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Aviation History
1961
1961 - 0304.PDF
310 FLIGHT, 10 March 1961 AIRCOUPE in the Air BY MARK LAMBERT No 140 of the Series YET another American light aircraft, the Aircoupe, is nowavailable in Britain—and it is another two-seater poweredby a Continental 95 h.p. engine. Under various names, the Aircoupe has been made for many years in the USA and produc-tion is now in the hands of Air Products Co Inc, of Carlsbad Municipal Airport, Carlsbad, New Mexico. Seven Aircoupeshave already been imported into Britain by Thurston Engineering Ltd, of Stapleford Tawney airfield, Essex, who are the sole dis-tributors for Western Europe. Of the seven, one has been intensively flown during the past two months and is about toreceive its public-transport C of A. The second is almost ready and the sales prospects for this first batch appear good. The priceof the basic aircraft is £3,575 fly-away Stapleford, or £4,200 with radio, gyro instruments, lighting and all mod. con. Britishinstruments and equipment are being incorporated as far as possible in order to reduce the price. The appearance of the Aircoupe is familiar to a good manypeople in Britain, for two examples flew extensively here some years ago. The present model is naturally improved in detail; andthe two-control system, without rudder bar, has now been made an optional rather than primary control system. The Aircoupecan accommodate its full fuel load of 20 Imp gal (in three tanks), two people, light radio and 751b of baggage and will then cruise at109 m.p.h. indicated. The full 90 h.p. can be used, with 2,475 r.p.m., to give a best TAS of 120 m.p.h. Thorough investigationin this country has shown that the aircraft will not spin, and its stall is barely noticeable. Very limited rudder control and fairlylimited elevator have made this possible, but the consequent restriction in control effectiveness has not made the aircraftunpleasant to fly. Perhaps the most remarkable feature of the Aircoupe is that, although it follows the American tradition ofrather mushy control, it is really simple to fly and is manageable in very poor conditions. I flew it last week for almost two hours ina rough wind from the really appalling turf surface of Stapleford. It behaved extremely well, received a tremendous beating fromruts and bumps without a murmur, and took off and landed in an almost 90c cross-wind without the slightest difficulty. A mostimportant point in its favour is its low wing and near-bubble canopy; you can really see all round you in any flight conditionand on the ground. To get in, one opens the Aircoupe rather like a Gladstone bagby pulling the two sliding roof-panels down into the sidewalls. Little cloth flaps fold back over each seat to make a good foot-step and there is plenty of leg room by virtue of tiny rudder pedals. The feet stay close together and full pedal-travel requiresonly ankle movement. Across-the-shoulder space and head-room are just adequate. You can fly with the roof open. There is a vernier throttle, and mixture, carburetter and cabinheat controls, and a ventilator. The aileron wheel turns no less than 180° in each direction and the ailerons cover almost thewhole trailing edge. There are no flaps. Each aileron moves up a lot, but hardly at all down. The elevator is sharply cut away inthe centre, and fins and rudders are very small. Turns almost about one wing-tip are possible on the ground, thanks to light nosewheel steering; and very effective wheel brakes are jointly(non-differentially) operated by a single stout lever between the seats. There is a virtually invisible drum gauge for the two wing-tanks in the port wall and a float-and-wire gauge for the centre tank on the coaming. Engine starting is conventional and easy,as is usual with the Continental. Noise-level is fairly high, but cabin atmosphere can be very effectively controlled.Take-off technique is to hold the wheel hard back all the time, with full nose-up trim as well, until the aircraft rotates slowly andunsticks at about 60 m.p.h. Back-pressure is then released and the climb at about 65 m.p.h. is steep, but not very rapid.Cruising at about 95 m.p.h., the Aircoupe handles well enough, although it tends to snake in rough air. Reasonably good turnscan be made with either rudder or aileron alone and trim-changes for speed and power are normal and progressive. The trimmer isreally useful only for cruising settings and complete circuits can be made with it in any position. Control in turns distinctly recallsthe early intentions of the two-control version. Most noticeable is the severely restricted rudder control. At about 70 m.p.h. it isvirtually impossible to side-slip without swinging the aircraft hard into a brief skid, but it then straightens-up again almostimmediately. Shortage of rudder is also noticeable when kicking- off drift for a cross-wind landing; but there is just enough, andjudicious use of aileron makes things surprisingly simple. Aileron control feels marginal in very rough air until one learns to usethe incredible wheel-travel available. But despite these initially off-putting symptoms, the Aircoupe definitely grows on one andhas great charm. Other pilots have had the same experience. I greased it on almost every time at Stapleford, when Cubsand other types were wallowing and ballooning around in no uncertain way. Steering and braking on the ground were excellentand the ride remained level despite the vicious potholes. The stall is really a loss of elevator control at about 45 m.p.h. indicated(58 m.p.h. actual), followed by very slight phugoids, which may or may not damp right out if the wheel is kept firmly back. Asharp round-out with power off is possible at 60 m.p.h., but not at 50 m.p.h. indicated. Power-on landings can be made veryslowly, but require a shallow approach angle. Approach speed is not easy to hold, but the glide angle at 65 m.p.h. is more thanit seems, because the nose sits fairly high. For an hour I just cruised around listening to the BBC on anMF receiver and playing with the Superhomer on Clacton and London VORs. The heater was on and I was relaxed and com-fortable. In short, the Aircoupe is a restful little machine. For a club pilot likely to be caught in bad weather, but still wanting asimple runabout, it is in my view the best American type yet to reach the British market. AIR PRODUCTS AIRCOUPE (One Continental C-90-12F giving 95 h.p.) Span. 30ft; length, 20ft 2in; wing area, 14Z6|sq ft; empty weight,900lb; gross weight, 1,4501b; power loading, 16.1 Ib/h.p.; wing loading, 10.17lb/sq ft; fuel tankage, 20 Imp gal. Performance: VNE, 144 m.p.h.; max manoeuvring speed, 108 m.p.h.; best cruising TAS, 120 m.p.h.; stalling speed, 58 m.p.h.; service ceiling, 15,500ft; take-off run 500ft; landing run, 600ft; range, 500 miles. The deep-bellied little fuselage of the Air- coupe accommodates two in comfort. Note the tough undercar- riage and the small tail surfaces. Radio and full night lighting are optional extras.
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