Chris, Those of us who own, have built or fly Europas are quite clear
that it is a brilliant aircraft with probably the sweetest in air
handling characteristics of any two seat plane. Those of us who fly the
mono version would not want any other type, but it is certainly not for
everyone and it is most certainly not a plane to learn on, at least if
that learning is going to extend to landing & T/Os. (I would say it is
the perfect plane to take Young Eagles or Air Scouts for a half hour
introductory flight - 99% of them will be confident, accomplished
addicted pilots within 10 mins of letting them have a go!). The Europa,
especially the mono version is ideal for grass strips, generally needing
little more than 100 yds ground run. However the ground handling of the
mono is a demanding affair. Those with glider experience and plenty of
tail wheel flying mostly take to it well but the transition from a
Cessna is a very different kettle of fish and many do not manage it. If
you hope to train your kids to fly then you need the trigear version.
This offers the same in air benefits, has simple ground handling and
only suffers from being possibly 10kts slower for same power. Converting
a mono to a trigear is pretty simple if done in the initial build phase.
Buying an abandoned kit can be an extremely economical way of getting
to own a great plane. I recently bought such a kit,some 13 yrs old in he
UK(to get some major parts for a repair - the rest was sold off very
cheaply to various Europa builders around the world). The original
builder had had a heart attack and his widow just kept the kit in a
garage. All of the composite parts were as new and the large majority of
the metal parts likewise. just a few metal bits needed minor surface
treatment to bring them up to standard. The resin of course was well out
of date, but not a major expense to replace. Checking the completeness
of the kit is not a simple matter. The number of parts runs into 4
figures, if not 5!. If the main composite components are there plus a
substantial pile of metal bits, you are probably OK, especially if the
person selling looks trustworthy. Any odd nuts or bolts or metal
components can be sourced from Europa Aircraft (who incidentally have an
on line catalogue of parts - which comes close to being a complete list,
but it is so long that it would take you weeks to check off the kit
against it!
If you are seriously interested then it would be no bad thing to ask on
the forum whether some Europa owner lives in your neck of the woods and
would be prepared to come along with you to check out the kit. There are
lots of great Europa pilots around in the States!
Best of luck, David Joyce
On 2017-03-29 22:32, n7188u wrote:
>
> Hello europa List members. My name is Chris Martin and new to the list (but
> not
to homebuilt aircraft) I own a LongEZ and a Kolb Firestar II which I enjoy
flying several times a week.
>
> I am exploring the purchase of a 2nd hand Europa XS Monowheel kit. The kit is
advertised a complete with essentially no work done to it. I am thinking about
flying my LEZ to go see it this weekend.
>
> I have always been attracted to the Europa. I fly gliders too so the prospect
of at one point retrofitting glider wings is very attractive. The other plane
I have been considering is the Zenith 650.
>
> But the first mission for this plane would be to fly with my kids on a side by
side plane and possibly teach them how to fly (I am a CFI). I also want to fly
---From grass which I can't do in the LEZ. How good is the Europa for these
roles?
>
> Last, if I go this weekend to see the kit, how can I check that it is
> complete?
I read a couple of postings that indicated the factory doesn't have a list
but some members of this forums do.
>
> Thanks for the help.
> Chris Martin
> Port Orange, FL USA
>
> Read this topic online here:
>
> http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=467812#467812 [1]
>
Links:
------
[1] http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=467812#467812
[2] http://www.matronics.com/Navigator?Europa-List
[3] http://forums.matronics.com
[4] http://wiki.matronics.com
[5] http://www.matronics.com/contribution
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