Monowheel Europa Bites Red Arrows Leader!
There is a very strange rumour doing the rounds that Wing Commander Martin
Stoner (ret'd) had an incident in Europa G-BWON whilst taxying at Kemble,
causing serious damage to the a/c.
If this rumour is true, what hope is there for us 'standard grade' pilots if a
very highly skilled 'pilote superiore' such as Martin Stoner - the No.1 Europa
instructor - cannot handle the Europa on the ground, even though fitted with
the factory-issued new tailwheel assembly.
It begs the question 'Why have so many Europas had ground-handling incidents?'
- resulting in over 40 separate repair claims, some of them very serious. It
is very obvious that the insurance premiums are increasing, instead of
decreasing, bearing in mind that the risk is greater for an insurance company
when a new aircraft first hits the market, and lessens as more numbers are
flown and 'proven'.
Is the PFA fully aware of this apalling situation?
Are they concerned that they rushed in 'starry-eyed' to rubber stamp the new
British wonder-child, and are now regretting being so compliant?
Why is the second-hand Europa sales market so poor?
Remember: 500 hr build, 150mph cruise on 80hp, 680lbs empty weight, "You're
not buying the MkI, you're buying a fully sorted final version Europa!" - and
finally - the classic Ivan Shaw quote: "Hop in, I'll do the take-off and
landing, and you can take it for some upper air handling". I wonder, is there
anyone that ever did a take-off or landing in Europa's demonstrator? In any
other business a company that made these many false claims would have been
sued out of existence. Has that time arrived?
If Europa (Mr Shaw) had told us all the truth, would he have sold 500
aircraft? The answer is he would have probably struggled to sell 50!
We need honest information, not constant Shaw bullshit.
Four very disappointed Europa owners
(and we know of many more)
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