When the first Ercoupe took to the skies in 1937, it was supposed to become everyman’s airplane - not only the safest light airplane on the market, but an airplane that was
to make flying easy as driving.
It was the Ercoupe's design features that resulted in its unique flight characteristics. The elevator had only 13-degrees of travel, so it was almost impossible to stall,
and yaw correction was automatic, thanks to the interconnect rudders and ailerons. The result was proudly placarded on the instrument panel, "This aircraft
characteristically incapable of spinning."
None of the original Ercoupes were equipped with rudder pedals (unnecessary because of the interconnects), so crosswind landings were handled in a uniquely Ercoupe manner.
The plane was to be flown onto the runway in a crab - the long nose gear would contact the ground first and start steering the plane down the runway, while side loads would
be negated by the sturdy, trailing link main landing gear.
Only a couple hundred Ercoupes were built before, and during World War 2, but when production resumed they exploded onto the scene - 4, 311 examples in 1946 alone. The
aggressive marketing scheme included advertisements in the men's department of Macy's department stores.
60 years after my grandfather first flew it, I was introduced
to Ercoupes in the same airplane, CF-GFU. (T. McTavish)
In 1948 'Doc' Hess, a local pilot and friend of my grandparents, purchased an Ercoupe 415-E. He also became the Ercoupe distributor for the area, and CF-GFU became his
demonstrator. He'd take people for flights, use it himself, and he leased it to Chinook Flying Service for use as a rental plane. In one case, Doc Hess seriously damaged the
plane while showing it to a farmer. After landing in the farmer's field, the prospective buyer climbed aboard and the two men tried to takeoff. No matter what Doc Hess
tried, he couldn't get enough speed to takeoff. His solution was to try and jump 'GFU over the fence (about 3 feet tall) so he could continue his takeoff run in the next
field. The little Ercoupe tore through the fence, and into the next field. The landing gear ripped away and the poor plane ended up on its nose. When Doc relayed the day's
events, he explained, "and that's when I lost control." Others would have argued that he lost it when he started the engine.
Fast forward to September 2001 - My father and I had just delivered a Cessna 180 to Springbank, and parked at the gas pumps next to us was an attractive Ercoupe. Being a fan
of older planes, we walked over for a look. Naturally I read the registration, CF-GFU, hey, that's grandpa's old plane.
In the years that followed, I contacted the owner and tried to arrange a flight. He sold it before we managed to get together. Then I discovered it was in Victoria, a place
I try to visit every fall. Once again I contacted the owner and we tried to get together, but it wasn't until 2008 that I once again noticed it for sale. Determined to fly
this tiny piece of family history before it disappeared, I made arrangements to meet the owner in Nanaimo, BC.
CF-GFU's rainbow colours are certainly colourful and eye-catching.
(T. McTavish)
(T. McTavish)
Our plan was to fly 30 minutes up Vancouver Island to Qualicum Beach for a late lunch, and return to Nanaimo when we were finished.
Getting into an Ercoupe is almost half the fun of flying it. I've been in cramped cockpits, including the infamous Luscombe Silvaire, but I wasn't prepared for just how
small the Ercoupe really is. Seated in the cockpit, I had to either a) keep the canopy open to afford me some headroom, or, because the wind made the radio unreadable, b)
slouch way down in the seat and fold my legs up underneath the instrument panel. Shoulder room was at a premium and I found myself with my left arm tucked into the baggage
compartment for most of the flight. This plane was apparently not intended for a six foot tall pilot.
Taxiing was interesting, as it's exactly like a car. Turn the yolk left, the plane turns left, turn it right, off you go to the right. On the floor in front of the left
seat is a single pedal, not a rudder pedal, but a car-like brake. It's all very simple and intuitive for the non-pilot and totally backwards and confusing for a conventional
pilot.
The owner wasn't comfortable passing complete control over to a strange pilot, so he handled the takeoffs and landings. Crosswind control was completely different than in a
conventional airplane. Normally I'd start off with a strong aileron input to counter the wind, and lessen the input as airspeed picked up and aileron authority increased.
If one was to do this in an Ercoupe, you'd immediately find yourself steering off the side of the runway. Instead, a small correction was put into the yolk to keep the nose
wheel steering you down the runway. Once off the runway the crosswind was immediately countered by crabbing.
Passing overhead of Nanaimo. Visability in an Ercoupe is very good.
(T. McTavish)
Performance was remarkably better than I expected. With two adult men, and four hours of gas (about 20 gallons), the VSI indicated 500 feet per minute. Okay, we were at sea
level, but that's still pretty good for only 85hp.
Cruising along, we were indicating 90mph at 2,500 feet. The top of my head, hat and headset protruded slightly above the canopy rim.
Landing at Qualicum Beach, I was glad the owner had chosen to perform the landing. The airstrip is beautiful, but it has tall pine trees lining the runway. With the wind
blowing across the field, the trees caused turbulence and bounced us around a bit. Normally I wouldn't have worried, but with no experience flying without a rudder, I didn't
want to end up putting someone else's plane on the grass.
Approaching the airport at Qualicum Beach.
(T. McTavish)
It was a typical crosswind landing; crab into the wind and plunk it down. Don't be fancy, and don't worry about coming in sideways. Apparently Boeing bought a bunch of
Ercoupes years ago, when it was building the 707. Large airliners with engine hanging below the wings really can't touch down with one wing low. Instead they crab. Putting
experienced test pilots in the Ercoupes helped break them of that habit.
After lunch, and a tour of the beautiful Qualicum Beach airport, we squeezed back aboard and took off south. Before takeoff I took a minute to become acquainted with the
steering by doing some figure eights on the tarmac.
Once airborne, I started feeling my way around the Ercoupe's idiosyncrasies. For instance, The plane seemed to waddle its way through turbulence, and although the
interconnects are supposed to help coordinate your turns, they felt sloppy. A glance over at the turn and bank indicator showed that I was slipping and sliding my way
through the air. I didn't try any really steep turns, but even at 30-degrees of bank I could feel the plane slipping. I'd imagine that a real steep turn would be an
emergency manoeuvre in this plane.
Control was passed back to the owner for the landing, and once again, the technique of plunking the plane down in a crab was used.
I'm grateful that I was given the opportunity to experience not only a flight in an Ercoupe (a difficult plane to find around home), but also to be able to connect with a
piece of my family's history - it's been 60 years since a McTavish last flew CF-GFU. At the same time, I realized just how tiny it really is. People call Luscombes small.
The Ercoupe in comparison is miniscule. There's no way I'd attempt to fly more than an hour with someone my size in the other seat. Even a wife or girlfriend might be
challenged by the Ercoupe's cozy seating arrangement.