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>>The Europa seems to have two problems, most evident just before take-off and
just after touchdown.<<
Colin Wray's assessment is reasonably accurate. Certainly the Falke won't teach
you much, except the propensity for PIOs caused by the unbalanced elevator.
My problem is with the pitch up/pitch down as you leave/reenter ground effect.
Take off is relatively easy to cope with, you need to learn to hold the
aeroplane down after an early lift off until speed builds up. Trickiest is a go
round. Landing is a bit more difficult, if/when you round out too high the nose
will suddenly drop as you enter the depths of ground effect. This can be helped
by either landing with a trickle of power or as Martin describes an extra 5 kts
and no power. Then just keep on holding off, and if required pull back smartly
when the sudden sink occurs. My belief is that this sudden increase in rate of
sink is caused by the airflow over the tailplane suddenly being deflected more
horizontal by the ground. In normal flight it is in the downwash from the wing/
flap.
It's not that difficult to achieve perfect landings. Just difficult to remember
how you did it and avoid reverting to previous habits.
Graham
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