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When I was learning to fly, in a Piper Colt, I had the occasion to ask my instructor about the glide slope characteristics of the plane. His response, and it applies directly to the Coupe, was, " It has about the same glide slope as a 1200 lb. cook stove". Larry ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ken Doyle" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, May 16, 2002 5:52 AM Subject: RE: [COUPERS-FLYIN] Ercoupe crash info...long > ----[Please read http://ercoupers.com/disclaimer.htm before following any advice in this forum.]---- > > > John, > > Thanks for forwarding Charlie's note about Fred and his coupe crash. We all > wish Fred the best. Based on Fred's coming up short, and my own practice > with dead stick landings, I am reminded how quick the coupe will come down > and how little it will glide. If you haven't done any dead stick landings > lately a little practice would be in order. > > Charlie brings up an interesting solution to the "vapor lock" discussion. I > don't know that his analysis would apply to the Alon, but it might. His > solution to the problem, lowering the nose, describes my recent experience > too. Does anyone have sleeves on their fuel lines? It would be worth > checking. > > Hope to see you all in Mason, Michigan for the Nationals. > > Ken Doyle > Springfield, Mo > Alon N5477E > > > ______________ > I picked this up from the gyrocraft board to which I subscribe. > > Regards, > John > > > We've lost two pilots to fatal crashes from my hangar row over the last > couple years and almost had a 3rd one Saturday. Guy and his wife fly an > Ercoupe hangared across > the row from me and 2 over. He's known as "Capt. Fred" and does a public > access airplane show on Sunday evenings. We've been neighbors for at > least 15 years. He's > kind of an over-weight cornball who wears a leather jacket and a long > silk scarf while he's narrating and interviewing and even a leather > helmet and goggles in the shows > intro and closing. He's like an affable nerd and his wife is constantly > getting awards for working with Girl Scout groups, etc. and getting them > interested in aviation. > > I get cornered once in awhile on Saturday mornings when she has a group > in her hangar and they want to look at different aircraft. They all want > a photo of themselves > sitting in the gyro, so I have to make sure they all get in and out > safely without breaking any wires or scratching anything. We're talking > groups of 50 or more. I gripe > about it, but I love it. > > Fred did a show on me a few years ago and I got slightly P.O.ed. We did > about 3 hours of air-to-air shots and Fred used about 3 minutes of them, > if that. He's a big ham > and likes talking and yakking about all his trivia knowledge instead of > showing the planes in action. > > Anyway, my hangar partner Bill is a retired Southwest Airlines jet > mechanic, and now that he's retired, he does annuals, repairs, etc. on > the field and for a large flight > school. He's an A&P and A.I. (or I.A. I can never get it straight). Fred > and Anna's Ercoupe needed an engine rebuild, so Bill sent it a little > north to a guy that has a good > reputation for rebuilding aircraft engines. Bill got the engine back > after about 5 months (!) and $8,000 worth of work and parts. He had > everything rebuilt, like the mags, > starter, charging system and had a new fuel pump put on. Bill then redid > all the 50+ year old baffling with new, both the rubber and aluminum > sheet portions. > > I took a "Wannabee" for a ride Saturday a.m. and noticed that Bill and > Fred were there and running up the engine. We went for about an hour > ride and when we came > back, they were still running up the engine. My passenger offered to buy > breakfast, so we left the field and went to IHOP for some food. We shot > the baloney awhile and I > drove him back to the airport to get his car. I then went to buy a small > light for my gyro, and when I pulled in at the airport, I noticed the > usual contingent of about 8 to 10 > airport rats standing around as when someone is doing a first flight or > something. I parked and walked up to the group and asked what everyone > was watching. > > I was then pointed to look at the east end of the runway to see Capt. > Fred's Ercoupe laying on the adjacent freeway just past the thresh-hold, > upside down. I then noticed > all the flashing lights and that the Mercy-Air heli was parked there on > the freeway. Just then, Bill drove in. He was at the scene and said Fred > was pretty banged up, but > managed to crawl out by himself. They life-flighted him