The Last Check Ride

I hope there’s a place way up in the sky,
where old flyers can go on the day they die.
A place where a guy can buy a cold beer,
for a friend and a comrade, whose memory is dear.

A place where no doctor or lawyer can tread,
nor an FAA type would ‘ere be caught dead.
Just a quaint little place, kind of dark, full of smoke,
where they like to sing loud, and love a good joke.

The kind of a place where a lady could go,
and feel safe and protected by the men she would know.
There must be a place where old flyers go,
when their flying is finished, and their airspeed gets low.

Where the whiskey is old, and the women are young,
and songs about flying and dying are sung.
Where you’d see all the fellows who’d flown west before,
and they’d call out your name, as you came through the door.

Who would buy you a drink, if your thirst should be bad,
and relate to others, “He was quite a good lad”.

And then through the mist, you’d spot an old guy,
you had not seen in years, though he taught you to fly.
He’d nod his old head, and grin ear to ear,
And say, “Welcome, my son, I’m pleased that you’re here.

For this is the place where the true flyers come,
when their journey is over, and their war has been won.

They’ve come here at last to be safe and alone,
from the government clerk, and the management clone,
Politicians and lawyers, the Feds and the noise,
where all hours are happy, and they’re all good ole’ boys.

You can relax with a cold one,
maybe deal from a deck, this is heaven my son…..
You’ve passed your last check!”

Author Unknown

Angel Flights and Dog Rescue Flights are two of the selfless activties with which some pilots have the opportunity to become involved. They take quite a bit of time, commitment and actual dollars (in the guise of donated fuel and airplane expenses). However, they are also innately rewarding. I would love to get involved in the Dog Rescue efforts but realize that my Ercoupe cannot carry much more than a very small pet carrier with “maybe” one of the toy breeds. My rather “sedate” cruise speed would also limit the effective range over which I could transport a rescue dog.

But I figure I can help Bob a bit with his activities. As a “web guy” he recently started a site about Cute Dogs and Personal Checks. Everybody needs checks from time to time and we know how fond most people are of their dogs. In fact, dog checks are among the most popular “theme” checks sold online or through banks.

Sooo…if you’d like to help out just a bit (or a lot) you can. Please take a look – and buy dog checks from CuteDogChecks.com and help support Pilot Bob and his rescue flights.

1) Helicopters don’t fly. They’re so ugly the earth just repels them!

2) Helicopters = 10,000 parts flying in loose formation!

3) Helicopter = a swirling mass of metal fatigue surrounded by an oil leak.

4) Helicopter = screwing your way through the air !

5) Helicopter = a loose confederation of aircraft parts beating the air into submission.

These are, obviously, based on pictures of one particular Ercoupe. However, other than color scheme, these are representative of the Ercoupe (Aircoupe, Alon, Mooney M10) fleet that still remains airworthy and actually flying today. The Ercoupe featured on these checks was manufactured in Riverdale, Maryland, in August of 1946. It still takes to the skies several times every month. These Ercoupe Checks start at only $12.99 a box for singles (duplicates are a bit higher).

There are also matching Ercoupe Address Labels available for only a few extra dollars:

Note that these are also representative of the Aircoupe and Alon versions of the original Ercoupe. There might, however, be slight variations observable, especially with the canopy mounting/sliding arrangement of the Alon. These are the only personal checks available (that we know of) with images of our favorite antique airplane.

For those of you with a small (or large) business we know you may have a need for business checks. One of the best places to shop on line for business checking account items is at the Business Checks Store. That site is affiliated with and presents products from one of the premiere checks printing companies – and offers a sweet discount coupon to help you save money. While the expense of check printing is not a huge deal in the grand scheme of things, saving any amount of time and money is a help to the bottom line.

Note that we mention the Mooney M-10 above. The Mooney variation still resembles an Ercoupe for the first half of the production run. Then they removed the “twin-tail” and replaced it with the traditional look of the Mooney “reverse” vertical stabilizer (and, some say, ruined the handling of a fine performing aircraft).

If you would like to “show off” your Ercoupe – no matter what model – I would certainly like to explore the best way in which to do this – at zero cost to anyone. If interested, please leave a “comment” below.