Installing an engine not allowed on the airframe does not make it an "experimental", it makes it "illegal". Just like changing the airframe to D spec but but not doing the paper work to change the model number makes the aircraft illegal but does not make it a D.
Kevin1 --- In [email protected], jh <j...@...> wrote: > > jackwhickman wrote: > > I am new to the group and looking at Ercoupe's to buy. I want an LSA. I > > have two questions about mods. (1) Do metal wings on a 415C, indicate it > > is no longer an LSA, or another way to ask the question, can you metalize > > the wings without driving a 415C out of the LSA category? > yes, you can metalize the wings, but watch out for the extra weight, > which reduces the net carrying capacity of the plane. I think the Weight > and Balance will have to be redone as well. > > (2) Can you modify a 415C to get a 90 or 100 HP engine and still qualify > > as an LSA? I am obviously new to Ercoupe's, any help is greatly > > appreciated. > > > This is more a question of whether it's allowed for the plane by what's > called an STC, than whether it qualifies as LSA. The Ercoupe is > certified in the "normal" class. Installing an engine that isn't > certified for that plane makes it an "experimental". I don't know the > ramifications of that. > > If I may offer some candid advice, I've been searching for a reliable, > reasonably priced 415 C or CD for months, and have perused the complete > records of several. There's a lot more going on with regard to the > quality and reliability of Ercoupes than I naively thought when starting > out. After all, the FAA is taking care of us, aren't they? > > Take a look at the Web page; > > http://www.ercoupe.org/Prepurchase_inspection.html > > for an eye opener of all the potential issues. > > And, go through the archive of this discussion list searching for the > words "crash" and "failure". Furthermore, 3 Ercoupe 415s crashed between > April and June, I think it was. 2 of them were fatal. Pilot error, > mechanical failure, both? I don't know. > > The other thing is, in this market, where so many are looking for > inexpensive LSA airplanes, the Ercoupe 415Cs are in high demand. Prices > are $10-$15K higher than comparable non-LSA Ercoupes. What's worse, many > of the 415Cs were converted to 415Ds, which is a legal change. But, the > 415D isn't LSA compliant. It has a MTOW ("gross weight") of 1400 lbs. > And, the FAA won't allow them to be converted back, even though it's > easy to do. > > I hope this is helpful. > > It's certainly caveat emptor out there. So, be careful and be safe. > > Regards, > > Jim Hart > > > > > >