to Sharp > hospital, where later we found out he had damage to his spleen and some > other possible internal injuries. > Bill said his face was like a piece of raw meat as was one of his arms. > Fred never did install shoulder harnesses in his plane, so that lap belt > was just a pivot point to slam his > face against the panel. > > No word so far on the cause. Fred was up about an hour and a half, > supposedly running the engine at full power and circling overhead. The > story gets a little muddled here. > Some say that Fred did stay over the field and just misjudged when the > engine quit and overestimated his glide range. Some others said that he > wandered away from the > field, as much as several miles, against Bill's advice. > > I could see that Bill was upset, but then he started shaking > uncontrollably and started having crying jags. It was sad all around. > Fred's wife, Anna, was watching him come > in through binoculars and saw him crash. There's an evergreen nursery on > the east side of the freeway, and Fred's wheels caught the chain-link > fence and it pretty much > stopped him, but flipped him upside down onto the freeway. Luckily, > there was a break in traffic. > > Hopefully he'll pull through O.K. Bill said that when he crawled out, he > asked for Bill, and when Bill showed up in a minute, Fred said: "The > engine stopped! It just > stopped!" The weather wasn't conducive to carb-icing, in fact it is > extremely rare in this area, due to the desert-like conditions. If the > fuel pump was not working, the 6 > gallons in the header should not have been enough for him to stay up > that long, especially at full power. There is also a bobber gauge right > in front of the pilot's nose. If that > thing goes down a 1/2 inch, any Ercoupe pilot would notice it > immediately. The 2 wing tanks are joined and the fuel pump merely pumps > fuel up to the header tank, where > it garvity-feeds to the carb and the excess flows back to the wing > tanks. > > I have one idea, but don't know if it's valid. When I bought one of my > Coupes, the engine had just been rebuilt and they forgot to put the > fire-sleeve back on the short hose > that feeds the fuel from the header to the carb. It passes right next to > some exhaust components. On hot days, I started having my engine > sputter, especially on climbout. > Putting the nose down would usually clear it. Winds up it was > vapor-lock, and it cleared with the nose down, as there was enough > pressure to overcome it. In a climb, that > fuel line was almost horizontal. After installing a short piece of > fire-sleeve, the problem never appeared again. > > I asked Bill if there was a fire-sleeve on that hose, and he said there > wasn't one. I'm guessing that previously, with the baffling all broken > and ratty, there might have been > enough air to keep it cool. After Bill redid all the baffling, maybe > there wasn't enough airflow around that hose and vapor-lock took over. > Apparently it didn't clear when > he was nose down like mine would, but with new, efficient baffling, > maybe it kept enough heat in where that wouldn't overcome it. > > No one knows for sure where the engine exactly quit. I talked with the > Mercy-Air pilot, and he said that Fred got a "Mayday" out a little > before he crashed. He was on his > way in when the tower asked him to loiter awhile, as they had a plane in > distress. The pilot said in a few moments he asked where the plane now > was and was told it > crashed onto the freeway. They got there and landed within a minute, as > they were hovering or circling on the other end of the field. Pilot said > that was the very first time > that he was ever the first one on a scene. Fred's plane had all 3 lanes > blocked, so he was able to land right next it. > > Anyway, that's the latest from "Charlie" row at Gillespie Field, CA. > > > > > > > > -- > MACINTOSH®...because everything else is just a peecee. > WINTEL...the cubic zirconium of computers.© > "What a man has honestly acquired is absolutely his own, which he may > freely give, but cannot be taken from him without his consent." > - Samuel Adams (1768) > "A true man, like a true horse, runs with his own breed." > -From KIM by Rudyard Kipling > > > ================================================================== > TO UNSUBSCRIBE go to: http://ercoupers.com/lists.htm > > > > ================================================================== > TO UNSUBSCRIBE go to: http://ercoupers.com/lists.htm > > > ================================================================== TO UNSUBSCRIBE go to: http://ercoupers.com/lists.htm
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