Hi Paul,
Anybody that claims the build time for a trike to be the same as a mono
hasn't actually built a trike. The installation of the bracing for the rear
gear legs is substantial and labor intensive to install. As for off-field or
rough field landings the trike will do it if asked. Obviously the mono
excels in this area. Realistically, how often do you plan to make unplanned
off-field landings? The trike is better in the fact that you can pull the
nose up to a ridiculous angle in the flare and really slow it down for
landing. The tail wheel in the mono prohibits high angles of attack. Maybe
the conventional conversion warrants a closer look?
Jim Thursby
-----Original Message-----
Behalf Of Paul Boulet
Subject: Mono wheel vs. Tri-Gear debate
Hi Guys;
I started out building a mono wheel XS but am now considering buying the Tri
gear kit and was hoping for comments from the group. As I see it here are
the pros and cons. In the U.S. the cost of the Tri Gear kit is about $2,700
and the speed kit an additional $400 over and above the mono wheel.
However, you save $800 a year on the hull insurance because tri gears are
more forgiving in the landing and you can't land "gear up." Cruise, climb,
and top speeds seem to be the same. From aesthetics I think the mono wheel
is uniquely beautiful while the tri gear is just another common plane (like
Pulsar, Glastar, etc.). Also my lovely wife likes the looks of the mono
wheel better (even though she says she has no intent of riding in it!). The
Lakeland, Florida office says build time is the same on Tri Gear as the Mono
wheel so no advantages there. There aren't enough sales of used Europas to
be able to tell if re-sale value on one is higher than the other because
that would he!
lp!
with my decision too.
One of my dreams is to fly to fairly high altitude Idaho grass forest strips
to do some camping and fishing. I believe the Tri Gear is a better choice
because it can get off the ground easier because you don't have the drag of
the flaps being down like you do on the Mono wheel. I remember a discussion
last year when someone couldn't get their monowheel off a high altitude
Bishop, California airport without partially raising the gear and flaps
since density altitude that day was fairly high...and all of this was with
the turbo 914 engine.
The only other item I can think of is that on-going maintenance should be
less with the Tri Gear since no retractable parts. Please let me know if
any of you think I've missed something... I'm really having a hard time
choosing and could still be swayed either way. Thanks,
Paul Boulet, A212, Malibu, California
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