I agree! I fly weekly in the windy North Texas area and I have never had that problem.
Like Ed, my personal limit is a 30 mph direct crosswind and I have never ran into that. Bottom line, the wind has never kept me on the ground and I flew 172 hours last year in my Coupe. Happy flying! Jack 903-436-0474 cell ________________________________ From: Ed Burkhead <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Wed, July 7, 2010 10:01:51 PM Subject: RE: [ercoupe-tech] Re: Rudder Pedals - or not Mike Sigman wrote: > Where the rudder pedals come in handy is on a > cross wind take off. Anyone who has taken off > in a heavy cross wind with a 2 control has > suffered the "WILL MY WING CLEAR THE > GROUND" feelings..... Mike, I can't comment about your experience. I can attest that **I** NEVER suffered the "WILL MY WING CLEAR THE GROUND" feeling. With my landing gear properly maintained and the tail at the right height, thus the window sill level on the ground, my wings had the correctly very low angle of attack when on the ground. I'd accelerate, keeping the centerline using nosewheel steering. Once I had a solid margin of airspeed above the minimum, I'd give it a quick pull on the yoke, get 5-15 feet off the ground and hold it low, in ground effect till I had my chosen climb airspeed. At the point I'd lift the airplane (fairly suddenly) off the ground, it'd weathervane into the wind. Inertia being what it is, the plane would keep tracking the centerline of the runway quite well even though I was now in a crab, sometimes a pretty radical crab, wings level. Between the altitude and the strong dihedral, the wing tips just never came near the ground. (Even with one wheel on the ground, it takes an enormous tilt to get a wingtip near the grouind.) I'd rate the Ercoupe (2 or 3 control) as being a distinctly superior takeoff aircraft in extremely strong crosswinds. After practicing and working up to it, my personal comfort limit was 30 mph direct crosswind for takeoff or landing. Most people stay with the listed crosswind component of 25 mph. You should set your own limits starting more conservatively and develop your crosswind limits based on deliberate testing and practice. JMHO Ed
