The well know feature of taildraggers that the horizon disappears just as
you need it, leaving you with the seat of the pants (which may not be in
a serviceable state if you have not done many such landings), could cause
much mental and physical stress in your new Europa. The White Stick
(Ground Proximity Sensor),is a pole 1m or more long pivoting from the
undercarriage arm and released from being tucked up against the bottom of
the fuselage when the gear comes down, to lie at 30 deg. to the vertical.
It's pivot carries a potentiometer which sets the frequency of an
oscillator which then emits a gliding (sic) tone into your headset as you
use up the last critical meter.
April 1st has gone and despite message no.1045, I'm serious. Prototype
will be at Gloucester. Who will test it first ? There are interesting
longer term possibilities using more sensors and actuators e.g. asi and
attitude for autoflare, even autoland. And if you really don't want to
look like a carrier-borne aircraft flying backwards, the upmarket model
using acoustic radar is under construction.
gemin
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