I read some time ago that the automatic carb heat was another safety feature of the Ercoupe Designs.
When closing the throttle completely, The automatic heater opens the heater valve for some amount. This is to prevent an icing in a long approach where you could end up with an iced up carburetor. Many of the Ercoupe heater boxes still have the actuating lever. Like mine does. The little spring most of the heater boxes have is used to close the heat flapper after use. I assume because Cessna did not follow the example and because the mechanic is of the heater box carburetor connector might be complicated, many mechanics just discarded the thing. That does not mean it is bad. Actually it is part of the designed aircraft and should be on the plane - otherwise my insurance company won't pay when I come down with an iced up carburetor. Nah, very unlikely. Hartmut To: [email protected] CC: [email protected] From: [email protected] Date: Thu, 19 Feb 2009 07:58:34 -0600 Subject: Re: [ercoupe-tech] Use of carb heat... I can assure you it DOES exist and in the 4+ years I've flown N99340 in all kinds of weather, I have never experienced carb icing. I do manually pull out carb heat when I throttle back in the pattern, just to make sure it's fully on. Larry Snyder Washington, Missouri Mountain View, Arkansas N99340 On Feb 19, 2009, at 7:06 AM, "Ed Burkhead" <[email protected]> wrote: Bill, thanks again, you are a great reference. So, the incident is recounted in the book. (I’m sure I read it when I read the book but the details about the carb heat aren’t as I remember. I __vaguely__ remember Fred telling us this story at a flyin. I’m not sure. In “From the Ground, Up The Autobiography of an Aeronautical Engineer,” Page 186-187 Fred wrote, “We did not know nearly as much about carburetor icing then as we do now. I had thought that rather than put the complication of an extra carburetor heater on the airplane I would simply draw off the carburetor air from a warm place inside the engine compartment and let that do the heating job of the carburetor, even if it cost us a slight amount of power. Obviously, that turned out to be an oversimplification. In this case, the long oil warm-up run was just the wrong thing to do – for it in fact had set up the carburetor icing.” OK, that still leaves open the question was/is there an “automatic carb heat” on some Coupes? If it does exist, should it be there? Ed From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of William R. Bayne Sent: Thursday, February 19, 2009 1:25 AM To: ety list Subject: Re: [ercoupe-tech] Use of carb heat... Hi Ed, You will find the experience was in the 310/jeep. Fred relates it starting on page 186 of the "From the Ground UP" autobiography. That part you got right ;<) You're most welcome. WRB _________________________________________________________________ See how Windows Mobile brings your life together—at home, work, or on the go. http://clk.atdmt.com/MRT/go/msnnkwxp1020093182mrt/direct/01/
