Ercoupe fuel management question

[RonP]

I know there is an Ercoupe group out there to ask this but I don’t have an interest in joining another group for just 1 question (at least not yet). The question is how does one manage the fuel in an Ercoupe with 2 wing tanks and a header tank. I understand the engine is fed from the header tank and fuel is pumped from the wing tanks to the header tank. Is it like a Cherokee where you pump from left tank and right tank balancing the weight between the wing tanks? Is the transfer pump engine driven with an electric backup? How do you know when the header tank is full? Is there an overflow on the header tank that returns excess fuel to the wing tanks? Are the fuel gauges all sight gauges or are there electric fuel gauges for the wing tanks?

Lastly are they enjoyable to fly but very impractical for taking a 3 hour trip with minimal luggage?

 

[farmrjohn]

The two wing tanks are tied together, fuel pump draws from the tied together line and feeds the header tank. Header tank gravity feeds the engine, and the excess fuel that has been pumped in (fuel pump pumps more than engine uses) drains back to the wing tanks. There is a fuel shut off between wing tanks and fuel pump, and another shutoff between header tank and carb. The header tank has a float gauge for fuel level, and the wing tanks share a common gauge (unless they have optional fuel caps with floats). There are no standard electric gauges.

A three hour trip would be fine, good for about 250 nm. considering climb and pattern time. That should leave the header tank completely full as a reserve plus some still in the wings. Check out James Good's videos on Youtube for cross country flights.

 

[RonP]

Thanks for the info, will check out the videos. Have you ever flown one? FYI I currently have a 1969 Cherokee 140B and entered a raffle for a ‘46 C with metal wings.

 

[Plano Pilot]

I had a student with an Ercoupe. We lost the mechanical fuel pump on a cross-country. Had to stop on the way home to fuel the header tank. From what I remember the wing tanks were fed together through a mechanical pump to the header tank.

 

[farmrjohn]

Have you ever flown one? FYI I currently have a 1969 Cherokee 140B and entered a raffle for a ‘46 C with metal wings.

I haven't flown an Ercoupe (415 C, CD etc.) but own an Aircoupe (Alon) with rudder pedals from the factory, and have flown the "coordinated control" (pedal-less) version as well. The airframes are pretty much the same between the Ercoupes and Aircoupes with the biggest differences being engine and gross weight. My wife and I have easily done a cross country KSMX-KDVO. Check here for more informationhttps://www.ercoupe.info/mobile/pmwiki.php/Main/HomePage

 

[Chrisgoesflying]

I owned an Ercoupe for several years and have nearly 80 hours in it, mostly x-country. I liked that little plane but as the family grew, we needed something bigger so now we have a Cherokee. Love that little plane even more but I will say that about any new plane I buy lol. To answer your questions, the engine driven fuel pump pumps from both tanks. There is no fuel management on your end, it's always on "both". Header tank has a super reliable gauge, it's a cork with a needle sticking out right in front of your nose. When the needle starts to go down, you know you'll have to land within an hour. The wing tanks have a similar gauge, but I could never make out how much fuel was left in them. The way I managed the fuel on x-countries was to treat the header tank as my reserve tank. I didn't even plan with the fuel in the header tank. Wing tanks was my endurance, header tank was my reserve. Longest leg I've done in the mighty little Ercoupe was 3.5 hours. It's tight in it so you can't really do much longer in it. I'm 6-1 and I was cramped. Fun little plane though and more x-country capable than I originally thought. I've taken that little plane with two (light) adults and a small weekend bag all across British Columbia, Canada and into the Prairies (Alberta and Sask).

 

[Ken Thompson]

I know there is an Ercoupe group out there to ask this but I don’t have an interest in joining another group for just 1 question (at least not yet). The question is how does one manage the fuel in an Ercoupe with 2 wing tanks and a header tank. I understand the engine is fed from the header tank and fuel is pumped from the wing tanks to the header tank. Is it like a Cherokee where you pump from left tank and right tank balancing the weight between the wing tanks? Is the transfer pump engine driven with an electric backup? How do you know when the header tank is full? Is there an overflow on the header tank that returns excess fuel to the wing tanks? Are the fuel gauges all sight gauges or are there electric fuel gauges for the wing tanks?

Lastly are they enjoyable to fly but very impractical for taking a 3 hour trip with minimal luggage?

Hi Ron. I’m kind of late to the party but welcome to the Ercoupe world. I assume you have things figured out by now. I have owned my 415-C for about six years. I love it. C-85 Stroker engine that lets me cruise right at 118mph. That’s a pretty decent cross country plane that’ll outperform any other type in its class.
As far a fuel management.. I burn about 5.3 mpg at cruise near redline. I’ve only dipped into my header tank twice. Meaning that I just don’t often fly long enough to exhaust my wing tanks. I consider the header purely a one hour reserve. Normally, I plan stops about every two hours or so as a matter of personal comfort.
One time, the headwinds were stronger than forecast. I admit to having been lax about watching the header float gauge because I was confident of arriving with fuel still in the wings.
But, I suddenly noticed that the header float was down an inch or so. It was frightening because I didn’t know how long it had been going down. I was about 30 miles from the destination but did not want to be the guy in the six o’clock Dallas news, so I did a 180 and headed for an airport ten miles behind me.
I added a little over 19 gallons. I COULD have made the destination. I just didn’t KNOW it!

Two lessons here. 1) Make the header gauge part of your panel scan. Even if you think you have hours to go, your fuel pump could fail and you’ll immediately start draining the header.
2) Because the header tank is a weird shape and is narrow at the top, the gauge goes down quickly at first. Frighteningly so. Then it slows down. When it first hits bottom, you’ll have about three gallons left, or roughly half an hour. You’ll need to be on the ground very soon.

The gauge is RIGHT THERE in front of your nose. You can’t miss it, but guys do. I almost did.
I know of one guy who had just bought an awesome Ercoupe in Houston and was flying it home to California. He didn’t even get out of Texas before running out of fuel in the West Texas desert, totaling the plane! He was okay.

My second time to dip into the header was by design. My flight planning told me I could reach my fuel stop with 19 gallons burned. There were plenty of alternates on my route so no worries if the burn was more than planned.
The header gauge started going down about ten minutes before planned arrival, right about when I expected it to.

There are a couple of great Ercoupe groups that you should join. You’ll gain a lot more specific knowledge in a specialized group than in a general one like this one.

Facebook: Ercoupe Owners and Enthusiasts

tech@ercoupe.groups.io

Cheers!

Ken

 

[Salty]

I had a student with an Ercoupe. We lost the mechanical fuel pump on a cross-country. Had to stop on the way home to fuel the header tank. From what I remember the wing tanks were fed together through a mechanical pump to the header tank.

How big is the header tank? Doesn’t seem like a good idea to me.

 

[Chrisgoesflying]

How big is the header tank? Doesn’t seem like a good idea to me.

Six gallons if I remember correctly on my old Ercoupe. Just over an hour in it... Definitely not a good idea to fly on header tank only. Realistically, you would have to plan 30 minute legs in order to stay compliant with the 30 minute reserve rule.

 

[Salty]

Six gallons if I remember correctly on my old Ercoupe. Just over an hour in it... Definitely not a good idea to fly on header tank only. Realistically, you would have to plan 30 minute legs in order to stay compliant with the 30 minute reserve rule.

I don't think you can fly a low wing without a fuel pump without getting a ferry permit, so regs aren't really in question IMO. Just seems like a really bad idea to me.