Buying Used: The Ercoupe — We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Pedals

Few legacy GA aircraft are as easily recognizable as the Ercoupe. The twin tails and large glazed canopy are distinctive, as are its lack of rudder pedals (on most models). Ercoupe Owner’s Club Executive Director Gene Bunt says, “for lack of a better explanation…it’s got major ‘cute factor’.” But apart from its unique looks, the plane is also known for being easy to fly. It was, after all, designed with the goal of being the safest fixed wing aircraft available—one that would not stall or spin.

While the Ercoupe is a type certified aircraft, many of the variants qualify within the Light Sport category. When MOSAIC comes in all of them will qualify. That’s great news for Sport Pilots looking for something “different” to fly. And, they regularly show up for sale for comparatively little money.

Development

Fred Weick, an aeronautical engineer who would later create the Piper Pawnee and have a hand in designing the Piper Cherokee, designed the Ercoupe after joining the newly formed Engineering and Research Corporation (ERCO) in 1936. He had resigned his management position with the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, a federal agency tasked with conducting and promoting aeronautical research, to pursue his vision for a simple, safe and reasonably priced plane. An early prototype of the aircraft flew in 1937, but it wasn’t until 1940 that Ercoupes were available to the public. Unfortunately, barely more than a hundred of them were built before WW-II halted civilian aircraft production.

ERCO made the best of a bad situation by building Ercoupes for the military. They were used for flight instruction with the Civilian Pilot Training Program and for submarine patrol with the Civil Air Patrol. Since aluminum was in high demand for war production, wood became the primary building material for the Ercoupe. The wood variants were heavier than aluminum-based Ercoupes, but they were quieter because of wood’s ability to soak up engine and airframe vibration.

Production of the civilian Ercoupe resumed in 1945, and by the end of 1946 some 4300 415-C models were sold at a price of $2665 (about $44,000 in today’s money). The collapse of general aviation sales in the late 40s led ERCO to sell off the Ercoupe. A series of companies bought and sold the rights to the plane, including Aeronca, Forney (which introduced rudder pedals in its F-1A model, Alon (which was started by two former Beechcraft executives) and Mooney. Alon put a larger engine on its A-2 and A-2A models, adding rudder pedals to help counteract the increased P-factor. Alon also upgraded the seats and instrument panel, as well as replacing the oil/rubber dampening landing gear with spring steel. Mooney, which christened the plane the M10 Cadet, ditched the twin tail design for a single fin with a vertical leading edge to match its other planes. Mooney sold the type certificate in 1974 to Univair. The company continues to produce replacement parts and provide technical assistance to Ercoupe owners to this day. Some 2000 of the 6000 Ercoupes built are still around, but it may be that only about 1200 of them are truly airworthy.

Features & Flight Characteristics

Early Ercoupes were powered by 65 hp Continental boxer engines, but the 415-C model built right after the war had a 75 hp Continental. The 415-D and 415-CD saw minor interior modifications and an increased gross weight, while the 415-E and 415-F models saw 85 and 90 hp Continentals, respectively. The 415-G Club-Air introduced a rear kiddy-seat, while the 75 hp H model Club-Air came without the kiddy-seat.

Regardless of the engine mounted and regardless of its empty weight (generally a little over 800 pounds) or MTOW, the Ercoupe offers modest performance. The instrumentation is simple, as are the vintage amenities. The plane is reportedly comfortable for pilots who have an inseam of 32-inches or less. If there are rudder pedals, however, you’ll need shorter legs. Pilots with a bit of girth can fit into an Ercoupe with a minimal amount of squeezing. Two large adults, however, are not going to find the Ercoupe very comfortable. Specifications for the variants are readily available online, but the approximate performance figures for Ercoupes are generally as follows: Max speed of 110 mph; cruise of 95 mph; stall at 48 mph; Vne of 144 mph; 300 mile range and a climb rate of 550 fpm.

Flying the plane is a relaxing treat according to Ercoupe enthusiasts. Since the rudder and front wheel are linked to the control yoke, you only need your hands to fly it. According to Bunt, stalls are nonexistent because there isn’t enough elevator movement to allow you to approach one. Instead of stalling, the plane just loses altitude at about 800 fpm. And since you can’t stall, you can’t spin! The biggest adjustment to flying an Ercoupe is the lack of rudder pedals. The plane is sometimes called the ‘Scare-Coupe’ because you don’t have any choice but to land the plane in a crab when there’s a crosswind.

