I want to save you prospective Ercoupe buyers some of the pain that I've experienced. Ed Burkhead's pre-buy guide is a good starting point, but there are some other potential "gotchas" out there that any new buyer should think about. I looked at two Ercoupes before I bought, found a good owner/seller, did my "due diligence", had an independent A.I. inspect the airplane, etc. Here are a couple of hard lessons learned--
Logbooks and 337's-- Garbage in/Garbage out. Even when you have a complete set of logbooks, they may not tell the whole story. It's very easy to make a brief write-up like "Replaced left main main spar with Univair assembly 415-xxx, replaced left upper and lower wing skins, re-installed walkway tread." One would assume this addressed a corrosion issue. In my case, one would be wrong. Once we did the center section swap-out, it was obvious due to the way the repairs were done and the amount of hardware replaced that there was damage to that side of the airplane at one tine that had been repaired. Of course, there is no damage history on the airframe. (By the way, the seller did show me a previous 337 from 1953 where the belly skins firewall-forward had been replaced and tell me he suspected damage back then. The rear spar replacement was from 1979, so it was another incident). Also make sure every piece of equipment that did not come from the factory is documented somewhere-- logbook, 337, yellow tag, etc. Any STC'ed parts should also be accompanied by a 337. The documentation standards may have changed over the years, but you should look for something for every major configuration change. My point is, soemtimes logbooks can hide as much as they disclose. Don't just take them at face value. Think like a detective when you review them! Engine history-- a low-time engine is no guarantee of a good engine, especially if it only had 250 hours SMOH in 12 years. When we removed the cylinders, we found stuck and broken rings, burned valves, gouging on the piston skirts, and pitting on the cylinder walls. Realize that the compressions on the pre-buy checked good, around 74/80 or higher. This engine had obviously spent more time sitting than flying, and the previous owner did not fly it that much. If an engine isn't flying around 50 hours a year, it's probably sitting too much. Also, look at the logs for how often the cylinders are being replaced, and whether they are using "servicable" pieces or rebuilt/overhauled. Remember, "servicable" means "within manufacturer's tolerances". It doesn't tell you by how much-- it could be within 0.001 of being out of tolerance! The main spar cap issue (again)-- I know we've beat the issue of holes in the main spar cat to death. But here's my advice, FWIW-- if the holes were not put there by the factory, OR if they are not part of an approved installation documented on a 337; RUN, don't walk away. The main spar may be prefectly safe for years of operation, but if the FAA ever decides to issue an AD, you are probably screwed. Realize you aren't getting perfect when you buy a 40-60 year-old airplane. I could not have found a better seller than the guy I bought from-- most of these problems were lurking from years past, and he would have been dealing with them eventually. You can't check everything and there will always be some surprises like mag problems. But look beyond the obvious and ask "why" questions before you buy. In my case, I'm giving up on trying to put a band-aid on my engine issues and I've ordered a C-85/O-200 rebuild from Don's Dream Machines. It should be ready about the same time we get all the sheet metal done. Fly Safe, Dave
