Not every pilot that comes to Sun ‘n Fun flies in, though. In the Type-Club Tent, four guys are hanging around the table assigned to the Ercoupe Owners Club. Thirty-two alleged Ercoupe owners have signed in so far on the clipboard. So how many Ercoupes are on the field, a visitor asks? They look at each other. “I think there might be one,” says John Wright Jr. “I saw one over by the campground, seems to me,” says John Wright Sr. Between them, the two own “at least seven Ercoupes … two in the garage, one in the driveway, one in the hangar, and parts enough for three — at *least* three,” they say. But it was “too far to fly,” as apparently it is for all but the most rare and intrepid Ercoupe owners. “They just want to bore holes in the sky,” says Wright Jr. “Besides, if they fly here, they have to leave the motorhome behind, and that wouldn’t work.” But there may be at least one more Ercoupe on the field: “There’s one at the museum,” offers one of the club members, “all polished up and shiny.”
…And Gathering With Like-Minded Souls
Key Takeaways:
- Despite numerous owners signing in at the Ercoupe Owners Club tent at Sun 'n Fun, very few Ercoupes are actually flown to the event.
- Owners commonly state it's "too far to fly" and prefer to attend in motorhomes or simply lack the motivation to fly their Ercoupes to the show.
- Some owners possess multiple Ercoupes but still don't fly any to the event, with perhaps only one or two private Ercoupes (and one at a museum) present on the field.
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