EOC Convention 2000

The following is the final report for the year 2000 Ercoupe Owners Club Convention.
Robert Swanson coupehomecomingyahoo.com The Coupe Homecoming Convention College Park, Maryland, June 30 - July 3, 2000 The Ercoupe Owners Club Annual Convention for the Year 2000 Sixty years after the certification of the serial number 1 Ercoupe at Riverdale, Maryland, just one mile from the College Park Airfield (the oldest continuously operated airfield in the world), the Ercoupes returned to College Park for the first annual Ercoupe Owners Club (EOC) convention of the new millennium at the nearest airport to the original Engineering and Research Corporation (ERCO) factory where the Ercoupe was built. Lee Schiek now manages the College Park Airfield. Although only present at the airfield for a few months, he has worked a miracle in improving the condition of the airfield and providing support that is second to none. Under Lee's direction, fuel, parking and courteous service is now available at the only general aviation airfield in the Washington, DC, area that is adjacent to a Metro rail line that connects to all the attractions of the city.

Convention support by the airfield staff was continuously praised and absolutely deserving! On the property with the airfield is the new College Park Aviation Museum headed by Cathy Allen. The museum is not quite two years old. It features several early aviation aircraft as well as one and a half Ercoupes - one complete Ercoupe hangs from the ceiling and an Ercoupe without wings or tail cone sits on the floor with transparent covers over the engine and sealing the end where the tail cone attaches so visitors can see into the workings of the aircraft.

The museum has kept the interest in the Ercoupe going for years by hosting annual Ercoupe gatherings. Cathy Allen and Betsey Weick, assisted by Shelia Swanson, created a new 15 foot Fred Weick exhibit in the College Park Aviation Museum for the convention that contained many items borrowed from the Langley, Virginia, National Aeronautics and Space Administration museum which holds many Fred Weick items donated by the Weick family. The College Park Aviation Museum was a full partner in this first ever, national, Ercoupe convention at College Park.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has a Distribution Division headed by Pat Banks now occupying office space in the previous ERCO factory located less than a mile from the College Park Airfield. Pat was wonderful in permitting the convention attendees to visit the old factory site. Pat and several NOAA volunteers came in on the weekend, on their own time, to assist in tours of the factory space. The convention received lunch support from the local Chapter 4 of the Experimental Aircraft Association. Dan Spicer served as the chief cook and kept a steady supply of hamburgers and hotdogs available to the attendees.

Two local squadrons of the Civil Air Patrol, the Prince Georges and the Bowie Squadrons combined their cadets and senior members in an operation coordinated by Captain Bob Turner to establish a communications network that supported the convention for all three days. The nearby University of Maryland provided rented rooms, a dining hall, the banquet facility and even a couple of buses for the convention.

In February of 1999, Betsey Weick (the daughter of Fred Weick, the designer of the Ercoupe) and Robert Swanson (an Ercoupe owner and pilot since 1980) jointly agreed to host the year 2000 annual convention of the Ercoupe Owners Club for the first convention to be held at the College Park Airfield. To accomplish the convention, they formed an Ercoupe club, the "Coupe Homecoming Club" that met monthly at the College Park Airfield in the College Park Aviation Museum to recruit assistance to support the convention. The club acquired 42 members who contributed their ideas, funds and labor to get the convention planned and scheduled.

During the convention many members of the club provided the staffing that made the convention a success. Jim Norris did an incredible job in organizing the ERCO tour and preparing material to support that event. Jack Crabill performed as a fulltime, on the airfield, safety officer not only preventing accidents and incidents but also initiating repairs and assistance wherever there was a need. Two aircraft needed maintenance, one for a cracked muffler and another for a stuck valve. Both aircraft were quickly repaired and were able to fully participate in the convention events.

Jack's wife, Joni, along with Robert's wife, Shelia, operated the reception center for the full period of the convention with assistance from Bonnie Voll, Robert Donelan and Ann Dixon. Ann's husband, Ron, provided aircraft parking assistance along with Ben Poinsett, Bill Tench, Greg Gorecki and Ronald Madsen (not a local club member, but a convention attendee from Watertown, South Dakota who pitched in and helped where needed). Another area where club members invested a lot of time and effort was local transportation.

