Dear Europa Builders,
As the Rolling Stones once said "Please allow me to introduce myself".
My name is Nigel Graham and I live on the south coast of England in a medium
sized, double glazed, centrally heated, fully insulated, pine clad workshop,
equipped with all the necessary equipment to build a Europa.......sterio, CD,
TV, Video and a well stocked 'fridge! Somewhere round the back is a three
bedroomed house, but to be honest with you, I don't see it that much. Should
the French government finally get their way and reduce the planet to a heap
of smouldering rubble, there's a very real possibility that I wouldn't even
notice!
I began my project some four years ago with kit -1 ......the workshop.
Years of restoring old British motorcycles in a poorly lit garage so cold
that only regular mugs of tea would restore the feeling to my hands convinced
me of the need for something a little more practical, something worthy of an
aircraft, something worthy of a Europa.
I bought my Europa (B/N 147) last August (94).. almost on impulse. Having
methodically drawn up a short list of four home build aircraft to evaluate,
Kirkbymoorside just happend to be the first on the list. One test flight
later and I was driving slowly home with a huge box strapped to the roof of
the car (I didn't get to see the others), most of the six and a half hour
drive was spent working out how I was going to explain this to my other
half!
Due to work commitments, I couldn't start building until February, but since
then thing have been moving at a cracking pace. With the tail and wings
finished, I have recently collected my fuselage and am now occupied dressing
the bucketload of metalwork ready for annodising.
Like most of you, I have enthusiastically read any and everthing on the
Europa, and without a doubt the most significant breakthrough in
communications has to be the setting up an running of this internet
facility...my sincere thanks to Peter Thomas for that. I have avidly read
each and every posting, but have kept my own head down untill I felt I had
something worthwhile to contribute.
I have notice an increasing number of requests for some form of
instructional video, indeed it was one of the first things that I looked for
(without any luck) when I started as a "rookie" laminator.
Since the very beginning, I have meticulously recorded everything that I
have done on video. This was done for two reasons, the first was simply to
produce a "Video Diary" to look back on in future years, and the second was
to provide backup "Evidence" should my PFA inspector (or the CAA) ever want
to check on anything I had done. I have now amassed about twelve hours of
footage covering all aspects of the first two kits, tail and wings. This
could be condensed down to a running time of about an hour. I have recorded
this using semi proffesional equipment directly onto "Master" quality S-VHS
tapes. I can guarantee that the quality will be better than your average
wedding video!.........and a lot better than that fifteenth generation porno
video that you have hidden away in that "Sound of Music" video case!
I reiterate that this is a record how I built my plane, warts and all and
is not in any way a factory authorised video, however if there is sufficient
interest I will happily set about getting some copies produced. There will be
no "wowy and fluttery" sound track .....though if you really want one you
could dub the music off your "Sound of Music" tape!
If you are interested, contact me here.
Lastly, if any Europa builder (or potential builder) living in or near
Southampton would like to call in for a beer and a good "Yak" I would be only
too pleased to see you... just E mail me.
Happy building
Nigel Graham
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