Light Aircraft Association

Hi all,

I was reading the Chairman's comment on the latest Light Aviation, and had a smile when he mentioned that a trio of Aircoupes had turned up at the Rally. As there are only about a dozen serviceable ones in the country, that makes roughly a quarter of the fleet. I own one of them but could not attend the rally due to work commitments.
At present all models of Aircoupes and Ercoupes are on a CAA Annex2 CofA.
The reason being that they are not orphaned, as Univair owns the rights.
As far as I know, a number of Cessna 120 and 140 are on a Permit despite Cessna still being alive and well.
I am trying to find a way to change the status of the aircraft, because if it were to come on a Permit new restorations could take place of machines that were grounded, and we could therefore see more of these delightful little things in flight. As far as I know, all UK registered machines are conventional, in that they have rudder pedals, and they are as simple to maintain as an equivalent US aircraft of the period.

They are awkward to import as their centre section is 8ft wide and therefore has to be tilted to fit a standard shipping container. We are therefore unlikely to see a glut of nasty imported ones on our shores should the type become eligible.

Apologies if this is the wrong part of the Forum to post this topic, but I'm new to the LAA, and I have to
start somewhere. I am seeking help to make a case to present to the CAA. I am no politician or lobbyist,
so any help to speak to the right people would be greatly appreciated

Maybe this is akin to Dom Quixote attacking windmills, but someone has to try!

Happy Landings

Eric

Hi Eric,

of the Aircoupes at the Rally, one came from northern Sweden, probably the furthest visitor and another from Belgium, both regular visitors although the Swede more often comes in his Thorpe T-18, cant remember the third.

As for comparison with the Ce 120/140, well those on a permit were lucky, being imported at a time when the CAA allowed imported vintage aircraft like these onto LAA permits, like the many Luscombes, Cubs, Aeroncas etc. Unfortuantely the CAA stopped this around 1993 and the supply of vintage aircraft like these stopped overnight. There have been one or two since, hence why there is one Vagabond and one Luscombe on a C of A, when all the others are on a permit!!

Your best bet I think is to find out how the Taylorcraft owners recently managed to get all Taylorcraft on LAA permits, including fairly recenty build aircraft built in the 90s. This was allowed because although there was a type certificate holder, they didn't fully support the aircraft, I don't know if this was due to spares problems or lack on continuous airworthiness support.
Perhaps unfortunately for you, Univair continue to supply the required support.

Interestingly there have been a few Aircoupes imported in recent years, but they have been kept on the US register to avoid going on a C of A. One is at Goodwood, recently restored and looks great, there are a couple of others at Panshanger, but last time I was there, nothing seemed to have been done with them.

good luck!

Nigel