Tony, If it is not too late I would suggest thinking very seriously
about fitting any engine other than a Rotax. The plane was designed
around the Rotax, it works superbly with the Rotax and if built
carefully has an excellent load carrying capacity and excellent
performance with a Rotax, particularly a 912S or 914. With my 914 and a
Woodcomp CS prop I can exceed VNe on the flat at MAUW from 6500 ft
upwards whilst having capacity for two good sized men, full fuel and
luggage. Having been around the Europa scene for a couple of decades I
have seen multiple episodes of folk regretting the decision to try some
other sort of engine. I wouldn't knock the O-200 in airframes designed
for it but it is appreciably heavier than the 912S or 914 and it is
difficult to see any sensible advantage. When I analysed all the
ditchings around the UK over a 20 yr period ( a few years back), of the
49 planes that went in the water, there were none powered by any Rotax
91variants, but quite a lot of Continentals. It is after all a much
older design than the Rotax. Most people building carefully and fitting
a Rotax will end up with an empty weight between 820 and 880 lbs (but
totals well up in the 900s are not unknown). With a MAUW of 1370 lbs
this gives a total useable weight or load capacity for crew and baggage
of between 550 and 480lbs (that is 250 - 218kg). Baggage capacity is 80
lbs /36kg and if you are touring you may well find you need all of that.
And if you are to take a couple of average chaps of 185lbs/85kg you are
clearly left making compromises which will be quite restricting if your
build is on the heavy side even before you fit a heavy engine.
Best wishes, David Joyce
On 2020-12-23 11:05, Anthony Braun wrote:
> <albertaflyer@gmail.com>
>
> Hi,
> New to the list. I just purchased a Europa project and am going with a
> non standard engine. What is the maximum safe dia. Prop with a tricycle
> gear or conventional tail wheel setup?
> Regards,
> Tony Braun
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