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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal>All –<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>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).<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>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.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>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.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>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:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><a href="http://www.plasticpilot.net/blog/2008/10/20/7-questions-to-a-refreshing-pilot-jessica-cox/">http://www.plasticpilot.net/blog/2008/10/20/7-questions-to-a-refreshing-pilot-jessica-cox/</a><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/3681441/Woman-born-with-no-arms-becomes-first-pilot-to-fly-plane-using-only-feet.html">http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/3681441/Woman-born-with-no-arms-becomes-first-pilot-to-fly-plane-using-only-feet.html</a><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><a href="http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/world/meet-worlds-first-armless-pilot-jessica-cox/story-e6frev00-1111118266349">http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/world/meet-worlds-first-armless-pilot-jessica-cox/story-e6frev00-1111118266349</a><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Jonathan<o:p></o:p></p></div></body></html>