I remember writing the factory on the MG gross weight issue. If I remember
correctly,
the XS weight increase required enlarged drag pins as well as the
carrythrough bar. Another 50 lbs
increase for the MG wings would have required another round of
reinforcements and testing.
Further, additional MTOW was not considered necessary since the expected use
of the MG was
for recreation with typically just the pilot on board and partially full
tanks, not touring, so the loss in - primarily - luggage
capacity was not critical. The factory may not have forseen the excellent
high altitude performance of the
914 MG that makes it much more versatile that originally thought, enough to
make the MG the primary or sole
wing configuration, rather than a sometimes option to a primarily short wing
aircraft.
Also, it's turned out that US builders equip their planes more fully than
the early UK
builders - with bigger engines and the tri-gear configuration being very
common (and how many US
pilots conform to the FAA 170lb standard?). It's possible that a 914
trigear MG could hit 950lbs empty,
enforcing the 1 pilot + partial tanks assumption.
Those Europas that have come near to the 750lb factory suggested empty
weight have been very simply
fitted out.
Shaun
----- Original Message -----
From: <DJA727@aol.com>
Subject: Gross weight
> Hello all,
>
> I am rapidly approaching completion of my airplane -- the long wing
version.
> My official list of action items is down to 11, and I should get 2 or 3
done
> today. Yesterday for the first time, I weighed the airplane. That leads to
> some questions:
>
> I checked the web site and they show a typically equipped empty weight of
750
> pounds for the short wing and 790 for the long wing mono wheel. That is a
40
> pound weight difference due to the bigger wings. I checked the Europa club
> and the weights of a short wing, 914 equipped mono airplane average 860
> pounds, with a low of 782 and a high of 947. If these airplanes had long
> wings, this would translate to:
>
> average 900 pounds.
> Low 822 pounds.
> High 987 pounds.
>
> With the increased performance of the 914 engine over the 912S (15% at sea
> level and more above that), one would think the airplane could carry more
> weight. There is no difference between the max gross of any Europa
airplane,
> regardless of the engine. I know the structure is the reason for this, but
> the max weight of the long wing is also listed the same as the short wing,
> even though it has an ultimate wing loading of 10.89 Gs, vs 8.55 for the
> short wing. In ancient times, I did flight test work for the Lear Fan and
we
> routinely flew the airplane over the max gross planned. So here is my big
> question to the group:
>
> My airplane looks to weigh about 926 pounds empty. In the real word (just
> between the two of us!), what gross weights do people typically operate
this
> airplane? If you put 2, 180 pound people in a 900 pound empty weight short
> wing airplane with full fuel, you can cannot carry anything else, since
you
> are right up against max of 1370.
>
> I don't have the operating manual for the long wing airplane, so I don't
know
> what the official number will be yet. The good news is the CG falls right
in
> the middle, so I won't have to do any adjusting there. I did get carried
away
> with system redundancy and equipment, but all in all, it should be a good
> airplane. Theoretically, I could pull it out the door and fly it today. It
is
> ready - I'm not and the FAA is not either - yet.
>
>
> Thanks,
>
> Dave
> A227
> Mini U2
>
>
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