Linda, Glad you and the plane made it safely. An indication of your great pilot skills, strength of the Ercoupe and power of positive thinking. I have been flying since 1951 and have not had this type of experience, nor do I ever want to . But hopefully I wil lbe ready.
I have been a member of Aeronca, Piper and Cessna pilot organizations when I owned one of those aircraft. But I have never experienced the dedication, knowledge communication and active participation by such a Group as the Ercoupe owners or pilots. Again - a job well done. Jim Truxel N3439H Frederick, Md ----- Original Message ----- From: Linda Abrams To: [email protected] Sent: Thursday, June 24, 2010 7:37 PM Subject: [ercoupe-tech] Safe off-airport landing Last Sunday, I had a safe off-airport landing, in a plowed field near Merced airport, on my way home from the Columbia air show. No injuries and no damage. At this time the cause appears to have been a broken fuel line. For now, I've left the 'Coupe at the Merced airport, where I'm letting the mechanics & FAA both do their jobs. With no injuries and no damage, the TRACON told me it would be reported as "off-airport landing" rather than an accident, so no NTSB impound of the plane. But there's a time-sink's-worth of papers I need to assemble for the FAA, and other stuff to do, so I'd greatly appreciate it if everyone would p-l-e-a-s-e hold off on any questions or speculations for now. More info to follow at a later time. I do want everyone to know how fantastically well the Ercoupe network came through for me. We train for soft-field landings and other emergencies, but I've never heard what to do next, when sitting in an undamaged 'coupe in the middle of a field, and asking myself, "Now what?!?" I called Dan Hall, my 'Coupe mentor and my predecessor as EOC Region 7 Director, and I'm very grateful that Dan immediately reached Rick Eason, an Ercouper based at Merced, who has just completed a 2-yr. restoration of his second Ercoupe. Rick came out to me within minutes, and I couldn't possibly ask for, nor even dream of, anyone who could have been of more help or more knowledgeable or more take-charge. Rick stuck with me the whole afternoon and well into evening, went up & back to the airport, corral'd an A&P-pilot friend of his, plus his own son-in-law and daughter, and with their help -- plus that of a half-dozen farm workers and a backhoe, and the cooperation of the farmers -- we got the 'Coupe turned around in the furrows and dragged off the recently-plowed field. Then to Merced airport, and into the hands of his A&P. All of this on Father's Day! Rick lurks on this list, and I can't say it enough: THANK YOU!!! Rick, you're my hero, and the Ercoupers rock! Linda N3437H (Sky Sprite) L.A.
