I wrote
>>
>> My advice has to be, find yourself a longer strip!
and what I said provoked a variety of questions which it seems worthwhile
attempting to answer on a "reply to all" :-
1. My aeroplane was what the insurers called a "Constructive Write off" and
they paid out the full insured value less the excess. Could not have been
fairer than that. I was allowed to bid for the remains and my bid succeeded.
I sold the airframe remains to someone who wants to rebuild it (not for
much!): the engine to the same person (not for much!) and I have kept the
panel in the hope that some of the contents will go in working order into
the next version. I am in the early stages of ordering an XS TriGear and I
reckon the build time will be about 12 months. TriGear because the family
would not contemplate a ride in a Mono having picked up the original pieces!
Sad - but necessary for these rather personal reasons.
2. No. I do not recommend this as a good way of getting an XS version! It
was a seriously unpleasant episode and I still wonder if it is really me in
the flesh standing beside my wife at the sink!
3. Protection? Safety wise it proved to me that the Europa cockpit does
everything that it should by way of protection. At some stage the aeroplane
turned upside down - but it ended up the correct way. The harness held me
firmly in place leaving me only with bruised ribs and shins. I do not know
what it would have been like to come to rest inverted.
4. Why did the wing drop? I had not tried stalling the Europa under almost
maximum power during training. It is not easy to do this in a gradual climb
unless you are taking off! But I think it is predictable that the wing will
drop violently in the opposite direction to the prop revolution. Certainly
that is what happened in my accident. It stalled because it had insufficient
flying speed at that crucial stage of getting to the end of a short strip!
5. How long a strip? That is the question!! I can only say the longer the
better. ie The longer you have, the less likely you are to have an accident
like mine, when there was no room to stop and nowhere to go. In round
figures I would be happy with 550m in an ideal world of green farm fields.
There aren't many round here!
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