Ercoupe 415C without rudder pedals

[A150K]

Anyone have any experience with these? The flight school I teach out of just got one and I was curious to know how much side load that gear can actually take in an X-wind. 10 KT+ crosswinds are pretty common around here and being a 1947 airplane, the "POH" is a sheet of paper with hardly anything on it. Any other weird quirks I should know about (other than the fact it lacks rudder pedals..)?

 

[KDoersom]

It will take a while to get used to it. Land in the crab. It will straighten itself out. The main gear is overbuilt and can take a lot of abuse.

Check out here.

http://www.ercoupe.org/

And here.

http://ercoupe.com/index.php


My experience with them is limited to about 5 hours. They are a fun little airplane though.

 

[ntbjounin]

Ive got about 250 hrs in them... Theyre lots of fun.
Depending on which model and modifications it has, it may not be able to stall... Cant spin...
Ive landed in a 25 kt xwind... Just land in the crab... Itll be ok! Watch the youtube videos.

 

[z987k]

Ive got about 250 hrs in them... Theyre lots of fun.
Depending on which model and modifications it has, it may not be able to stall... Cant spin...
Ive landed in a 25 kt xwind... Just land in the crab... Itll be ok! Watch the youtube videos.

I'll put a lot of money on that not being true. Or is it just a challenge?

 

[rframe]

I'll put a lot of money on that not being true. Or is it just a challenge?

Theoretically, as rigged from the factory, they dont have enough elevator authority to induce a stall, they'll just mush forward, however, I know someone who got one (a traditional, non-rudder pedal version) to start to spin as it fell off the backside of a loop in a turn.

 

[z987k]

Theoretically, as rigged from the factory, they dont have enough elevator authority to induce a stall, they'll just mush forward, however, I know someone who got one (a traditional, non-rudder pedal version) to start to spin as it fell off the backside of a loop in a turn.

Ya, and then there's accelerated stalls. Every wing stalls. Also, just because it won't break doesn't mean the wing isn't stalled. You can get airplanes into a completely level attitude relative the horizon and have a -3000fpm descent rant with little to no forward airspeed.

 

[SteveC]

...and have a -3000fpm descent rant (sic)...

Wouldn't a negative descent rate be a climb?

 

[trafficinsight]

It will take a while to get used to it. Land in the crab. It will straighten itself out. The main gear is overbuilt and can take a lot of abuse.

Check out here.

http://www.ercoupe.org/

And here.

http://ercoupe.com/index.php


My experience with them is limited to about 5 hours. They are a fun little airplane though.

Main gear must be maintained meticulously or kinda scary things happen after the crabbed landing.

Don't forget to fly with the canopy open


Sent from 1865 by telegraph....

 

[bronco21016]

A guy where I used to work had one and he landed it in the grass parallel the runway all the time because he said the crosswind made him nervous on pavement. He was also a cheap ass so he was probably just trying to save tire tread ha! He has a rudder pedal kit sitting around. I could ask him about it if you'd be interested.

It was always fun to go fly the thing around with him. Definitely leave the canopy down and arm hanging out the side!

 

[z987k]

Wouldn't a negative descent rate be a climb?

I like how you even added the (sic) to the quote of me misspelling a word.

 

[SteveC]

I like how you even added the (sic) to the quote of me misspelling a word.

Maybe I should have used brackets instead of parenthesis. :dunno:

(Love this from urban dictionary: Generally, sic means the foregoing mistake (or apparent mistake) was made by the writer/speaker I am quoting; I am but the faithful messenger; in fact I never get anything wrong myself. )

 

[nosehair]

Woah! I flew one a million years ago, and I thought the gear had those "knuckles", or swiveled to track straight on touchdown while the airframe stayed crabbed. No sideload at all.
Is this not true?

 

[ntbjounin]

Well, there are many different models, and yes accelerated spins may be possible even in the specific models to which I was referring, however, i tried many times to stall them, and in many, they wouldnt stall even accelerated.