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Europa-List: RE: Tail plane questions

Subject: Europa-List: RE: Tail plane questions
From: Erich Trombley <erichdtrombley@juno.com>
Date: Thu, 14 Nov 2024 07:19:06

Hello Alex,

My tailplane is the same.  This is typical and does not affect the flying 
quality
or characteristics of the plane.  If I recall correctly the lower fuselage
has a slight twist in it.  I would suggest leaving as is.  

If you attempt to relocate the bushings in an effort to level the torque tube 
you
will change the alignment of the tailplane with the mating profile molded into
the sides of the fuselage.   This mismatch between the fuselage and tailplane
will be very noticeable.  Hence, the recommendation to leave as is. 

Regarding the modification to tailplane mass balance arm.  Again, if I recall 
correctly
the TP18C Adjuster Body was adjusted to the extreme end of TP18B End
Fitting.  This created a large bending moment at root end of TP18C resulting in
its failure.  Europa issued mod 70 with a redesigned mass balance arm and 
constraint
of the TP19 Weights.  

The failure was attributed to a number of landing mishaps.  Regardless, the 
original
design did not adequately keep the weights from swinging side to side as
there was no means to tighten or adjust the lateral restraining cables. 
Additionally,
it was deemed that heavier tube and a stronger adjusting mechanism were
warranted. 

Lastly, I noted that you have kit number 529.   Most likely your kit has the 
redesigned
TP18 arm.  Per the documentation in Mod 70, kits up to number 194 were
affected (those delivered prior to February 2005).   So, maybe this isnt an
issue for you. 

Regards,

Erich Trombley
N28ET
Classic Mono 914



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