TBa9161042@aol.com wrote:
> 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'.
I'm afraid that I do not know of the many incidents alleged... but I have a few
hours in both versions of the Europa at this point and do not find any major
design faults in the mono-wheeled landing gear (especially in the most recent
iteration), but will note that the gear simply requires that its pilot LEARN to
use it. Mono-wheels can be a marvelous way of interfacing an aircraft with Terra
Firma and I truthfully can find no major fault with that of the Europa's... and
those of you familiar with my editorial writings can attest that if I find
fault,
I write about it.
By the way... we had a number of ground handling accidents when the early
Yankees
showed up with the (then) unusual attribute of a full castering nose wheel,
requiring differential braking to steer... those of you who have used this gear
can attest that it is a marvelous way to deal with steering an aircraft in tight
spaces... but is DIFFERENT and requires a pilot to LEARN its behaviors...
period.
The biggest problem I see with the gear is the tendency for some pilots to look
at
it as "just another taildragger" and then go off accordingly. Not so. The
mono-wheel configuration is easy to fly and once one becomes well acquainted
with
its unique attributes, there is much to recommend it over others in a number of
applications. But... to go off halfcocked and not think one needs some time to
acclimate to this gear configuration would seem to be the root of the problems
that have occurred, in many cases, thus far.
By the way; the writer's reasoning above seems somewhat faulty... as my
experience
with many high performance aircraft (and the Europa, IMO, is such) shows that
repair claims and fees both go up when the initial flood of built aircraft start
hitting the airways... and then start down when the builder/pilot community
start
comparing notes on training, operation, and whatever incidents may or may not
have
taken place previously... at which point the word gets out as to the positive
and
negative points of the operational facet of the aircraft and people start
becoming
wary of what might might bite them and acting accordingly... and more important;
those "biteable" items are emphasized as new pilots transition themselves to the
aircraft--easing the transition (and incident rate) for all those who follow
them.
> 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?
The second hand sales market for virtually ALL homebuilts is poor... and has
been
for as long as I can remember. As to the PFA... I'm not qualified to address
that
issue... I'm on the wrong side of the pond.
> 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?
I have... many (probably a dozen or so).... and some very wild ones with Pete
Clark (God Bless him...) and Ivan... and having a BALL, I might add. Be advised
that takeoff and landings were only demonstrated to me after I had done several
myself (Ivan was demonstrating max performance protocols). But... for a demo
pilot
to to take the takeoff and landing on a demo with an otherwise unknown pilot
does
not seem selfish to me.. it seems quite wise. Do you folks have any idea how
dangerous demo flying is? I don't like it... and I avoid it... and I've done
test
flights on hundreds of aircraft.
As a test pilot, I can assure you that I far prefer the known hazards of dealing
with a new aircraft than the unknown hazards of a new pilot (especially one that
may be trying to impress someone as often happens in these rides)... and there
are
more than enough demo incidents and horror stories to convince any pilot that
such
flights must be done carefully. If Ivan or Pete had insisted on doing the first
takeoffs and landing when I did my test flight reports, I'd not have been
insulted, despite the experience I brought to the task... I'd have been happy to
sit back and enjoy the example being set for me.
> In any other business a company that made these many false claims would have
> been sued out of existence. Has that time arrived?
False claims... Europa? Believe me fella... we hear EVERY rumor of false claim
in
the business (whether they exist or not...) and we do not hear significant
complaints about Europa... not by a long shot.
> 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.
Shaw... bullshit? I don't think so... Ivan has been disarmingly honest with me
about what he's up to and during our test flights, even more so. Do not confuse
the need to market one's best attributes (obviously with the best case scenarios
that apply to the machine) to a market often filled with competition that makes
claims that are pure fantasy, with BS.
There's a lot of hokum out there masquerading as performance specifications on
the
part of may manufacturers and would-be manufacturers... and any manufacturer is
compelled to offer the best that they can do to simply be heard above the din of
hogwash that they must compete with... mind you, I'm not thrilled with this
state
of affairs... but I do understand it. But... are Europa's claims altogether
fanciful? Not based on my experience...
Europa seems to be proving that they can meet their performance claims, by and
large, but as with any sportplane, there are tremendous variances among what the
builders experience depending on what they bring to the table in terms of
temperament, experience and capability.
Look... the Europa is not perfect... but its a hell of a great little airplane
and
if I had my choice of any of the mid-priced birds, I'd be awfully hard-pressed
to
choose anything BUT a Europa XS (which I would order with a Mono-wheel, by the
way... the trike handles very well... but I far prefer the mono).
> Four very disappointed Europa owners
> (and we know of many more)
Please have these disappointed builders contact me... I'd love to hear their
side
of the story. I'm sure we'd both learn much from such an exchange.
--
Jim Campbell, Publisher, US Aviator
Copyright 1999, All Rights Reserved
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makes cowards of men." -Abraham Lincoln
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