For those who got their Sport Pilot today, there is an article by a Dave
Matheny on Crosswind Takeoff. Is this correct? Has anyone flown a coupe with
and without the pedals? Comments anyone?
Following is a quote from the article: "Fortunately the Ercoupe I was flying
had been modified so that its twin rudders were connected to actual rudder
pedals, unlike the standard Ercoupe. The original had its rudders and ailerons
interconnected so that all turns were automatically coordinated. This was a
feature that dwsigner Fred Weick and other aviation heavyweights of the 1930s
and 40s thought would increase safety by reducing the number of stall-spin
accidents that have always plagued aviation. They were right, as far as
Ercoupes went, because they were virtually stall-spin proof, but the absence of
independent rudder control in the standard model was a problem for crosswind
maneuvering on runways"
