> My name is Peter Allen (married, 35, no kids) and this is my short note
> of introduction. I have just returned to Melbourne, Australia after
> living and working for the past 7 years in London. I am a humble
> student pilot and classify myself in the following categories;
Welcome back to the top of the world.
> 4. You have the Europa information pack, and are seriously considering a
> purchase.
> 5. You would dearly love to build a Europa if you can find the
> time/space/money.
> 6. You will begin as soon as you can convince your spouse it is a good
> idea
>
> all depending on my mood (or my wife's).
Its easy, forget about using all logic and leap in with both feet! The wife
soon gets used to it or you end up divorced - either way, you end up with the
plane :-)
> I'm one of these useless accountants and my plane making skills are
> zero, but people tell me this can actually be an advantage.
Yes, but we won't hold the fact that you are an accountant against you.
Providing you can THINK you can build a Europa.
> On behalf of a small group, can anyone tell me what the expected
> depreciation will be on the Europa?
>
> In other words, if, in our own minds, we can justify the opportunity
> cost of the capital outlay, (say, GBP40,000 all up) what will it be
> worth in 5 or 10 years! I have my own views on various influencing
> factors;
>
> Composite V's Metal or Wood
> State of the art in its class V's An older design (say the Pulsar)
> but I would appreciate your views.
Based on conversations with other NZ homebuilders I am confident that the
Europa will hold its value well. I don't think I would recover the interest
lost but I suspect I would be able to recover my kits cost well beyond 10
years.
> The next question is, can a very low airtime pilot fly the wee beast?
If they can't I am in deep schtuck! Like all aircraft it it takes time to
learn and once learnt it takes time to keep current. Plenty of taildragger
time (which I am assured makes you better at landings anyway) will go a long
way to help. Besides, a low airtime pilot hasn't had time to learn all of the
bad habits that experienced pilots have :-)
I think think it strange that all of these comments about learning to fly the
Europa keep coming up. I find transitioning from any plane to another
difficult. I learnt on a low wing Tomahawk, moved to a C172 and then to a
C177 with CS prop and retract gear. Each time it was like starting to learn
to fly again and there was always a point at which I would despair of ever
getting the thing under control. Perhaps those who comment about the Europa
being "difficult" to land have forgotten that there is a learning curve
associated with flying all aircraft. The secret is not to crunch the plane
into that learning curve!!
We look forward to hearing that you have taken the leap. You won't find a
nicer, more friendly or more helpful bunch of people as you will find on this
group (present writer excepted of course :-).
Tony
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Tony Krzyzewski tonyk@kaon.co.nz
Managing Director Ph 64 9 358 9124
Kaon Technologies Fx 64 9 358 9127
Auckland
New Zealand
Networkers visit www.kaon.co.nz
Aviators visit www.kaon.co.nz/europa/272index.html
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