Hi Percy,
You speak of two entirely separate airframes and design approaches.
The one and only ERCO retract flew in 1947, sans main gear doors. It
had articulated nose gear and trailing arm main gear (see Touch of
Class, p. 182-183). It did not have a regular Ercoupe serial number.
It was disassembled and the non-standard parts have yet to surface if
they still exist.
Forney (Carlsbad) had Met-Co-AIre produce at least one retract, N93541
(see Touch of Class, p. 347-348) in the early sixties. It was a normal
1946 Ercoupe considerably modified. The nose gear rose up and back in
an arc into a pocket behind the firewall and the wheel remained half
exposed. Its main gear was straight spring steel, not sweeping back
and down like the Alons and M10s.
This is the airframe the Kruljacs rebuilt. Larry did speak at length
with Fred Weick and may have modified the original Met-Co-Aire design.
Regards,
William R. Bayne
.____|-(o)-|____.
(Copyright 2010)
--
On Jan 26, 2010, at 19:04, Percy wrote:
ERCO was working on a retractable Ercoupe when they left the business.
One prototype was produced. Last I heard, Larry Kruljac in
Independence, Oregon, had it. I have seen the bird; hydraulics were
used to retract.
Percy in SE Bama
