FAMILIAR, OLD ERCOUPE
Photos provided by Randy Trombley | email: trombleyrl@westelcom.com
RANDY TROMBLEY’S (Plattsburgh, New York) story starts in approximately 1974. He wrote:
“My brother, Roger, was in the U.S. Air Force and had just gotten stationed at Plattsburgh Air Force Base. He was flying Control Line model airplanes at that time. RC airplanes were just coming into their own. He was given a fiberglass fuselage of a wrecked Ercoupe RC airplane that was stored above my dad’s Ski-Doo shop. I thought it was thrown out when my dad sold the shop.
“That brings us to February 2024. I looked in my brother’s workshop and there sat a yellow, scuffed-up fuselage for an Ercoupe. I said, ‘That looks familiar,’ and he said, ‘It should. It’s been hanging around in my cellar since 1977 or so.’ He had part of a tail from it but no wing.
“Fortunately, he had a spare wing that fit the fuselage perfectly, but it had square wingtips, so he cut 6 inches off of the wingtips and made a round end that looked like the real Ercoupe. He found a drawing of a full-scale Ercoupe and fabricated a horizontal stabilizer and twin rudders.
“I got a chance to be the test pilot [in March 2024]. After the challenging takeoff and trim, it flew pretty well. I made two flights without a wreck. It still needs a few tweaks, but it should be a good flier.
“[Roger] is using a Hitec radio and a .52-size O.S. engine clone. The paint is Krylon Fusion.”
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