Andy Neyens provided the central direction and coordination for a fleet of vehicles driven by club members Charles McKeown, Mike Nichols, Greg Gorecki, Frank Glynn, Robert Donelan, Jim Norris, Shelia Swanson, and Bill Tench. Both the College Park Aviation Museum and the Airport staffs provided vehicles and drivers to help with the transportation. Bob Voll and Charles McKeown accomplished photo coverage of the convention.

Approximately 5,100 Ercoupes were built in Riverdale from 1940 through January of 1952. Another 500 variations of the Coupe were built from 1956 through 1970 by holders of the manufacturing rights after production ceased in Riverdale. The total Coupe production was about 5,600 aircraft. Fifty-six Coupes, or about 1% of the total production of Coupes returned to College Park for this year's convention. Another half dozen contemporary aircraft brought additional convention attendees as well as there being many attendees arriving by automobile and commercial airline travel. Total convention attendees exceeded 220 people based on the security logs where people signed-in to attend the ERCO factory tour arranged by Betsey Weick and Jim Norris, both of whom worked many weeks contacting former ERCO employees and encouraging them to come and volunteer their time to give first-hand reports on what it was like to work in the ERCO factory and to produce the Ercoupe and other ERCO products. Also, Jim did all the work in preparing the signboards with the pictures showing the factory producing Ercoupes. The signboards were placed in the factory for the tours to show what the factory looked like in the 1940s. Jim neither owns an Ercoupe nor is a pilot, but in 1999 he expressed his fascination with the Ercoupe and ERCO and joined the Coupe Homecoming Club that met at the College Park Airfield to contribute to the sharing of the knowledge of how the Ercoupe was produced. I believe Jim has become the most knowledge person about the factory today. The 56 Coupes included 415C, 415D, 415C/D, 415E, and 415G Ercoupes, Forney Aircoupes, Alon Aircoupes, a couple of Mooney Cadets and even a home-made Mini Coupe. The Coupe that flew the longest distance directly to the convention was an Alon A-2, N6362V, flown by George Watts from San Antonio, Texas. George received a trophy during the banquet for the Longest Distance Flown directly to the convention. Trophies this year were handmade solid balsa models of the Coupe suspended from handmade wooden arch trophy stands. Joe McCawley of Orlando, Florida, the Ercoupe Owners Club Board Chairman, served as the Master of Ceremonies for the banquet and smoothly directed the events of the banquet on Saturday evening. The first Coupe to arrive at the convention site was Mark Hardin's 415C, N37143, which is distinctive as the PQ-13, the only warbird Ercoupe in existence. Mark arrived at 11:30 on Wednesday, June 28. The PQ-13 won Mark two awards that were presented during the banquet. He received a trophy for having the Most Unique Coupe and he won a second trophy for having the Ercoupe with the Lowest Serial Number. The PQ-13 is the last pre-war produced Ercoupe and its serial number is 110. Syd Cohen with Brandon Garrity as his co-pilot along with Arden Krueger arrived Wednesday evening as the Mid-west Flight in look-a-like Ercoupes. Although the aircraft looked alike, Syd's is a 415D, N94196, and Arden's is a 415C, N2926H. Syd's aircraft began life as a 415C but has been converted to a 415D. Syd took home the trophy for having the Best Ercoupe and Arden took home the trophy for having the Most Original Ercoupe. The People's Choice trophy went to Ronald Blackadav from Peabody, Massachusetts, and his Alon A2, N423LF. The trophy for the best Forney went to Bob King from Mauldin, South Carolina, and his Forney F1, N7556C. At last year's convention this airplane was stripped bare and riding on a trailer. Today it is a beautiful airplane. The trophy for the best Alon went to Ed Hoak from Duncannon, Pennsylvania, and his Alon A2, N5616F. The winner of the trophy for the best Mooney Cadet was Lynn Rotz of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, and his Mooney M10, N9510V. Lynn wasn't present at the banquet to receive his trophy so it will be shipped to him. Selection of trophy winners was accomplished by a judging team consisting of Rick Krens and his father from Sterling, Virginia, Ed Meyer of Bolingbrook, Illinois and Norm Patrum of Stilesville, Indiana. Of special note, although we did not have a trophy for them, recognition is