4 Seat Ercoupe

[Mark Nankivil]

Hi All -

A recent donation to the Museum of a number of 8x10 photo prints had this attached sketch of a proposed 4 seat Ercoupe. I had not heard of a 4 seat Ercoupe before - any details out there?

Enjoy the Day! Mark

 

[Apophenia]

Interesting Mark. Is there any indication that the drawing came from Erco? I ask because the cockpit and canopy layout appears to be identical to the 1966 Alon XA-4 prototype.

That raises the question: did Alon develop the A-4 concept on its own (albeit, based on their A2 Aircoupe) or did Alon simply produce a prototype of an existing Erco concept?

http://aerofiles.com/alon-a4.jpg

 

[Mark Nankivil]

Good questions - I have been in contact with a couple who have the original prototype fuselage and some misc. parts which were at the factory when it closed. They way they presented it, it never flew and they have been working towards completing it to fly. They also spent time with Fred Weick before he passed away which would lead me to think the design leads back to him. I've not seen anything in writing about his involvement with Alon.

I will be meeting them later this week as they are coming through the St. Louis area (where I live) and will share whatever I find out about the project, I'll happily post here.

Enjoy the Day! Mark

 

[Apophenia]

Interesting. I look forward to that.

As for the XA-4 development, it seems the simplest explanation is that Alon had at least some knowledge of that unfinished Erco prototype.

 

[Stargazer]

Fascinating. I also look forward to more info on the subject!

 

[Mark Nankivil]

Greetings All -

Yesterday Marv & Ruth Dunlap stopped by the Museum on their way thru town. They brought along a photo album of their Ercoupe Four project. This is most definitely ERCO in origin and as you can see in the drawings, has a strong family resemblance.

The wing would have used modified Ercoupe wings attached to a stub center section and the fuselage section fore and aft of the new cockpit is also essentially Ercoupe fuselage section. The tailplane and vertical fins are new and interestingly, the landing gear is retractable.

I hope at some point to obtain a copy set of the plans though there is not much there from which to work. Marv is a marvelous builder and is a craftsman in various trades. He has also been assisted along the way by others who obviously are top notch in what they do. No real sense of when first flight will be but it is sooner than later - they're at the 90%, 65% left to do stage The Nation Ercoupe Fly-In in not from from here next year and I will be going to that - should see the Ercoupe "Four" there.

Enjoy the Day! Mark

 

[Stargazer]

Fascinating, Mark. Thanks for researching this project!

 

[walter]

Hi Mark!
I second Stargazer2006. A beautiful find and I hope you will keep us advised on the progress of this fascinating project.

 

[tiffanygutierrez]

My grandfather is Marvin Dunlap ercoupe 4 has been taxied it is having its annual right now and should be up for its first flight fairly soon. My grandfather met with Fred personally and received the plans directly from him years ago. His children have been to see the plane and have always had contact with my grandparents. My grandpa had to make modifications but he kept it as close to the original plans as possible per Freds request. Our family is hoping the FAA won't be to hard on him when they do his inspection and tell him how many hours of fly time he will have to have. He is hoping to show it off at ercoupe nationals this year.

 

[Mark Nankivil]

Hi Tiffany!

I met your grandfather & grandmother when they stopped by our Museum a few years ago and showed is the photo album of the project. Wonderful people and I am happy to hear that they are closing in on a first flight. Please keep us up to date on how that goes and let them know we wish them success!

Enjoy the Day! Mark

 

[walter]

Hello Tiffany
Thank you so much for keeping us informed on this truly amazing project.
Hope you are able to put a picture on the forum after she has flown. Please wish your grandfather all possible success with the project.
Regards, Walter

 

[Apophenia]

... They also spent time with Fred Weick before he passed away which would lead me to think the design leads back to him. I've not seen anything in writing about his involvement with Alon...

Indeed. I hadn't realized how much later the Alon 4-seater was!

As for Fred Weick, in late 1947 he was offered "the job of Director of Research of the MacDonnell [sic] Aircraft Corp." but declined. Weick went directly from Erco to the Aeronautical Engineering Department of Texas A & M in 1948. In 1953, Weick started consulting for Piper.

In his Aeronautical Reminiscences, Weick discusses the 4-seater briefly ...

Aeronautical Reminiscences of Fred E. Weick, Rough draft transcripts from tapes, 1985 (but based upon recordings made beginning 20 Feb 1976)

The History of NASA Langley Research Center - NASA

crgis.ndc.nasa.gov

TAPE 14 (Side 1)
1947 - Sanders Takes Ercoupe; Erco Experiments

The design of a 4-place Ercoupe was started in 1946 and carried on through 1947 and part of 1948. The construction of the first experimental airplane was started in 1947 and was about 75% completed when the work on light airplanes was stopped. It was basically a stepped-up Ercoupe with a retractable gear. In fact, the same gear as that on the retractable Ercoupe was to be used but beefed up if necessary. The fuselage necked down behind the cabin, however, with a full door on the right hand side, as in the case of most modern 4-place airplanes. It was designed with the idea of coming out at first if necessary with a 150 hp Franklin engine, but hoping that the same weight Franklin engine would be stepped up to 200 hp in accordance with the Franklin company's plans. It hurt me a lot to see this airplane dropped, but it hurt still more to see the next one, which I will tell about, dropped also.

From Tape 14 page 8

 

[silvereagles]

I just found this forum and wanted to give a update. Ive known the Dunlap Family since 1993 and saw the Fuselage for the first time as a bare shell. currently the 4 place hasn't flown yet as Marv has had some health issues and issues with getting the aircraft ready for it's first flight. His Son Lloyd has taken over getting her ready and has worked out most of the finishing issues with a few left before her first flight. It's been many years since Marv started the Project and It is still going on and its going to fly one day, hopefully soon...