ZK-AQX  Erco 415CD Ercoupe                (c/n  4780)

                                          

                                                Here's Ercoupe ZK-AQX in company with Miles M.11 Whitney Straight ZK-ALE at Auckland
                                                in 1949.   It was the only one of its kind imported.   The aircraft was desiigned by Fred Weick in
                                                1937 and was unique (at the time) insofar as it eliminated rudder pedals, turns being achieved by
                                                linking the ailerons to the rudder control.  Turning the wheel would result in the correct amount of
                                                rudder being applied.   The absence of the rudder meant, therefore, that (theoretically) the aircraft
                                                could not be spun.  ZK-AQX was built in 1947 and assigned the US civil registration NC94669
                                             .  although it was exported almost immediately to Belgium, becoming OO-EXC.  It arrived in New
                                                Zealand in 1948 and was owned by the Auckland Aero Club.  .Some Ercoupes in the USA were
                                                later modified to incorporate standard stick and rudder operation.   The Australian DCA (at the time)
                                                refused to grant a C of A for it, and the only one imported into VH-land wound up at Sydney
                                                Technical College as an aid to apprentice training.