Admin: New aircraft page: history, US registrations (FAA), specifications, photos, sources

2026-11-01T20:41:44Z

New aircraft page: history, US registrations (FAA), specifications, photos, sources

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{{Aircraft infobox
| name = Ercoupe
| image = Erco F-1 Ercoupe CF-NLX 02.JPG
| caption = Ercoupe. Photo: Ahunt, CC0, via [[commons:File:Erco F-1 Ercoupe CF-NLX 02.JPG|Wikimedia Commons]]
| make = ERCO
| type = Light aircraft
| origin = United States
| first_flight = 1937
| produced = 1940–1969
| number_built = 5,685
| faa_registered = 1,333 (FAA register, October 30, 2026)
| seats = one, one passenger
| engine = Continental C75-12, 75 hp
| cruise = 95 mph (Ercoupe 415-C)
| range = 300 mi (Ercoupe 415-C)
| ceiling = 13,000 ft (Ercoupe 415-C)
| category = Piston singles
}}

The '''Ercoupe''' is a low-wing airplane that first flew in 1937, built first by the Engineering and Research Corporation (ERCO) shortly before World War II and by several other makers after the war. The last model, the Mooney M-10, first flew in 1968, and the last model year was 1970. It was designed to be the safest fixed-wing airplane engineering could provide at the time, and it still has a faithful following.<ref name="wp"/> In the U.S. there are 1,333 with a valid registration, most of them the 415-C.<ref name="faa"/>

== History ==
In 1931 Fred Weick was assistant chief of the aeronautics division of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). In 1934 he and a group of coworkers built an experimental airplane in their spare time, with their own money: the W-1, with tricycle landing gear, a parasol wing and a pusher propeller.<ref name="wp"/> At ERCO this work led to the 1937 prototype, the 310, with tricycle gear, metal construction and fabric-covered wings, and then to the production 415.<ref name="wp"/>

== A rocket-assisted first ==
The U.S. Army Air Forces bought three 415-Cs in World War II. On August 12, 1941, Wright Field test pilot Capt. Homer Boushey made the first USAAF rocket-assisted takeoff in an Ercoupe, a technique later refined to help heavily loaded airplanes take off from short fields.<ref name="wp"/>

== Registered in the United States ==
The FAA register lists '''1,333''' of these airplanes with a valid U.S. registration. Here they are by the model name the FAA uses.<ref name="faa"/>
<div class="aw-wide">
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! FAA model name !! Registered
|-
| 415-C || 778
|-
| ERCOUPE 415-C || 267
|-
| 415-D || 126
|-
| 415-CD || 62
|-
| ERCOUPE 415-CD || 32
|-
| 415-E || 25
|-
| ERCOUPE 415-D || 24
|-
| ERCOUPE 415-E || 11
|-
| 415-G || 6
|-
| ERCOUPE 415-G || 2
|}
</div>

== Specifications (Ercoupe 415-C) ==
<div class="aw-wide">
{| class="wikitable"
! Item !! Ercoupe 415-C
|-
| Crew || one
|-
| Passengers / capacity || one passenger
|-
| Length || 20 ft 9 in
|-
| Wingspan || 30 ft
|-
| Height || 5 ft 11 in
|-
| Wing area || 142.6 sq ft
|-
| Engine || Continental C75-12, 75 hp (4-cylinder air-cooled horizontally-opposed piston engine)
|-
| Propeller || variable-pitch propeller
|-
| Maximum speed || 110 mph
|-
| Cruise speed || 95 mph
|-
| Stall speed || 48 mph
|-
| Never-exceed speed || 144 mph
|-
| Range || 300 mi
|-
| Service ceiling || 13,000 ft
|-
| Rate of climb || 550 ft/min
|}
</div>
Figures as given in the Wikipedia article and its sources.<ref name="wp"/>

{{Owner notes}}

== Photos ==
<gallery mode="packed" heights="170">
File:USAAF XPQ-13.jpg|Ercoupe. Photo: United States Army Air Force, Public domain
File:Weick W-1 - GPN-2000-001399.jpg|Ercoupe. Photo: NACA, Public domain
File:First JATO assisted Flight - GPN-2000-001538.jpg|Ercoupe. Photo: NASA/JPL, Public domain
File:Alon A-4,.jpg|Ercoupe. Photo: Coupemanwi, Public domain
File:Forney F-1A Aircoupe G-ARHB,.jpg|Ercoupe. Photo: Ad Meskens, CC BY-SA 3.0
File:Erco 415-CDX Ercoupe Owner-maintenance CF-LUN 02.JPG|an Erco 415 Ercoupe at the Les Faucheurs de Marguerites, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. Photo: Ahunt, CC0
File:ALON A2 (N6503Q).jpg|Ercoupe. Photo: Armchair Aviator's, CC BY 2.0
File:ALON A2 (N6503Q) - 2.jpg|Ercoupe. Photo: Armchair Aviator's, CC BY 2.0
</gallery>
All photos are from [[commons:Main Page|Wikimedia Commons]]; click a photo for its full credit and license.

== Buying a Ercoupe ==
{{For sale soon}}

== Sources ==
<references>
<ref name="wp">Wikipedia, "[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ERCO_Ercoupe ERCO Ercoupe]", read November 1, 2026. Airplane Wiki's text is written in its own words; facts are checked against this article and its sources.</ref>
<ref name="faa">Federal Aviation Administration, [https://www.faa.gov/licenses_certificates/aircraft_certification/aircraft_registry/releasable_aircraft_download Releasable Aircraft Database], file dated October 30, 2026. Valid registrations of fixed-wing airplanes whose FAA maker and model names belong to this family. Airplane Wiki uses only counts from this file, never owner names or addresses.</ref>
</references>

Ercoupe - Revision history

Admin: New aircraft page: history, US registrations (FAA), specifications, photos, sources