[RP TownTalk] ERCO

[Jonathan W. Ebbeler]

All -

 

As an active pilot who has landed at the College Park airport I wanted to
add in some of the interesting tidbits about the Ercoupe (the actual plane
made by ERCO).

 

It was designed to have an inability to be held in a spin and had a fully
linked rudder with ailerons which vastly simplified controlling the
airplane.  Airplanes have rudder pedals that typically control the vertical
stabilizer on the tail.  This is used to control the yaw in the vertical
axis - i.e. controls the horizontal direction the nose is pointing.  The
yoke (the airplane's 'steering wheel' in the cockpit) controls the ailerons
which are the hinged pieces attached to the trailing edge of a plane's wing
that control the roll (used to turn the plane left or right).  The Ercoupe
did not have rudder pedals, just the yoke thus allowing the pilot just turn
the plane and not worry about applying the correct amount of compensating
rudder.

 

Fred Weick was the original designer of the plane and the original
inspiration was to base it off the Stout Skycar to produce a safe, reliable
plane that was easy to fly.  The Ercoupe was marketed in very unconventional
ways including the Men's department at Macys.  Fred went on in his career to
design one of the most popular entry-level (and what I completed my license
in) planes, a Piper Cherokee.

 

Ercoupes are still making history today.  In 2008, Jessica Cox became the
first person without arms to ever earn a pilot's certificate.  The
rudderless Ercoupe was the only plane capable of this:

http://www.plasticpilot.net/blog/2008/10/20/7-questions-to-a-refreshing-pilo
t-jessica-cox/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/3681441/Woman-born-w
ith-no-arms-becomes-first-pilot-to-fly-plane-using-only-feet.html

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/world/meet-worlds-first-armless-pilot-
jessica-cox/story-e6frev00-1111118266349

 

Jonathan

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