due to Lynn and Joel Nelsen who arrived at College Park on Friday morning, June 30, after flying their 415D Ercoupe, N99387, 7,730 miles in 79 hours of flying time on a trip around the country that started from their home in Frostproof, Florida. Following several other visits after the convention, I believe they arrived back in Florida with 9,000 miles of flying experience under their belts. I hope we see the report of their trip in the Coupe Capers in the near future. Certificates were presented during the banquet to Frank Glenn of Crofton, Maryland, as the Oldest Certified Pilot who flew his Coupe to the convention; Rick Krens of Sterling, Virginia, as the Youngest Certified Pilot who flew his Coupe to the convention and Dave Perozek of Mercer Island, Washington, for Longest Direct Distance Traveled to the Convention by means other than a Coupe. This year's award of the Fred E. Weick Award was presented as a joint award to John Wright, Jr. and his wife Kathy Wright as well as to Eileen Wright for their years of service to the EOC as well as in recognition for the two conventions hosted by John and Kathy and for the outstanding job Eileen has done as the EOC Secretary for many years. During the banquet, an afghan donated by the Coupe Homecoming Club was raffled raising $117 for the Fred E. Weick Scholarship Fund with the Embry-Riddle Aviation University. Additionally, four items were auctioned raising an additional $521 for the Scholarship Fund. These items were the serial number one lithograph of the Ercoupe painting donated by Charles Downs (the artist) that was purchased by Larry Ulshafer for $155; a copy of "From the Ground Up" signed by Betsey, Dick and Don Weick was purchased for $60 by Joe McCawley who immediately put it right back on the auction block where it was sold a second time for $76 to Rick Krens; a historical jumpsuit was purchased by Clem Beauchemin for $30 and the rights for the future first copy of a CD of all the tapes dictated by Fred Weick in providing the source material for "From the Ground Up" was purchased for $200 by Ronald Madsen. Another $103 was raised for the scholarship fund from the combined selling of Ercoupe drawings by John Liebl, three boxes of books donated to be given away during the convention in exchange for donations to the scholarship fund and a three-dollar contribution by an individual convention attendee. The total amount of money raised for the scholarship fund was $741. High dollar value door prizes, which included the $100 gift certificate from Airtex, the $50 and $35 gift certificates from UNIVAIR and the gift certificate from Skyport, were awarded during the banquet. Once again this year, Steve Kish of Center Valley, Pennsylvania, and Clem Beauchemin of Farmington, Connecticut, teamed-up to produce the individual pilot souvenirs consisting of aircraft photos and the convention logo in a frame for each pilot who flew into the convention. Both Steve and Clem also brought door prizes that were awarded at the various seminars held throughout the convention. Clem's Connecticut honey was a big hit. The material door prizes donated by Miles Recreational Accessories, Skyport, Trade-A-Plane, Sporty's, UNIVAIR, Aircraft Spruce & Specialty Company, Wag-Aero Group, Chief Aircraft and the AOPA were awarded during the seminars. The seminars were well attended often with folks standing to get into the rooms to benefit from the presentations. The first seminar, "The Old Gray Mare, She Ain't What She Used To Be" led by Greg Gorecki of Fort Washington, Maryland, was based on a slide presentation of the changes made to the Ercoupe over its production life and since production. It should have held special interest for those who attended last year's convention because all the slides were taken of the aircraft present for that convention. Lively discussion debated the need and purpose of some of the changes. Betsey Weick's seminar on "Growing Up With The Ercoupe" had a an overflow crowd in attendance and held a bonus treat for the audience when both of Betsey's brothers, Don and Dick, joined her in making the presentation. The Saturday seminar "The Ercoupe - The Aircraft That Corrected The Deficiencies of Early Aircraft" was presented by Robert Swanson of Fort Washington, Maryland, at a rescheduled, less busy time, on Sunday afternoon and was well attended and followed by a discussion among the attendees that resulted in the sharing of even more favorable information about the Ercoupe. The technical seminar on Sunday morning was led by