behaves well from the lowest flying weight up to 1400 or 1450 lb. yet gives a low minimum flying speed / touchdown speed. There is minimal trim change. If you were gliding at 65 mph, then you'll be climbing near 65 mph at full power. In contrast, if you were gliding at 65 mph and decide on a go-around, then after you push to full power, you've got to PUSH on the yoke to avoid getting too slow. The slipstream is pushing down on the tail. The difference is not dramatic. Coupes with the straight elevator are still well behaved. But with the split elevator, it's somewhat better. I've only flown about 9.5 hours with the split elevator, helping a local fellow ferry his new purchase back from New York state. I deliberately explored the differences in flying behavior and decided I like the split elevator. It wouldn't be worth ripping off your elevator to change it. But, if the elevator were being rebuilt, then it could be a plus to make the change. Cost? Darned if I know. I'd always guessed total cost would be about $700-$1,000 to take mine off and replace it or get it modified. That guess may be too low. It never got high enough on my "desired" list to warrant getting a serious estimate. Ed Burkhead http://edburkhead.com ed -at- edburkhead???.com (change -at- to @ and remove "???") ============================================================================== To leave this forum go to: http://ercoupers.com/lists.htm