“You’ll be going somewhat sideways down the runway, but don’t worry about straightening the plane before landing,” explains Bunt. “Once you touch down you need to momentarily let the yoke go so the front wheel straightens itself. Trying to correct it yourself can easily result in an overcorrection. And don’t be afraid of landing this way. Ercoupes have a crosswind component of 30-35 mph! The landing gear is specifically made to handle crabbed touchdowns.” Bunt adds that Ercoupes built with rudder pedals, or had them added later, offer only half the crosswind capabilities of the original design.

Ercoupe takeoffs are also a little bit different. The plane’s wings have a minus-3-degree angle of attack to ensure the nosewheel has positive steering during takeoff and landing rolls. No matter how fast the plane is moving on the ground it won’t take off. So, to get off the ground, Bunt says you need to “pop” the nose into the air by rapidly pulling up on the yoke to get flying, and then immediately push back down again to level off above the runway while building airspeed.

Pre-Buy Inspection

Kevin Provost, an A&P and the owner of Monadnock Choppers in Keene, NH, is working on a poorly maintained Ercoupe. He recounts that the buyer knew the plane needed quite a bit of work, so didn’t bother with a pre-buy inspection. That is proving to be a mistake. The plane’s “issues” grew substantially the further Provost dug into the aircraft. “There are areas in an Ercoupe that you really need to check unless you don’t care about getting into serious money,” he contends.

The best pre-buy inspections will likely be performed by an A&P who’s familiar with Ercoupes. To help potential owners avoid the surprise of purchasing an unfit aircraft, the Ercoupe Owners Club has a free pre-purchase inspection guide available online. The guide’s creator, Ed Burkhead, says it covers what it takes to do the job right. “Realistically, most people will skip some of these steps even though many items are things the buyer can do him/herself,” writes Burkhead. “These things are listed because my advisors suggested that they were important.”

This article won’t go into specific details about doing a pre-buy on an Ercoupe given the availability of the guide. But, the most important thing to look for is corrosion. The Ercoupe isn’t especially susceptible to corrosion compared to other legacy aircraft, but corrosion in the wrong place is “cancer” for this plane, according to Burkhead. Corrosion on the outside of the plane shouldn’t be hard to identify, but finding it inside the wings or fuselage it a different story. Some early Ercoupes had fabric covered wings that were later “metalized.” The insides of the wings on these models need to be checked even more carefully for corrosion because of the potential of water leaking through the fabric.

Ownership & Maintenance

The Ercoupe may not be the best plane to take a check-ride in, as FAA standards require a pilot to demonstrate proficiency with a rudder. If you do take a check-ride in an Ercoupe you’ll be limited to only flying linked-rudder planes.

Given that Ercoupes can be significantly older than their pilots, there will be age-related airframe and powerplant costs down the road. Bunt says this shouldn’t be too big a problem since parts are easy to find. “Ercoupes aren’t like most of the older planes…they used off the shelf stuff a lot of the time… a lot of standard hardware,” he details. “And, there are a lot of junk planes around if you need parts too… but the problem with them is that most Ercoupes were hand fitted so things may not line up well.”

Apart from watching for corrosion, experts say another thing to keep an eye on is the plane’s tail height. (This should be checked during the pre-buy too!) The standard landing gear’s shock absorption system will sag over time, which then changes the plane’s attitude on the ground. This, in turn, alters the minus-3-degree angle of attack discussed earlier and negatively impacts takeoff and landings.

Buying an Ercoupe allows you to join an active aviation community. The Ercoupe Owners Club is one of the largest groups with more than 600 members. There are also regular Ercoupe fly-ins, as well as EAA and Facebook interest groups. Additionally, there are a number of online sub-forums dedicated to the plane. As a major bonus, Bunt says the plane makes it very easy to make new friends. “No matter what airport you land at, people will come up to you… saying something like: My grandfather had one of those…or my first flight was in an Ercoupe. There are never ending stories surrounding this plane.”