----[Please read http://ercoupers.com/disclaimer.htm before following any advice in this forum.]----
Well Chris.... There is NO WAY you can build an Ercoupe from plans for less than buying one... So get a loan and buy one... If you really must build a kit plane.. (I have built 4 of them) you might look for plans for the mini-coupe A nice single place kit built... or build a Gemini 601.... as close to an ercoupe as you can get.... Good luck, but DO NOT build if you think it is cheaper... it aren't... Ron Burke ----- Original Message ----- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, November 27, 2002 1:35 PM Subject: [COUPERS-FLYIN] Building a Coupe from plans. > ----[Please read http://ercoupers.com/disclaimer.htm before following any advice in this forum.]---- > > > Yes, well I'm planning to anyway, but before I do I > need to figure out the legality of it. I know I can > build just about anything as an experimental aircraft > and I am fine on that as far as the FAA is concerned. > My question is what about the fact that Univair owns > the type certs for the plane that I will be building. > Will I have any legal obligation to them? > > > By the way: If you want the background on this before > calling me a nut then read on. If not then just stop > now and call me a nut anyway. > > I've been hooked on flying ever since a kind pilot > invited an awestruck three year old me up to see the > cockpit of a 747 many years ago. It kind of sets the > backdrop for a scene for two summers ago, a 25 year old > computer tech working at an airport, with a week of > complimentary passes to Oshkosh and two weeks vacation. > It was my first Oshkosh and the first time I saw an > ercoupe. Oshkosh renewed my obsession with aircraft, > flying, warbirds, and the usual kitplanes... but left > an odd fascination with an unusual plane out in the > grass. N2546H, perhaps the most simply and elegantly > unique plane at the show. Yes, it was an ercoupe. > > Oshkosh left it's mark, I signed up for flight lessons > the next week. > > I didn't think much about the Ercoupe in my original > fascination with kitplanes, but it seemed to keep > coming up, mostly for financial reasons. When I finaly > set about seriously looking for my own plane it turned > out that an Ercoupe was about the most elegant plane I > could afford. I must thank Steve Christmas for my > first ride in an Ercoupe, and it was a wonderous > flight. But financial circumstances and the loss of a > roommate constrained my budget still further and I was > unable to buy it. I sincerely hope that Steve has > found a good new owner for that plane and , I wish him > the best of luck. > > I was hooked on Ercoupes but by now my budget was > barely up to an ercoupe project. I sought them out > anyway, to little avail. Discouraged, I returned to > looking at kitplanes, then downgraded even that to > looking at plans. Hope eventually started to return, > after all I work at an airport, surrounded by enough > equipment and expertise to roll a new BizJet off the > line every couple of weeks. It also turns out that > quite a few people at work have built, or are building, > kitplanes, some of them from plans. I might not end up > owning an Ercoupe but at least I would end up owning > something, and I would get to actually build it.. > Bonus. > > Then a thought struck me, why not build an Ercoupe from > plans, it doesn't look too complicated and the plans > have to be out there somewhere. I started looking and > found them easily enough, though not at Univair where I > had expected. The CAC archives had Ercoupe plans, from > Engineering Research Co. no less, and it would only > cost $37.50 to get a copy. I ordered the plans without > a second though, I would probably have done the same > even if I didn't plan to use them. So here I am now, > waiting on the plans, wondering if anyone has tried > this before, pondering the legal fineries of it all, > and wondering if it's all entirely sane in the first > place. > > Either way, wish me luck. This looks like the > beginning of a grand adventure. > > Chris Trent > ========================================================================== == == > To leave this forum go to: http://ercoupers.com/lists.htm > > > > ========================================================================== ==== To leave this forum go to: http://ercoupers.com/lists.htm
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