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Boy do I hate sticking my neck into a noose:: you can only believe how difficult this is for me. I could give a damn less about somebody's urinating match, but we are naming names here, and it's time to set the record straight for some Ercoupe newcomers. Please listen its a good story! Old Uncle Wayne stacked up an Ercoupe in a plowed field in 1991. I some how managed to wrinkle most of the salvageable parts, myself included. A month later with the insurance company check in my hot little hand I bought my present Aircoupe. Observing life through the bandages I, for some incalculable reason, bought the wrecked airframe back from the insurance company, and stored it in my hangar in various locations. I received a phone call from none other than Patty Wagstaff, forwarded through Joe B. McCawley concerning the restoration of an Ercoupe for a Lithuanian aerobatic pilot that had been severely burned and had lost a leg, and hand to the fire from the crash of a Yak 55 while performing in Vilnius. This gentleman was the Soviet hopeful prior to the fall of the Communist regime. He was a well liked personality among the world of international aerobatic pilots. According to Patty he was totally devastated by the fact that he could not ever fly again, so She, along with the late Randy Gagne composed this scheme to get him an Ercoupe to fly. Here she was on the phone, talking to little old me, about a useless pile of aluminum that was cluttering up my hangar, we gave it to her. and they took the airplane to Denver and built one complete Zero time Ercoupe out of a couple of hopeless cases. I know I'm making a book out of this, but hang on it gets better! I picked up the airplane in Denver and flew it to Oshkosh in 1992 as the "Ercoupe for Vitas" Every Ercouper in the World was proud of this thing, it represented all the good this country is composed of, and there it was, flying. But alas there was a problem, it dragged through the air at about 85 miles an hour with the tail low, and I couldn't get any more speed out of it! I managed to stir up the sky in the delivery trip and make it to Springfield Ill. with the airplane at about dusk one night on the voyage to New York City. Ed. Burkhead and the Wrights met me when I landed. I was exhausted I had fought that Airplane all the way from Tucson with Vitas aboard, and finally made it to Springfield. The Wrights noticed a great number of discrepancies with the airplane, and they went right to it in correcting them, they sent me to a motel with Vitas, and they worked all night on that airplane, repairing the cowling, reorienting the prop, something with the fuel lines and pump, and the re-rigged that airplane in the middle of the night. Not that this airplane had lacked for attention before, it had, it was not only one of the most beautiful Ercoupes you had ever seen, it had had more mechanics on it than you could count. The Wrights had that thing on the flightline ready to go the first thing the next morning. They would not take a cent, they donated all their work and parts to the cause, and they got me on my way with all the spirit and conviction of a WW II Squadron mechanic, "keep um flyin!" I had a deadline! I had to have that airplane ready to load on a plane bound for Europe, at Kennedy, on a specific date, and I wasn't going to make it at the speed the airplane was flying. The Wrights took care of that. When I left Springfield, that plane handled flawlessly, it was a beautiful thing, in that cold morning sky, she trimmed right up and flew like a lonesome Angel. I made Kennedy! On time. and that airplane made it to Lithuania, and is still flying over there. A great many people had a hand in the "Russian Coupe," but when the chips were down, and that project was in real trouble John and Johnny Wright were there with "The Wright Stuff." I for one will never forget it, and I will never be able to thank them enough. Wayne Woollard Ken Doyle wrote: > ----[Please read http://ercoupers.com/disclaimer.htm before following any advice in this forum.]---- > > Marv/Ruth, > > Thanks for your help with the tow bar and chocks. > > FWIW, The hoopla over the maintenance seminar is from a minority of pilots, > one of whom was not even there. Personally, I am very grateful and > appreciative of John and Jonnie's efforts to support coupes, coupe pilots, > and especially, their efforts to point out serious issues with our planes. > I don't consider their concerns "scare tactics" or "threats" against the > coupe. Clearly, corrosion is a problem in all old airplanes and Coupes are > not exempt. To have this pointed out in very explicit terms is what many > weekend pilots need in order to be impressed with the seriousness of the > problem. > > Jonnie made mention that he had check the coupes on the field and that only > a few of them were airworthy in that the rigging was proper. He wasn't > trying to drum up business. There was no attempt by Jonnie to be > self-serving-I don't think he even understands that concept. He was merely > suggesting that pilots address this (apparently) often overlooked > requirement by A&Ps doing annuals. Why would anyone object about learning > of a common problem that can be fixed? > > I take John and Jonnie's lectures very serious--and even though I haven't > taken a poll, I'm sure my family members are thankful that someone is > bringing problems to the forefront to be fixed. I support John and Jonnie's > comments because I know they are genuinely interested in coupes and their > pilots. I can call either of them any time for advice and parts, I can count > on them to fix an unexpected problem for anyone at a fly-in (without > charge), and I can rely on their advice about problems and how to fix them. > I remember that they sponsored the Coupe Nationals two years in a row, which > as you know, is no small feat. They're dedicated people. > > John and Jonnie, and their family members, come to many of the Coupe > fly-ins. They haul around samples of corrosion for us to look at, samples > of mis-installed parts, and specialty tools to show us how to do certain > things. Then they take their personal time to tell us about their > experiences, give lectures on maintenance issues, and fix our planes. > > A few people don't want to hear about problems with their plane, and may not > appreciate everything else that the Wrights do for the coupe community, and > some apparently think that exposing problems is bad for the coupe. I will > listen to their complaints, but until they come up with a better solution > than John Wright and Jonnie Wright, (and that will be damn tough), I'm > sticking with the Wrights. I hope John and Jonnie don't take the criticism > too seriously because the coupers that know them are very appreciative of > their efforts. Besides that, I think their maintenance seminar was exactly > what we needed to hear, like it or not! > > Ken Doyle > Springfield, Mo > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: MarvRuth dunlap [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Sent: Friday, June 28, 2002 7:22 AM > > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Subject: RE: Nationals and Tow Bar > > > > > > Hi Ken--Thanks for the "thanks" as we sure needed that > > as there were complaints against the "Maintenance > > Seminar". > > > > __________________________________________________ > > Do You Yahoo!? > > Yahoo! - Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup > > http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com > > ================================================================== > TO UNSUBSCRIBE go to: http://ercoupers.com/lists.htm -- Mr. D. Wayne Woollard, CPBE AIM: DWWoollard ICQ: 124132836 "Why fly a Spam can when you can have fun and fly an Ercoupe?" ================================================================== TO UNSUBSCRIBE go to: http://ercoupers.com/lists.htm
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