Richard,
I usually flee from commenting on a lady's weight, but I
seem to have the most light-weight bird reporting so far. Frolic weighs is
879 lbs. Just weighed this year. But, she has no installed radio or gps,
(I use hand-helds) and the upholstery is very limited. Her wings are cloth
and newly re-covered. (We removed several pounds of rodent nests/trash in
the process.) She has an added stainless steel firewall and a bubble
windshield.
I could get her lighter by eliminating the landing lights,
venturi, and un-necessary instruments, changing over to an alternator and
light-weight starter, wood prop, a single fork nose gear, and aluminum wing
tanks. This would probably bring her down by 20 lbs or so, I am guessing.
But, if we removed the starter, generator and battery
altogether, that would take out maybe 50 lbs? So, then, she would be down
closer to the 804 lbs you quoted. If we really got pushy, the peak tank
could come out, too. But we would need to add a fuel pump.
There are, I am sure, some lighter birds out there than
mine.
VR,
Dave
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From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On
Behalf Of Richard McClure
Sent: Wednesday, 02 September, 2009 7:57 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [ercoupe-tech] W & B continued
Thanks for all who are sharing their plane's "Empty Weight". I was thinking
mine was heavy but it looks like it is very typical. Jim had shared a W & B
form with me and it showed, for an example, an ercoupe with a empty weight
of only 804 lbs. Is this weight really possible? I'm sure it is a fabric
wing with little instrumentation but still only 804 lbs. Maybe we ought to
have a contest for the lightest ercoupe (The Biggest Loser). I've never
watched that show. Any comments on the lightest?
Richard
N94004
