coastdef wrote:
YO-55, first shot is the overall, second zooms in on the serial number in that photograph. Post Field, Fort Sill, OK.
Regards,
Andy
Andy, these photos may be of more than a passing interest to a few airplane nuts. Given some of the following
history and contention concerning documention of NC28655, c/n #11 as a YO-55 due to the secrecy of the JATO
program at March Field. This photo and the detail shot pretty much provides visual documention.
Mark Hardin's commentary on Aerofiles regarding the JATO bird....
"The JATO Ercoupe has been the subject of much debate and folklore. The real rocket-powered Ercoupe, [NC28655] s/n 11, can be verified by looking at the photos in Stanley G Thomas' 1991 book, The Ercoupe, page 66. The photo was taken in Aug 1941 and is from Cal Tech archives. That Ercoupe was built on 12/4/40 and sold to USAAC on 1/4/41 for $10.00, delivered to AAC Material Division, Wright Field OH. I have the FAA files to substantiate this information. ([N28655] now belongs to a Grumman aircraft.)
The first military Ercoupe, about which I know more than the other two, is my [N37143] s/n 110, acquired on 8/19/41 as the last PQ-13 purchased by the USAAC [41-25196], delivered to Wright Field and officially entered into inventory on 12/8/41 as one of two PQ-13's submitted to compete for the Aerial Target Contract, which Al Mooney's PQ-14 subsequently won. According to numerous books written about the Ercoupe, s/n 110 was the very last production model produced before the outbreak of WW2. S/ns 111 and 112 were built in 1942 from spare parts. S/n 112 is documented to have flown with the Civil Air Patrol in WW2. The fate of the other XPQ-13 ( ed: [41-39099]) is of some mystery—one report claims that it went down off the New Jersey coast in WW2.
I inquired to FAA if s/n 11 had been issued a different N-number after the war, and the answer was negative. The last activity of record on that aircraft was 2/3/42. A letter from CAA to USAAC stated that [NC28655] and [NC37143] had been taken over by the Air Corps, that the planes had been canceled on CAA records, and that airworthiness certificates and operation records issued by the CAA inspector were void and should be returned to their office.
There is some debate about the rocket-powered Ercoupe being designated as YO-55. The JATO Ercoupe did not have an official flight record as that was a top secret program at the time. USAF Historical Society as of 6/20/2000 assumes (until we can find more paperwork) that the rocket-powered Ercoupe and the YO-55 were one and the same. However, according to YO-55's flight records, no indication exists that it ever went to March Field. We have paperwork on two of the three actual military Ercoupes as recognized by FAA, USAF, and USAF Historical Society. (— Mark Hardin, Terrell TX)"
www.aerofiles.com/_e.html
If you weren't aware of this history I thought it may be worth noting.
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