Ercoupe Takeoffs Are Optional – Flying an LSA Ercoupe 415-C

“CAVU, baby.” That’s how I greeted my flying buddy, Mike, on Saturday morning when he answered his phone. “How about hopping in the Ercoupe and flying out for a $100 Hamburger?”

We had talked about heading to York, Pennsylvania for lunch, but as I was planning the flight I came across two PIREPS saying that the cafe at York had recently closed, apparently going out of business. If that’s true it’s a shame because we had heard good things about flying there for a meal.

So, my first actual mission for food in the Ercoupe was to Chester County’s G. O. Carlson Airport, just west of Coatesville, PA. Chester County Airport has a great little restaurant, The Flying Machine Cafe, in the terminal. Mike was already removing the cover when I got to the airport and we pre-flighted in CAVU, but chilly (44 degrees) weather. As we warmed up the engine I shared with Mike the DUATS pre-flight briefing and the AOPA printed flight plan I had done earlier. Even though this was a rather short flight (35 miles) I wanted to show him some of the tools available to pilots. Mike made use of the warm-up time to put the destination latitude and longitude into an old GPS we had used on a boat. I learned that even a rudimentary GPS can be used as an effective backup to an expensive Aircraft GPS Unit. But, the ‘Coupe only has an old Garmin Pilot III GPS. I did, of course, update it with the latest chart data from the Garmin web site.

Along the route to Chester County (KMQS) we used three navigational tools. The on-board Garmin, Mike’s old boat GPS and good ol’ fashioned pilotage. I am a former geography teacher and know the area pretty well, so my “pilotage” amounts to looking out the window and keeping my thumb moving along the sectional chart. It’s tough to get lost when you can see for 15 miles or more. On approaching the airport we heard a fair amount of traffic and saw three aircraft in the process of landing.

Being a non-towered airport, I announced on CTAF 122.7 at 6 miles out and again on making a 45 entry into the left downwind. Shortly after announcing my turn to base, I heard an inquiry as to where I was. With the Ercoupe I fly a rather tight pattern and announced I was ready to turn final. The response was that he had a visual – but did not state where he was. Soooo, less than two minutes after I cleared the runway a King Air twin comes roaring in on final. I imagine his touchdown speed is about equal to my normal cruise.

Speaking of the landing pattern and final approach at Carlson – I have been used to Harford County’s 2000 x 40 ft. runway; and there I was, looking at a 5400 x 100 ft. runway – nearly seven times the area on which to touch down. I figured if I can handle a small runway a large runway should be a piece of cake. It was – we hit the numbers and announced clear of the runway at the first taxiway.

Of course, the Ercoupe ended up being the smallest plane on the ramp. We shared “parking” space with a couple of Bonanzas, a C-172 (or two) a business twin and an executive jet. The ‘Coupe may be small, but it does attract some attention. I was told this would happen by the former owner when I was interested in buying the airplane. One gentleman, another pilot, stopped me in the terminal building to ask when the Ercoupe was manufactured. Mine is one of the early ones having had its test flight at the factory on August 16, 1946.

As neither of us had had breakfast we were ready to sample the fare at The Flying Machine Cafe in the terminal building. The Flying Machine had some nice reviews and we wanted this first $100 Hamburger jaunt to be a good one.

The service was friendly and efficient. We each had Grilled Cheese sandwiches rather than the “traditional” $100 burgers and they were good. The place was not crowded but had a nice Saturday afternoon crowd with several tables filled with people enjoying the decor. The ceiling had Tiffany lamps and airplane models – LARGE models – hanging all over.

Another nice touch is that every table had a view of the runway. Chester County Airport is quite busy and the takeoff and landing activity is entertaining for those of us who live airplanes. We probably saw 15 to 20 operations while we were eating lunch. But soon it was time to head for home. Being a holiday weekend, Mike and I both had family “things” to do in the evening.

Mike started the pre-flight “walk-a-round” while I walked around with my camera. We lifted off, did the noise abatement turn abeam of the water tower (you’ll know what I mean if you ever go there), and headed southwest toward Aldino International – actually Harford County Airport, 0W3. It was a gorgeous fall day, crisp and clear. The Ercoupe thoroughly enjoyed the dense air and we enjoyed the flight, the “new” airport and the lunch.