I guess you knew this was coming - - - - A good type club would have this info, especially since the 'coupe is the aeroplane of choice for those folks needing a wheelchair and there have been so many examples of such.
----- Original Message ----- From: kim Blackseth To: Ed Burkhead Cc: Techlist Ercoupe Sent: Tuesday, April 14, 2009 3:18 PM Subject: Re: [ercoupe-tech] Fwd: Baggage Pod for Ercoupe Thanks! Exactly what I was looking for. I'll Look into it... Kim Blackseth On Apr 14, 2009, at 4:14 AM, Ed Burkhead <[email protected]> wrote: Didn’t Jack also have enough arm strength to use an arm-powered chair? I suspect any powered chair must weigh more. The usual 9 cubic foot baggage compartment may well be big enough for a chair. Perhaps quick release mechanisms would let the batteries (and/or wheels) be removed and lifted in separately allowing his assistant to do it through the regular window/door opening. If any structure needed to be modified, I’d suspect the rear-window zone would be least structural. The fact that the Alons have the sliding canopy shows that the rear canopy area can be separated from the plane while keeping the plane’s structural strength. Don’t Alons have some reinforcement of the upper edge of the rear cockpit? I imagine using that identical structure might get easiest approval. A hinge at the back of the window/door structure combined with pneumatic lifts like are used in car rear hatches could make opening and closing it more practical. Perhaps even a full bubble canopy could be installed, hinged at the front windshield support (probably requiring reinforcement) would let both Kim and the chair be lifted in and out more easily. Heck, perhaps flight testing could show that the canopy is optional, allowing the plane to leave the canopy at home and fly as an open top convertible like Leonard Page’s Wasp. (Didn’t Leonard fly the Wasp with no canopy part of the time? Did he have any problem with turbulent air over the empennage?) I don’t expect there’s any way to use an external pod on a low-slung plane like a Coupe. Especially so for a 14” thick load. These are un-expert thoughts for you to discuss with an expert DER. Good luck, Kim.
