Hi, Thomas! Congrats on your trip. We met at Oshkosh last year. What a great
undertaking.
We've been planning to gap seal our XS monowheel when complete, as it just makes
sense to do so. Your 7 kt. gain amplifies that fact. I just love it, 9.2
litres/hour,
100kt. TAS. In English - 115 mph and 47.3 miles per gallon. That
is just incredible. My car (a 1993 Saturn SL sedan) impresses me with it's 42
to 45 mpg on the highway at 70mph. Not only will I be able to go faster in
our Europa, I'll get better mileage! - on auto fuel!!
OK, here's a tidbit to make you all smile: A friend our ours recently completed
an RV-6A with the 180hp Lycoming and fixed pitch Sensenich prop. He and his
wife just got back from a jaunt to Sun'n Fun. They flew 3000+ miles, averaging
160 kts. and 9.6 gph. That translates to about 19mpg. Not only does it get
lousy gas mileage, it's LOUD. No mufflers, just the crossover exhaust system.
I will say this - it is a beautiful plane, and he did a marvelous job on the
build. But, compared to the elegance and efficiency of the Europa, it is a
vulgar excess. What's worse, this chap is British - as is his wife! Egads.
I like to rib him about it whenever I see him. The comedy doesn't end there.
His name is Chris and his wife is Sue. I'm a Chris and my wife is a Sue.
Weird....
Chris and Sue Beck
A159
"Thomas Scherer" <europa81@web.de> wrote:
>
> Hi Garry,
>
> I sealed all gaps. Non-moving parts with fabric-tape and moving joints with
> mylar tape which is available from glider supply stores. It doesn't come
> cheap - the mylar needs a thin layer of doublesided adhesive and can further
> be enhanced with some zig-zag tape to be added in front of the mylar.
>
> The gain was 7 knots - well worth the effort when I crossed the Atlantic
> Ocean with 1oo kn TAS at 4ooo RPM and a fuel flow of 9.2 litres per hour.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> <Thomas, N81EU>
>
>
>
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