Hi Bill,
We have slipped with both the short wings and the long. It does help increase
sink rate, certainly not as effective as in a Citabria, of course. The air
brakes
on the MG wings are rather ineffective, compared to spoilers on other MGs.
The get more dynamic range in drag during the landings, we use full airbrake
and full rudder slips, at higher speeds (80 kts vs the usual 60 kts on final).
The higher speed may seem counter intuitive to some, but drag goes up with
the square of speed, as I recall.
Regards,
Terry Seaver
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-europa-list-server@matronics.com
[mailto:owner-europa-list-server@matronics.com] On Behalf Of William McClellan
Sent: Tuesday, August 03, 2010 8:50 AM
Subject: Europa-List: Stall spin characteristics
I understand that the Europa is very prone to abruptly dropping a wing, trying
to enter a spin, when stalled with full flaps in the landing configuration. On
the other hand, in the clean, unflapped configuration the stall is very benign.
I wonder if this is true of all Europa's or only some depending on the
particulars
of that builders end product and possible modifications. I have nearly
1000 hrs in a Citabria with very much of it flying into short "backcountry"
dirt strips requiring significant STOL characteristics. I don't have flaps
so regularly use severe straight and banked slips. The Citabria is a "dirty"
plane compared to the "very clean" Europa so I believe the use of severe slips
in the Europa is never warranted. My experience with very clean planes, I also
have 1000 hours in my high performance glider and since the air brakes work
so well, severe slipping is not needed...though some less than ultra clean
gliders,
ie, trainers, can make use of severe slipping!
. It seems likely that Cliff Shaw's accident was a result of this abrupt spin
stall characteristic in landing configuration. I have a rule (though not
unique),
"never skid a turn", keeping a nice margin above stall. It seems that the
Europa (and probably all super clean planes, for instance the Cirrus), have
a propensity to severe stall spin in landing configuration. I understand that
many Europa pilots land with an airspeed up to 65 but this uses a greater
landing
distance considering the stall speed is in the 40's. Europa's original
touted mission was short field, pasture strips. For those who often use this
short field capability, I would like to know the particulars to make the Europa
perform safely in this manner. Not having piloted a Europa, but am close to
finishing my build, I am curious to these questions.
Bill McClellan
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