Got lucky today.
I had the chance to fly with Ivan in "XS" to evaluate the new tailwheel,
described by JIm Naylor a couple or three days ago. Jim's right, it gets rid of
all the nervous foot tapping required to keep a Europa on the straight and
narrow in gusty crosswinds. My guess is that the cross wind limit of the Europa
now comfortably exceeds that of a Super Cub. It is beginning to approach that of
a Long EZ, (40 kts demonstrated by Dick Rutan, 30 kts by Luc Mella at Coventry
in our own Long EZ.
Ivan did two landings with a 100 degree and 80 degree crosswind gusting to 20
knots on Wombleton's narrow runway 28/10. I did all the take offs and landings
on 22 and had no problems at all. I have to say that the view over the nose with
the reduced deck angle is now excellent. XS has a slimmed cowling not unlike GK
Whip's which again helps visibility. Lifting Whip's wheel to the new level
confirmed that it will be possible to see the ground 20 feet in front of the
aircraft. Better than a Super Cub.
Landing could now be described as "wait for the tailwheel to touch, then do
nothing except keep straight." The new deck angle combined with the 23% greater
wheelbase seems to have greatly reduced both the frequency and the tendency to
bounce.
The mod looks relatively simple. Remove rudder, cut out the foam from the bottom
front corner and insert a reinforcing layup. Fit the new cable horn. Remove the
original tailwheel support casting, push rod etc. and extend the rudder cables
back as far as the rudder horns. Another reinforcement goes in behind the
sternpost to form the attachment for the spring/tailwheel assembly. That's about
it. No need to disturb the paint.
Would I recommend the mod. Yes, definitely if you haven't flown yet. Even though
all (well alright, nearly all) the early flyers have learnt the skill required
to cope with the quirky ground handling in crosswinds on hard runways, because
I
fly from grass and grass is so forgiving, I still find being precise on a narrow
hard runway requires more concentration than I can always guarantee, and for
that reason alone we will be doing the mod on GK Whip as soon as the bits are
available. My partner Dave Elliot has two damaged ankles and can't cope with the
rudder pedal dancing anyway. We think the new tailwheel will fix that problem
too.
Graham
Graham
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