Larry, John Cooper of Skyport is probably your best & most authoritative resource for this question. I'll add my two cents however; please take what I offer with a grain of salt until you receive a reply from John.
Conversion from a C-75 to C-85 has nothing to do with changing the status from C or CD to D (gross weight increase & up elevator rigging change). My understanding in this case is that the airplane has the C-85 engine with an O-200 crankshaft installed, NOT the entire O-200 engine conversion. That's an entirely different animal from the complete O-200 engine conversion. If the only change was that the crankshaft in the C-85 was changed to the O-200 type, that does NOT change it from a C to a D. Making the change from a C or CD to a D would require a separate change the gross weight from 1260 to 1400 and up elevator travel rigging, which your airplane apparently does not have. I have the O-200 engine conversion in my 415 CD Ercoupe. In my Ercoupe the original C-85 engine was replaced with a complete O-200 engine (not just a crankshaft from an O-200). This is usually based on an STC that requires the airplane to be converted to a "D", although there are other ways of handling the O-200 installation that would not change the status from C or CD to D. Depending upon how the conversion to an O-200 engine is done from a purely paperwork perspective, it may or may not be made into a "D" model however; in most cases it will have been converted to a "D" model & 1400 lb gross weight. In short the first inspector was correct and the second opinion was wrong, and I'm sure you'll receive lots of feedback on this issue. Best regards, Dan Hall N3968H ----- Original Message ----- From: "larry_maden" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, October 21, 2007 10:29 AM Subject: [ercoupe-tech] C-85 with O-200 crankshaft and the FAA >I have been a lurker on this group for almost a year now and have > been very impressed with the wisdom often imparted here. > > A friend of mine has been restoring a crashed 415c Ercoupe for > several months now and is very nearly finished with the project. The > aircraft > has a C-85 engine and has an O-200 crankshaft installed. From my > readings on this group, the aircraft remains a 415c as there is no > paper trail of conversion to a 415cd or 415d aircraft. All the stc's > for the installation of the O-200 are present. > > Unfortunately, being an extremely thorough person, he invited the > local FAA airworthiness inspectors to insure that they agreed the > aircraft was indeed a 415c. Two inspectors came to his shop to > examine the plane and review the paperwork. The two inspectors > disagreed , one inspector who is the titular LSA expert in the FAA > airworthiness division, believed the aircraft was indeed a 415c. The > other inspector, however, adamantly stated that a C-85 engine made > the aircraft a 415cd and that the O-200 conversion made it a D model, > end of debate. > > I know that the O-200 issue has been discussed previously on this > site, and concensus was that the conversion did not change the > aircraft from a 415c. I wonder anyone in this group, especially ones > with experience in dealing with the FAA have any advice on achieving > a positive outcome in this case? Yes, I was hoping to buy the > airplane as an LSA. > > Thanks for your help. > > Larry Maden > > > > > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > >
