Hi,
Perhaps my use of the word''messes'' was not well thought out, ''spoils'' would
better describe the outcome of fitting a heavier powerplant ?
As you have discovered, the Europa handles just about better than any other
aeroplane
out there [as I have often been told by people who have flown MANY more
types than myself] jump out of yours and into a Rotax powered example, and do
a direct comparison.
The late [ and great] Pete Clark, who did most all of the spin tests, used words
that are certainly unprintable on this Forum to describe the effect of the
Subaru
installation on the finer points of the aircraft's handling ! Pete was all
for putting more power in it [ bigger is better, too much was just enough]
was his thinking, I know he prefered the Rotax powered examples.
Nothing wrong with the Subaru, exellent piece of engineering.
Cheers,
Nev.
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-europa-list-server@matronics.com
[mailto:owner-europa-list-server@matronics.com]On Behalf Of GLENN
CROWDER
Subject: Europa-List: europa handling with subaru
Hey Neville!
Your comment that "the increased polar moment of inertia totally messes
up the
a very fine handling aeroplane" does not match my observations at all. The
Subaru
powered Europa seems very light and lively to me. My hangar mate with a
O-320
powered Mustang II has flown the Europa several times and has commented that
the
handling is quite a bit lighter than his plane, both in roll and pitch. I
have flown his
plane also and while his aileron roll and pitch forces are higher, they are
not heavy
by any means. My instructor/test pilot who has test piloted hundreds of
newly
finished experimentals commented on how light the handling was and thought
it was
the best handling experimental he had flown although certainly not the
fastest.
He flies a Thorp T-18. I also had him do a complete stall series, flaps up
and down including some spin entries and noted no issues. This was after
someone on the list reported that his Europa would start to roll under on a
flaps down approach stall. I have done flaps down stalls myself
and only get a small wing break sometimes to the left, sometimes to the
right, release on
back stick instantly arrests the stall.
The one thing I have noticed when flying with a passenger is the ease of
landing. When
landing solo, after touching the tail first, I always seem to get one small
bounce on the main
before sticking down, with a passenger as soon as the main wheel touches it
sticks and
stays down. Roll out seems more stable as well. I've only flown on paved
runways so I can't
comment on grass field landing behaviour.
One thing I really like about the Europa is that I can set the pitch trim
in one spot for
touch and goes and leave it alone for every part of the pattern. On
downwind, just reduce
power and slowly drop the flaps, the plane automatically seems to slow down
to just the
right speed (about 65 mph) with no pitch up as flaps are lowered. The last
time I
flew a Cessna, I remember constantly retrimming around the pattern,
particularly forcing
the nose down on flap application. On the Europa, the only time I change
the trim is
when going to cruise speeds. Cheers!
Glenn Crowder
Watch the online reality show Mixed Messages with a friend and enter to win
a trip to NY
http://www.msnmessenger-download.click-url.com/go/onm00200497ave/direct/01/
|