That's from a mechanic who needs to make a boat payment, or a Mercedes payment or a house payment, or ---- you get the picture. I would suspect much more of this fellow's maladies have the same cause. If an Ercoupe aileron was out of balance due to paint, you wouldn't give it a second look. Hogwash, I say. (Oh, and is there a method specified by the manufacturer to balance an Ercoupe aileron?)
But, here we have another victim and the story is an old one. All you lurkers and future Coupe drivers out there need to realize that spending money on the appropriate prebuy is a necessity. Never buy sight unseen unless you're paying salvage price. There are plenty of coupes out there and they're outliving the current owners. You're not going to find one like Syd's, that takes time, skill, sweat, blood and tears and a bucketful of dough. Patience is a virtue. Your ship will arrive when you least expect it. Al DeMarzo Visit the Ercoupe Swap Page Free, Easy and No Membership Required http://www.ercoupeowners.com/swap/swapbook.htm ----- Original Message ----- From: earl johnson To: Ercoupe-tech Group Sent: Wednesday, April 30, 2008 9:31 PM Subject: RE: [ercoupe-tech] Re: Lawsuit? Ailerons Ailerons out of balance from painting whats that all about, and how did you fix that ? --- James Lilly <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: --------------------------------- Oh yes, I found a "deal" too! rebuilt engine with new paint job and could fly faster than a normal coupe with great climb characteristics. I jumped on it, drove 1500 miles to fly it and tear it apart. It all looked good, but 6 hours into my flight back I landed and the engine made an abrupt SQUEAK and stopped. That was the sound of a cooked crank and bearings and an extra $10,000 leaving my pocket. The engine comes back and the shop cannot put the bolts back into the frame...its bent. Then they noticed the firewall was bent. Okay, so a rebult engine, new frame and new firewall...$20,000 in parts and labor for a plane that cost me $25,000 and purchased from a person who doesn't need the money, so I do not know what the motivation was on his part of dumping this plane on me. Oh, the ailerons need to be balanced as well as the paint job was not done properly also the trim was stuck and the cable broke in flight. When I fix her up she will be my last plane. I can't afford any m! ore mistakes like this! Jim ---------[ Received Mail Content ]---------- Subject : RE: [ercoupe-tech] Re: Lawsuit? Date : Tue, 29 Apr 2008 20:25:32 -0500 From : "Tommy Terry" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To : <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, <[email protected]> There's a lot of truth in that! We found a "deal" on a coupe in Oct 2003. The books were good and the airframe was solid. However, the first annual, with a minimum of labor costs was almost 3000, then we added a transponder, then we added a transponder that worked, we thought we had just about been nickled and dimed as far as the plane could go. Then we rebuilt an engine. All told, we have just about put double the purchase price into the plane. But, it's the plane we want and there really can't be many more surprises (I hope). Put the money in the inspection, get a good airframe, expect to spend some money getting it up to your standards, and leave the lawyers to feed on doctors. :-) Tommy N93929 -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, April 29, 2008 8:12 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [ercoupe-tech] Re: Lawsuit? In a message dated 4/29/2008 8:32:02 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Next, legal crusades seldom accomplish anything, except to enhance the revenues of some lawyer. Boy I'm glad that you said that! I was going to say it, but I was afraid some lawyer would jump down my throat! :>) Lawsuits are like tic-tac-toe. The only way to win is not to play. Unless you are a lawyer, and then you win even if you lose. As far as buying an airplane goes, potential buyers would be a lot better off if they just figured right up front on spending an amount equal to half of what they paid for the airplane over the first two years of ownership to fix stuff and upgrade stuff. Especially in the case of these low priced airplanes that we fly. Just because you only paid $20,000 for the airplane doesn't mean you won't be paying for a $12,000 engine overhaul a year later. Just my opinion. But I have the receipts to back it up. Best Regards, Wayne DelRossi Alon Aircoupe N5618F "Nobody has ever scientifically proven that life is supposed to be serious." _____ Need a new ride? Check out the largest site for U.S. used car listings at AOL Autos .
