I finally got the opportunity to see my first Ercoupe up close and personal. This one is is owned by L. E. "Zeke" Lamb of Eggville, Mississippi. Zeke, a 77 year-old veteran with over 1000 hours, hangers the 1946 C-model Coupe on his property and flys it off a 1,600 ft. grass strip behind his house.

Visiting with the gregarious old gentleman was a lesson in aviation history. He talked about his early flying days, the checkride he took in a Piper Cub years ago to get his private ticket, and about other pilots long sense gone who shared his enthusiam for the sport. We could have talked for hours.

We also talked about the flying characteristics of the plane. (The Ercoupe has no rudder pedals, you know.) For example, he said to put it down you cut the throttle and float the plane in at around 70 knots, adding a little power as needed. It's designed to operate off a 1,000 ft. runway.




1946 Ercoupe with 85 hp Continental engine. Zeke bought the plane in 1964 from an FBO in Greely, Colorado and has been flying it ever since.




L. E. "Zeke" Lamb




The Coupe's cockpit




Tail number




Name plate




That's me, your trusty aviation weblog editor, having a great time sitting in the cockpit wishing the weather would cooperate and he could take me up!

Unfortunately, the weather was not conducive to flying VFR - way too low visibility - but I made Zeke promise me he'd take me up the first chance he got.

(I want to especially thank my friend Lynn Wesson who took me to meet Zeke.)