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Aviation History
1945
1945 - 0232.PDF
FLIGHT FEBRUARY IST, 1945 entirely. This does away with the, necessity of learning to co-ordinate the usual three separate controls properly, a matter which requires continual practice with the usual controls. Incorrect co-ordination of the controls leads to many serious mishaps even in the case of experienced pilots. Thirdly, the tricycle landing gear is used, which was unconventional when the aircraft was designed, but is now in sufficiently general use to free it more or less from the stigma of unconventionally. With this gear the aircraft can be landed at any speed up to about twice the minimum speed without any tendency to leave the ground again after contact, thus freeing the pilot from the delicate landing • technique ordinarily required in making contact at the desired point on 1;he ground and at the particular instant that flying speed is being lost. The tricycle gear reduces the ordinary hazards of ground- looping or nosing-over. Starting in the summer of 1940, 112 Ercoupes were built and put into use. In early 1941 their construction was stopped by the war and the resulting restriction on materials. These aircraft have now been in use about four years, and in the present paper the experiences of the users, or what might be termed the results of a four- year actual service test, will be discussed from the view- point of the original design aims. • Simple and Easy to Fly.—One indication of the sim- plicity and ease with which the aircraft handles is given by the fact that a number of non-pilots have handled the controls alone during their first rides in the aircraft, having been coached through the entire procedure of taxi- ing, takingoff, flying straight paths and turns, approach- ing and landing. Some of these people were taking their first ride in a small aircraft. In these cases, of course, the real pilots were in command. There is one interesting case which gives a record of what happened with completely untrained reactions at work solo—with no instructor to guide them. In this case a young woman, who had ridden some as a passenger with her husband, but who had never tried to handle the controls of an airplane, suddenly .found herself flying alone in an Ercoupe. The plane had taken off by itself after a misunderstand- ing in the starting procedure in which she had pushed the throttle in (and opened it wide) when her husband had asked her to close it. At an altitude of about 2,000ft. this suddenly created pilot experi- mented with the controls, learned how to handle them, and managed to fly around the airport area for about 20 minutes. She then made what was apparently an accept- able approach and landing on the airport, but while the plane was rolling on the ground she again became confused and pushed the throttle in instead of pulling it back, and once more ehe found herself up in the air. In her next landing she struck the ground with the nose too far down, bounced twice, and slid to a stop, the nose gear having folded back at the last contact. From this experience it would seem that the controls of the Ercoupe can be mastered readily without formal train- ing, and that they appear to follow natural or instinctive movements, with one exception—the throttle. In this case incorrect use of the throttle caused both the first and second take-offs, and in certain of the first flights mentioned previously, the natural tendency of the neophyte fliers also appeared to be to open the throttle l>v pulling it out and to close the throttle by pushing it in. This action is standard for automobile hand throttles. SIMPLER F.LYINC (CONTINUED) Wing area Chord Span Lengcn Height Elevator area Tail plane Rudder area (2) Fin area (2) ... Aileron area (2) ERCOUPE DATA Dimensions Full-Load Weights and Performance! Engine ... ... ... . . . 65 h.p. Continental Power loading . 19.4 Ib./h.p. Wing loading 8.8 Ib. sq ft. Empty weight 725 1b. Useful ioad 535 1b. Gross weight 1,260 Ib. Baggage allowance 601b. Fuel capacity (standard) ... ... 23 gals. Fuel consumption, crusing ... ' ... 4.6 galls.'hr. OH capacity ... ... ... ... 4 qts. Oil consumption ... ... ... ... 3 4 pt./hr. Maximum speed 117 m.p.h Crusing range . ... ... ... 52t5 miles Service ceiling 13.000 feet Rate of climb, firs' minute 700ft Fuel mileage i3 miles per ;all. Quick to Learn to Fly.—The best information available on the time required to learn to fly the Ercoupe comes from two sets of controlled flight training trials. The first one was carried out by the Civil Aeronautics Administration just after the production of the Ercoupe was started, and showed commendable consideration for new development. A num- ber of students were trained to various stages on each of two different Ercoupes at separate bases. The trainees included college students, trades- men, business and professional men, and housewives, with ages ranging from 18 to 46 years, and with no previous flight training. One student was soloed after 2 hours and 15 minutes of dual instruction, and the average time required at one unit was 3 hours 31 minutes, while at the other it was 5 hours 7 minutes. The difference is most likely due mainly to the differences in instructors, none of whom had had any substantial previous experience with the air- craft. On the average the time required to solo in the Ercoupe was 53 per cent, of that required for conventional light aircraft in the Civilian Pilot Training Programme then going on in the same unit. Flying Gross-section Last winter another flight training programme using Ercoupes was carried out by Parks Air College at bases in five different States. The students were made up of office workers, guards, janitors, mechanics, kitchen personnel, and ground instructors, with ages varying from 20 to 60. In the Parks programme also large differences in the average time required to solo existed among the different bases. Although these were influenced by the fact that the older students were concentrated largely in one unit with relatively poor field and traffic conditions, they are also an indication that the training methods with the Ercoupe have cot yet been developed to the standard of excellence now prevailing in training with conventional aircraft. The Parks training pro- gramme was, more or less, based on the present five-hour dual re- quirement of the Civil Aeronautics Authority, with no particular attempt to reduce the time to a minimum. The Parks programme included a few students who were carried on to the point where they passed the test for a Private Pilot Certi- ficate. Arrangements had been made with the C.A.A. to have an inspector check the students when their instructors considered them ready, although the rest of the present 25-hour requirement then had to be flown "before the certi- ficate was granted without further examination. The Parks results have led to the conclusion that after the student has soloed, 15 hours' additional time is sufficient for a Private Pilot Certificate. From the two sets of flight tests, C.A.A. and Parks, to- gether with other unassembled experiences in instruction with aircraft of this type, it appears reasonable that with equally well-prepared courses of instruction the time re- quired to solo could be approximately half, and the time required to obtain a Private Pilot Certificate approximately two-thirds, of that with conventional aircraft. Freedom from Stalling and Spinning.—In 1930 when the study which later resulted in the Ercoupe was begun, the Department of Commerce records of aircraft accidents showed that about two thirds of the fatal accidents in private flying resulted from loss of control in turns near the ground and inadvertent spins. That this condition has not changed greatly is indicated by the recently stated conclusion cf one of our most authoritative students of 142.0 5ft 30ft 20ft. 9in. 5ft. 11 in 9.4 sq. ft. 10.2 sq. ft. 6 sq. ft. 3.3. sq. It. 16.8 tq. ft. it.
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