Hello William, First of all welcome to the group but there is nothing in your post that is new to us. Some of us have been flying and working on Ercoupes for well over 25 years which is long before Google was invented and we don't need to use Google to find how an Ercoupe ticks. All 60+ year old airframes have corrosion, wood rot, rust, etc problems and that is no secret. If someone restores an Ercoupe and does not remove the belly skin and inspect and/ or replace the ribs they did not restore it. They just did a paint job. So did you have a question for the group or were you just trying to enlighten us? Sorry if we are acting a little defensive but you are not the first to try and do that. We like these airplanes flaws and all. No airplane is perfect but they come pretty close for the person who want a fun airplane to fly. If you have a question you will get an answer here. If you want to see a bunch of Ercoupe, Aircoupes, and Cadets in one place the National convention is in four weeks in Middletown Ohio.
Kevin1 --- In [email protected], "William Rich" <williamri...@...> wrote: > > > I've searched for a suitable Ercoupe continually for the last 6 weeks > and I'm an ace Google researcher. One theme that is leaping out at me > is CORROSION. As an unbiased newcomer, I can clearly see corrosion is > the proverbial elephant in the Ercoupe living room. > > This infamous NTSB accident finding speaks volumes: > > http://www.ntsb.gov/NTSB/brief.asp?ev_id=20040315X00324&key=1 > <http://www.ntsb.gov/NTSB/brief.asp?ev_id=20040315X00324&key=1> > > The key statement is: > > "Comparison of the inspection requirements in the Service Bulletins and > AD's to the area where the corrosion was present in the accident > aircraft revealed that none of the inspection methods would likely have > found the corrosion." > > The response to this blunt warning is varied: some have exercised due > diligence and performed invasive evaluations of their airframes, > including skin removal, ultrasound, and scraping if required; while > others have chosen to focus on the Red Herring aerobatic component of > the accident report. > > The vivid pictures in this well known submission are stunning: > > http://www.ercoupe.info/?n=Main.Hartmutscsection > <http://www.ercoupe.info/?n=Main.Hartmutscsection> > > Key statement: > > "I found some surface corrosion on all parts where previous primer > applications did not reach. Nothing major. It just needs a cleanup and > prime and done. Then I found what we all are afraid of, something which > looked like corrosion on the inboard spar of the trailing edge on the > right side of the center section. It is hard to see, because one has to > look through two lightening holes, with the wings detached, And even > then you can see just a fraction of the rib." > > The corrosion in this account almost went undetected except for the due > diligence of the owner. > > Corrosion even went undetected during the refurbishment of G-BKIN: > > http://www.popularaviation.com/Ercoupe/PhotoGallery.asp?Page=6 > <http://www.popularaviation.com/Ercoupe/PhotoGallery.asp?Page=6> > > Key statement: > > "Shortly after this photo was taken G-BKIN was shipped to the States to > Seattle (Tacoma) rebuilt and flown there for a short time before being > scrapped due to corrosion in the center section AD." > > The airframe was "rebuilt and flown" prior to detection of corrosion > requiring scrapping. > > The important thing I've learned in all this is: > > SERIOUS CORROSION OFTEN WAS YEARS IN DEVELOPING AND WENT UNDETECTD > DURING NUMEROUS ANNUAL INSPECTIONS AND EVEN REFURBISHMENT. > > I personally will exercise extreme caution in my Ercoupe search and > insist on rigorous assurance that a prospective airframe is safe. > > The Ercoupe is an endearing aviation classic. It has both a trendy > retro-modern look and a technical execution that remains competitive in > the 21st Century. Unfortunately, it is those virtues that belie it's > extreme age and possible hidden weaknesses. In my less than humble > opinion, it is likely some operational Ercoupes should not be flying, > and for some of those, the price of remediation is unacceptable. These > are old airplanes, the numbers are dwindling, and the task of finding a > safe and reasonably priced airframe is difficult. >