Robert Donelan of Glen Burnie, Maryland, and was characterized as a comfortable exchange of information about common Coupe maintenance problems and ways for dealing with these problems based on the experience of the attendees. Terry Bell of Hagerstown, Maryland, presented the Carburetor seminar and shared his extensive knowledge based on his career as a fulltime carburetor maintenance specialist. The ERCO and Garber tours were extremely well attended with 220 people visiting ERCO and 125 people visiting Ercoupe serial number 1 at the Garber facility. Coupe Homecoming Club member John Fay coordinated the access to the Garber facility and may have been instrumental in having the Ercoupe lowered from the ceiling where it was stored for the last 20 years. With the aircraft on the ground, attendees could get a much better look at it and the equipment on the aircraft. These are most likely the last times people will be able to visit either of these sites. The ERCO building has been purchased by a developer and will probably be torn down in the near future. Likewise the Garber facility is closing to the public in the very near future as the aircraft and material there is prepared for movement to the new aerospace museum to be built at the Dulles Airport in Virginia. The tours of the College Park Aviation Museum and its restoration shop headed by John Liebl, a Coupe Homecoming Club member, were well attended and must have made people feel at home because many attendees were seen returning again and again to the museum. The walking tour of the airfield conducted by Bob Kovalchek was less well attended, but it was scheduled at the same times the ERCO and Garber tours were occurring. It was meant as an activity for those who had already been to ERCO and Garber. Some of those who didn't go on the College Park Airfield "Field of Firsts" formal walking tour made the tour on their own by following the little white airplanes painted on the tarmac that led to the signboards recording some of the aviation history of College Park. The poker run on Saturday was changed to a flight to a grass airstrip across the Chesapeake Bay that has a marina restaurant nearby that serves some incredible crab cakes. In fear of having all the Coupes fly out to this site on Saturday morning, information on this special treat was not widely disseminated. The EOC Board Meeting held Saturday afternoon was an experience of "conducting business as usual" without the moments of terror that accompanied last year's meeting when Skip expressed his desire to step down as the Executive Director of the EOC. Good work by Joe McCawley and others to distribute Skip's workload has allowed him to remain as the Executive Director. During this year's meeting, a formal web site for the EOC was approved and everyone will be getting details on it as it becomes operational. Also Mark Hardin confirmed he would host next year's convention in Terrell, Texas on the last weekend in June. Marvin Dunlap is exploring the possibility of the 2002 convention being hosted in Michigan. The nondenominational worship service Sunday morning focused on three paragraphs from Fred Weick's "From the Ground Up." They provided examples of the love that existed between Fred and Dorothy and the love and humbleness that characterized Fred's life. The "Coupes Over Washington" flight by 12 Coupes has been classified so I can neither confirm nor deny the flight ever took place. However, the pilots and crewmembers that might have or might not have participated in this event sure had a lot to talk about on Sunday after the flight, which did or did not occur. The last of the Coupes attending the convention departed College Park Airfield on Wednesday, July 5. This convention reaffirmed the special nature of "Coupers." The "Oshkosh" standard of courtesy, respect and self-policing was exceeded by the added dimension of family involvement that makes the Coupers special. No other aviation group has more spouses, children, grandchildren and significant others involved with the pilots, as does the EOC. This family involvement added wholesomeness to the gathering that was noticeable and appreciated by our hosts at the College Park Airfield, the College Park Aviation Museum, the current NOAA employees occupying the ERCO factory building, the Experimental Aircraft Association Chapter 4 members who provided the hamburgers Saturday and Sunday, the Civil Air Patrol cadets and seniors providing communication support and the University of Maryland where many attendees stayed.