I had my coupe in for its annual and after bitching for a year about the
crosswind landing/takeoff characteristics of my coupe, I had the spacers
installed on the main gear. My, my. What a difference that made.
I took off from Naples, FL in a fairly tame crosswind to go to have my annual
done and the last part of the takeoff roll was a
wants-to-weathervane-and-opposite steering-raises the upwind wing-yahoo
maneuver. I even commented to the tower about Ercoupes not having rudder
control because I had become airborne over the grass on the right side of the
runway. Looked tacky and I wanted to apologize.
Well, sir, after the spacers were installed, the upwind wing does not want to
raise when downwind steering is used and the plane as as docile as a kitten now
in crosswinds. Today, we had winds 30-45 degrees off runway heading gusting 25
to 30 and the landing was like on a calm day. I can't believe the difference.
Point is, if your Coupe looks a little like a tail-dragger, get the spacers to
level it back up. You'll get a quantum jump in crosswind handling
characteristics.
Bart
