January 2024

Joe Dezso talked about his recent purchase of an Ercoupe 415-C
The Ercoupe is a plane that was developed in the 1930s by Fred Weick to be stall and spin proof. The Engineering and Research Corporation (ERCO) produced a few models before WWII and over 5,000 shortly after the war ended. The ailerons and rudder are connected so there are no rudder pedals. Steering on the ground is done with the control wheel, just like you would drive a car.

Joe’s plane was in a hangar in Texas for the last 30 years and supposedly given an annual before it was flown back to SLO. When it arrived there was a strong smell of gas in the cockpit and the passenger side fuel tank was leaking. Subsequently we found that the pilot side fuel tank was leaking as well. Fortunately, the Ercoupe user’s group is very active and there is a procedure for sealing the tanks that Joe and Kurt successfully used.

Since it was apparent that an annual was not really done on the plane, Joe asked Saira and Alec to look over the plane and Saira spend days cleaning up the wiring in the engine compartment, fixing a leaking gascolator, and general tidying. Joe spent many days cleaning up the wiring in the cockpit. The struts and seals on the landing gear hadn’t been touched so they were greased and cleaned and new donuts were installed. The engine mounts were worn out and they were replaced. When we were cleaning the nose bowl we noticed that it had been repaired dozens of times and a new fiberglass bowl was ordered.

Other than a worn mixture cable and the nose bowl, nothing really expensive is wrong with the plane.

Here are a couple videos of Ercoupes. There are dozens of them on YouTube.