Flew to York on Sunday from Braintree, Essex.
Sunday
En route journey time was 1 hr 25 min out, 1hr 17 min back. That's pretty good
considering the distance is about 164 statute miles. (average 124 mph).
Used about 42 litres of fuel. The Humber Bridge looks fantastic from
altitude, Scunthorpe not so, sorry Scunthorpers !
Had to fly high to avoid the uncomfortable thermals. They seemed to persist
right up to 3500 ft or more.
Flew over the Elvingdon seminar but the little planes scared me off, and I
guess the Europa crowd were probably wrapped up & heading home anyway !
Monday
Flew to Muckleburgh, a small grass strip on the Norfolk coast near Sheringham.
A fairly brisk 45 degree crosswind (gusting 22 knots) from the port made the
landing surprisingly eventful. The fact that the runway slopes downward to the
sea made the >500 yd runway seem ever so short. Had to go around first time.
Monotonous cockpit noise can be irritating over an hour or so. I've added a
portable CD player to the (stereo) intercom. This seems to make it much more
bearable, though not all my passengers approve of my taste in music!!
Once out of turbulence I can engage my Navaid Autopilot (Wing leveler). This
effectively holds a track for some considerable time, allowing me to take
my hands feet away from the controls, relax and have 40 winks (joking !!)
All in all, quite a successful weekend. About 8 hours of mostly uneventful
flying.
What sort of trips have others been contemplating ? Who's been across the
channel and where have they gone to ?. Any recommendations/fields to avoid ?
General observations:
1/ My exhaust manifold mounting bolts keep undoing themselves. I think I need
to keep a close eye on all my engine nuts & bolts for signs of this.
2/ My EGT's are higher that they ought to be and there's an imbalance between
front and back. There IS thermotec lagging on the exhausts..
3/ I discovered to my cost that I shouldn't let the nose drop to much, just
after take off. (During the 'bounce' the prop hit the ground).
4/ Landing gets easier the more you practice, but it takes a while !!
5/ There is a bizarre directional instability on tarmac just a few seconds
AFTER landing. I'm sure other Europa flyers will be aware of this. You need to
concentrate hard on keeping straight. 'Heavy' input from the pilot may be
required. This doesn't seem to happen on grass.
6/ As has been mentioned before, 'backing off' the lower cowl (bottom two screws
on both sides) using penny washers seems to reduce engine temperatures quite
significantly. (but not EGTs)
alan
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