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ERCO, the "Engineering and Research Corporation", formed in 1930 and
located in Riverdale, Maryland in the USA, built a variety of aircraft
components and equipment for the aircraft industry. In 1934 Fred E.
Weick and several fellow engineers at the National Advisory Committee
for Aeronautics (NACA) decided to design and assemble an aeroplane known
as the W-1, as a response to the requirements set forth by the Bureau of
Air Commerce sponsored design competition for an easy-to-fly, safe
aircraft. The W-1 aeroplane had a high parasol wing and a tricycle gear;
it was a single engined plane in a pusher propeller configuration with
the propeller located behind the main supporting surfaces. After the
Weick W-1 was involved in a crash due to engine failure, it was rebuilt
as the W-1A. In Ocober 1936 Fred E. Weick was invited to join ERCO as
chief engineer. His main project would be to put the ideas developed in
the W-1 and W-1A into an airplane to be put into commercial production
for private use. The ERCO plane should be designed as a low-wing
aircraft in a tractor propeller configuration with the engine and
propeller at the front of the aircraft. Upon his arrival in the company
in 1937, he started immediately on the design of the ERCO airplane " job
order 310". Fred Weick wanted an engine of about 60 or 65 horsepower,
but none was available, so the prototype was designed to use a
Continental A-40 engine. Construction of the parts of the 310 airplane
started in the spring of 1937. The experimental 310 (NX19148 c/n 1) was
completed in late September and it flew for the first time on October 1,
1937. The Erco 310 was the prototype of the Ercoupe, and was a foot
shorter between the wing trailing edge and the leading edge of the
horizontal stabilizer. The original Continental A-40 engine was later
replaced with the ERCO's own 55 hp Erco IL-116 inverted inline four
engine. The Erco 310 prototype was the basis for the production Model
415C Ercoupe. Production Ercoupe No. 1 was designated the Model 415 with
the Erco engine. Almost immediately Continental decided to produce their
own 65 hp engine, the A-65; and the lesser cost of the Continental
instead of the Erco IL-116 prompted immediate redesign of the Model 415
into the 415-C (for Continental). The production aircraft was of
all-metal construction with fabric covering for the wings and was
virtually the same, except that it was fitted with a 65 hp Continental
A-65-8 engine. The first production ERCO 415C (NC15692 c/n 1), now owned
by the Smithsonian, was manufactured in October 1939 and received its
FAA airworthiness certificate on April 2, 1940. In pre-war production
112 415Cs were built. Production continued until 1941 when the U.S.A.
entered the war and aluminium supplies were needed for more urgent
purposes. One 415C was evaluated by the Air Force as an observation
aircraft, designated YO-55, and two more were tested as target drones,
designated XPQ-13, but the aircraft appeared unsuited to any major
military role and was not selected for production. As civil aircraft
production was cancelled during World War II, ERCO produced punchers and
other machinery. It was not until hostilities had ceased before the
Ercoupe returned to production in August 1945. The post-war production
version of the 415C was fitted with a 75 hp Continental C-75-12 and had
a modified undercarriage. Initial sales were strong; at its peak, ERCO
was turning out 34 Ercoupes per day, operating three shifts per day. In
February 1946, Fred Weick was recognised for his work on the Ercoupe,
receiving the Fawcett Aviation Award for the greatest contribution to
the scientific advancement of private flying. Unfortunately, however,
private aircraft sales slumped after the war and the bottom dropped out
of the civil aircraft market in late 1946. As a result the owners of
ERCO sold their remaining Ercoupe inventory to Saunders Aircraft Company
in 1947. The Ercoupe remained in production until ERCO ceased Ercoupe
production in 1951 with a total of 5081 built, and the Ercoupe type
certificate was sold to Univair. In April, 1955 the Foney
Manufacturing Company purchased the type certificate and the Ercoupe
re-entered production as the Forney F-1 Aircoupe. Some 115 of the F-1
Aircoupe were built up to 1959, when Forney's aircraft division was sold
to Air Products Company of Carlsbad, New Mexico. A new series of 50
aircraft was built by Air Products Inc. as the F-1A until production
ceased in 1962. In 1963 Alon Inc. of Wichita, Kansas, bought the rights
of the airplane and put it back into production in 1964 with a 90 hp
Continental engine as the A-2. Alon merged in 1967 with Mooney Aircraft
of Kerrville, Texas, who continued to build the A-2A. The Ercoupe
remained virtually unchanged in production till 1969 when Mooney
redesigned the aircraft with a single fin as the M-10 Cadet.
The ICAO Aircraft Type Designator
for all variants of the ERCO Ercoupe is L1P. |
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On 6 October 2018, the ERCO 415G Ercoupe N94432 was seen at Hoogeveen airfield. The aircraft is a model 415-G built in 1950.
The plate on the aircraft gives some interesting info about this Ercoupe 415: it is a MODEL G s/n 5078 MFD by Engeneering & Research
Corp. for Sanders Aviation Inc., Riverdale, MD. on 11.18.50. The ERCO 415G Ercoupe was registered N94432. Over the years the plane was
owned by several privat owners. On 20 January 2001, the N94332 was substantial damaged in an incident at Santiam, Oregon: while en route
at cruise power, the aircraft's engine began to lose power. Soon thereafter the engine slowed to idle rpm, and the pilot elected to make
an emergency landing at a nearby snow-covered Oregon State Airport. Although the touchdown was successful, during the landing roll, the
aircraft nosed over in the two-foot deep snow. A post-accident carburetor teardown revealed that the orifice to the main metering jet
was partially plugged by a putty-like contaminant. The aircraft was repaired and returned in service. At the end of 2016, the aircraft
was sold in the Netherlands. On 17 October 2016, the N94432 was registered with Aerospace Trust Management LLC Trustee, New Castle,
Wilmington. Aerospace Trust Management LLC Trustee, is an aircraft registration company in the US, specialised in providing Individual
Trust Agreements to non-US citizens to enable them to legally register their aircraft on the American "N" register. ERCO
415-G Ercoupe N94432 is based at Hilversum Airfield, Netherlands. |
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