Message text written by "Chuck Popenoe"
>I'm reconsidering the trigear option, but it seems that 75% of my present
operations is from or to sod airfields.
Would you consider operating the Europa tri-gear from sod airfields?
How about from farmer's fields? I'm referring to relatively smooth mowed
pastures, not plowed furrows ;-).
BTW, did anyone catch the account in the December Sport Aviation about the
Europa XS tri-gear which departed company with its nose gear after a touch
and go? The gear apparently tore loose and sailed over the right wingtip,
much to the astonishment of the XP's occupants!!! Nobody hurt, but a good
bit of damage suffered landing sans nose gear!
<
There have been a few failures of the nosewheel leg. It is obviously an
area which takes a lot of load especially on grass strips which is why
builders often opt for the monowheel in these situations. The conventional
taildragger is another alternative although this requires major surgery as
the required strong points in the fuselage have to be made at the same
time. We have about 6 conventional taildraggers in the UK using the
carbonfibre one piece leg. This seems to work well if a little stiff. There
has been one break as a result of a Europa leaving the paved surface. This
broke just above one of the wheel mountings due to excessive loading. It is
interesting to note that this failure was caused by mishandling by an
inexperienced pilot which indicates that a taildragger whether monowheel or
conventional needs careful handling.
Although the monowheel might generally be the more difficult to handle you
may find on rough surfaces directional control harder on the conventional
gear. My reasoning is that one wheel with conventional gear might find a
hollow creating temporary drag inducing swing. On the monowheel any such
drag is on the centreline. The outriggers take little load and would flex
back in these situatiuons. Conversely the conventional taildragger has the
advantage of differential braking.
No doubt this is an area where you will need to weigh up the pros and cons
for yourself as everyone has a slightly different view.
Nigel Charles
|