Ercoupe

The Erco Ercoupe was an early 1930s attempt to create a plane that was safer to fly than most of the things that were falling out of the sky right and left that came before it. And while it is exceptionally awkward looking, there are good reasons for why it is. The plane, one of the first successful all-metal light planes, had no rudder controls---the plane's control system mixed aileron and rudder input, so all the pilot needed to do was steer. Various companies produced the Ercoupe over the years, with production ending in 1969 after its makers churned out more than 5,500 of the little two-seaters.