In a message dated 8/14/2008 11:39:29 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, Ebenguiat1 writes:
Wayne, After 25 years of keeping my previous aircraft in mechanically perfect condition my mechanic has fired me. I quote him. "I don't want to do any more work or annuals on your plane. I feel ashamed to be charging you for my time in learning about your plane. So please take it to someone else who is familiar with Ercoupes." He felt embarrassed in charging me for his learning curve time. Prof. Ed Ed, Somebody needs to explain to me how any licensed mechanic that works on airplanes full time for a living could possibly have a big learning curve getting up to speed on an Ercoupe. Your mechanic is ashamed to charge you for learning about an Ercoupe? That seems almost funny to me, because I usually feel embarrassed about showing up at my mechanic's shop to ask him about doing something about my simple little airplane when he is elbow deep in the guts of a pressurized, turbocharged twin. Putting it another way, the entire maintenance manual for my Alon is less than 1/4 inch thick. How hard can it be? There is nothing complicated on the whole airplane. Ercoupes are dirt simple. All of the differences between maintaining an Ercoupe and maintaining a Cessna 150 could probably be explained to an experienced mechanic in about 15 minutes. I don't know how anyone who can work on a new Mooney, could possibly have a problem working on an Ercoupe. That's like saying that a Mercedes Benz mechanic can't figure out how to change the spark plugs on a 1960 VW Beetle. I don't at all mean to be sarcastic here. I just can't understand all this hub-bub about how difficult it is to find an "Ercoupe Mechanic". I have a feeling that most of it is because there's not enough money in maintaining Ercoupes and therefore most mechanics can't be bothered to mess with them. If I'm missing something here, I wish someone would explain it to me! Best Regards, Wayne DelRossi Alon Aircoupe N5618F "Life begins at 50...... knots." **************Looking for a car that's sporty, fun and fits in your budget? Read reviews on AOL Autos. (http://autos.aol.com/cars-Volkswagen-Jetta-2009/expert-review?ncid=aolaut00030000000007 )
