Steve Genotte posted an enquiry a while back about the proportion of kits
being carried through to first flight. I've just noticed some published
information which helps to show how Europas compare with other designs, in
the UK at least. First of all, a while back, the PFA (UK homebuilders assn)
magazine "Popular Flying" used to publish basic information about new
aircraft projects. I collated some of this and came up with the following
statistics:
Europa project registrations with PFA over about 2 years
---From early 1993 (project 12396 to project 12813)
Total aircraft projects started: 418
Europa projects started: 104
Percentage of builders choosing Europa : 24.88%
In the latest copy of PF there is a list of projects cleared for first
flight so far this year (only covers up to August - I guess there is a long
press lead time). A little pummelling of that list yields the following
summary:
Summary of all homebuilt aircraft
cleared for first flight
by PFA in UK 14-1-97 to 29-8-97
Aircraft type Number % of total
Acroduster Too 1 1.3
Campbell Cricket 1 1.3
CFM Streak Shadow 3 3.8
CGS Hawk II 1 1.3
Challenger II 3 3.8
Chilton DW1 1 1.3
Europa 24 30.4
Jodel D18 1 1.3
Kitfox 3 3.8
Kolb Twinstar 3 1 1.3
Letov Sluka 4 5.1
Murphy Rebel 1 1.3
Parsons Two Seat 1 1.3
Piel Emeraude 1 1.3
Pietenpol Aircamper 2 2.5
Pitts S-1D 1 1.3
Pulsar 2 2.5
RAF 2000 3 3.8
Rans S10 Sakota 1 1.3
Rans S6 13 16.5
Rollason Beta 1 1.3
Taylor Titch 1 1.3
TEAM Minimax 88 1 1.3
Vans RV6 1 1.3
Viking Dragonfly 1 1.3
Whittaker MW5D 1 1.3
Whittaker MW6 4 5.1
Zenair CH601 1 1.3
Total 79 100
Now obviously we must be careful in trying to compare those two sets of
data, as they are not based on the same or even necessarily comparable
samples. But note that both sets of data include microlights and
gyrocopters.
Without doubt, we can say that not only is the Europa the most popular
aircraft in UK to start building, it's also the most popular to FINISH
building!
As the "new projects" information is no longer published, I don't know if
the Europa projects form the same proportion of all projects starting now.
However, if we assume that a typical project takes 2 or 3 years to
complete, then at least some of the projects started in 1993-1995 should be
appearing in the first flights list for this year. Noting that Europas are
25% of all project starts, but 30% of all first flights, could lead us to
conclude that a builder starting on a Europa is more likely to get it into
the air than one choosing another design. Such a conclusion is not really
solidly supported, as we cannot be sure how the two samples are related.
With a similar caveat, we could also note (by normalising the figures to
annual values assuming no seasonal variations) that 52 Europa projects are
commenced each year but only 36 (69%) get finished each year. However,
across all aircraft types, there are 209 starts per year with only 118.5
(56.7%) completions.
Of course, even without knowing how many kits are currently being started
compared with all other types, it seems very reassuring that 30% of all
aircraft projects carried through to completion in UK this year are Europas.
I imagine there is no easy way to collect the same information in USA -
does the EAA have a central database of experimental aircraft in
construction and/or flying? Our overseas readers might care to note the
apparent low level of UK interest in most other "fast glass" types, and the
several "traditional" designs still attracting builders.
cheers
Rowland
... that's Rowland with a 'w' ...
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