Darick wrote: > I'm in the hangar working on my beloved Ercoupe > . . . when in walks an old friend of his and she says, > "Hi Russ, I see you're working on a scare coupe"!
(Switching this to -tech as it's useful information for everyone) Darick, Starting in the late '50s, and throughout the '60s, '70s and most of the '80s, the fleet of Coupes mostly had drooping tails due to old, compressed rubber donuts in the landing gears. Some drooped severely. Some were so bad they looked like taildraggers as they sat on the ramp. Their behavior during crosswind landing was nightmarish. With the tail low and the resulting high angle of attack, after touchdown the upwind wing would still be at enough angle of attack to lift WAY UP HIGH! I heard people describe it, saying that they thought the wingtip was 15 or 20 feet in the air and the other wing would touch. Directional control was terrible or nonexistent and many went off the runway, flirting with runway lights and parked planes. They WERE "scare-Coupes." Coupes earned a reputation as being incapable of handling any crosswinds. By the late '80s, some owners and club members were figuring out the causes and relating back to the design. By design, with the tail high and the window sills level, the on-the-ground angle of attack is so low (not zero or negative, according to Fred, but very low) that very little lift can be generated and the wing CANNOT lift after touchdown. Bill Coons knew a very good FAA person - the old-fashioned kind who was (I think) an aeronautical engineer. Bill went to him with the description of the problem, the design information and the proposal for the landing gear spacers. The good engineer FAA guy understood immediately and issued the first form 337 for the landing gear spacers. The word got out and was publicized and pushed. Maintenance got done on the landing gear donuts. People added spacers using Bill's form 337 as evidence of approval. And, therefore, the Coupes went back to landing like Fred had designed them to - well behaved even in strong crosswinds. Coupes became, once again, the best behaved planes on the field and in the air for landings in strong crosswinds. I don't know of any other reasons for Coupes to be called "scare Coupes" other than ignorance and prejudice. However that tail low crosswind-wing-lifting, wild-ride behavior certainly earned the name. Feel free to explain the history to people who come out with the "scare-Coupe" name. You'll win them over and, along the way, look pretty darn smart. Ed Ed Burkhead http://edburkhead.com/Ercoupe/index.htm ed -at- edbur???khead.XXX change -at- to @, remove ??? and change XXX to com
