Hi, Tony--
First of all, let me complement you on your Website--it's
fabulous, and I've immensely enjoyed the saga of your Europa. If I ever
get to NZ again I'd love to see it in the flesh. (Last time I was there
it was to pick up a Marchetti near Wellington and ferry it back to the
states--ended up pranging in Greenland when it threw a rod right after
takeoff, but that's another story).
Telluride Regional Airport isn't really all that bad a field: the
runway is 6900 feet long (being a ski and tourist area, we get various
private jets up to G-IV, etc.). Threshold at one end is 9086', at the
other 9063, and there's a dip down to 9013 about two thirds of the way
down, so occasionally some lightplane pilot will find the runway
outclimbing him. If you can stagger into the air off RW 27 you instantly
have over 1000 feet of altitude as you pass over the edge of the cliff on
which the airport is located...
It'll be interesting to see how a Europa performs up here--I hope
I can lure ex- G-ELSA in on one of its trips to someplace like the
Arlington or Copperstate airshows. I've flown a Valentin Taifun
motorglider out of here with the original 83-hp non-leanable Limbach, and
its performance was quite underwhelming.
I imagine a turbo engine and variable pitch prop will be a sine
qua non up here. At present the R-914 seems to be the leading candidate
despite the shocking price; quite apart from the weight, I've had enough
bad experience with Subaru engines in cars to be less than confident of
them for aero use. On the other hand, at the laughable rate I've been
bulding (my house is at 9650', and on cold days even the best and most
expensive efforts of my shop heating system can't keep the place at
glassing temperatures), perhaps the 150-hp Zoche aerodiesel will be
available by the time I'm ready for an engine! I've run it on the test
stand in Germany--150 turbocharged hp and it weighs less than a 914!
best regards, PSL
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