Every once in a while, there will emerge a designer in a field given to evolutionary change that will upend everything in a quest for that perfect product. In this case, that designer is Fred Weick, whose Ercoupe small plane did everything differently. Weick’s goal for the little side-by-side seating, sheet-metal Ercoupe, which debuted in 1937, was to make a safe, affordable, spin-proof plane that would be easy to fly, have great visibility and be cheap to buy and operate. Well, he succeeded in most of that. By some calculations, the Ercoupe wasn’t much or any safer than its tube-and-rag competitors, but it was easy to fly, and it was cheap (and still is), and you can even fly it with the canopy pulled back. In addition to the tricycle gear, which looked very odd in 1937, the Ercoupe had no rudder. It was a two-axis plane that pilots could and did fly with their feet flat on the floor.
Erco Ercoupe, 1937
Key Takeaways:
- Fred Weick's Ercoupe (1937) revolutionized small aircraft design.
- Its design goals were safety, affordability, spin-resistance, ease of flight, and good visibility.
- Key innovations included tricycle landing gear and the omission of a rudder.
- While safety claims were debated, it achieved ease of flight and low cost of ownership.
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