I had the good fortune to find myself sitting in G-ODTI this morning, with
the engine running, hesitant March sunshine and a pair of long wings
spreading out beside me. Ivan had invited me to evaluate the motor glider
development fron the point of view of a dyed in the wool long time (ago)
glider pilot. The only other glider pilot who has flown it, (much better
qualified than me ) is Derrick Piggot.
Take off was shorter and less demanding than a standard Europa, the
ailerons started to work almost immediately. If I was going for a days
soaring at a recognised gliding site I would probably consider taking the
outriggers off. A pair of small wheels half buried at the wing tips would
be enough. Glider people tend to have strap on wing tip wheels for taxying,
you only need one which could be put away in the back of the airplane.
Rate of climb after take off, (912 and fixed pitch Warp Drive) was
excellent, in fact it took me a while to get used to the very steep angle
of climb. Subjectively I would say the climb performance is significantly
better than the normal aircraft. Well over 1000 fpm . This is not what you
normally get with a motor glider, they tend to be heavy and underpowered.
Apart from the unusually steep angle handling was easy, control response
was as expected, slightly slower than the short wing Europa but if anything
the aircraft was more comfortable, it was easy to maintain a chosen bank
angle, with just a touch of aileron to hold the lower wing up, more a
pressure on the stick than a visible deflection. This is normal because at
the steep angle of bank and low speeds normal in gliders the inner wing is
flying significantly slower than the outer one.
I was lucky enough to find a bit of weak wave so at around three and a half
thousand feet I could shut the engine off for a while. Instant peace!
Drifting along the front of the cloud in smooth air I discovered that ball
centred into wind turns could be made without aileron, just careful use of
rudder. This is useful in a glider, often you want to move a circle
sideways a bit to centre a thermal. Large deflections of aileron tend to
disrupt the flow over the wings and waste lift. Using the secondary effect
of rudder, (roll) can be less inefficient. It was somewhat surprising that
the long wings did not spoil the excellent control harmonisation that
Europa flyers know so well. Many of us thought that a bigger rudder would
be needed. (As Ivan remarked, Dykins is a wizard)
Below the wave were a few weak thermals. Again the airplane was very
pleasant to fly, circling speed being low enough, (48 Knots or so) to
remain within the area of lift. Centering was not so easy, I haven't flown
a glider for 10 years so skill is dilute and there was no sensitive vario,
nevertheless I manage to persuade this bird to climb in what were really
quite weak thermals.
Engine on performance is excellent as a powered aircraft. 100 kts cruise
was no problem at all and as noted above climb better than most touring
aircraft I know. Gust response, due to the flexibility of long wings was
not at all unpleasant.The aircraft was truly delightful to fly. Sadly I had
to give it back after an hour of undiluted pleasure . On long finals into
Wombleton I explored the effectiveness of the trailing edge dive brakes. It
is quite adequate, without any pitch change or sudden increase in sink
rate. There was no tendency to snatch open either. Like any self respecting
glider, the airbrake lever is used like a throttle, but with the one
proviso that it is not capable of enabling a go round. Ivan had asked me to
leave the engine on, use half brake and land it like a Europa. I think he
was just a little anxious that I wasn't as good as him and might need to go
round. He's right, I'm not, but this airplane is so nice to fly he needn't
have worried.
Thank you Europa for a wonderful mornings return to the delights of
soaring. I do hope that Europa decide to develop a retrofit kit for the
glider wings. I'm sure it would be another winner because it extends the
capabilities of the airplane into the realm of silent slow flight that is
so rewarding when the sky offers us three dimensional yachting.
Graham
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