--FtJ0TP03rdPSKXbDaG7shOoyd0TjUm4l
Enclosed are three images of the First Flight last Saturday with my Europa
N81EU. I have converted her to Trigear after I had three ground-loops and during
Taxi testing I found her to be of a completely different character. It is a
natural
function of airspeed when your feet come off the brakes and further steering is
done by the rudder which becomes effective at around 20 kn IAS.
Flying was just beautiful - great handling.
I tested the autopilot and found it a great help if one has to take off both
hands
in bumpy conditions (like me who finally put on that seatbelt at 3500 ft
agl...).
Landing is really easy and I recommend those 6 weeks of labor to anyone who
has a problem with the monowheel. It is just an airplane with less complexity
and
a better every-day usablity.
Through the Conversion she gained 37 lb in weight and lost 5 kn speed. I hope
the
factory speed kit helps a little, but I can also say that ease of handling
counts
much more eventually than airspeed.
One more point.... during the third flight I evaluated full stalls with full
flaps
when
she caught me off-guard with a sudden entry into a two-turn spin over the left
wing.
Exit was easy and natural - but what impressed me is the speed of rotation and
the
steep angle the plane takes. The stall strips will probably not remedy the
problem,
but make the notification by the airframe even clearer. All I want to say is, be
prepared
for spins before you do stall evaluation. The spin occures at very low speed (40
kn
IAS with flaps down) and with ample notification before that. I got out by
adding
power
and pulling the stick after she had gained flying speed. Probably not the
accepted
method of spin exit....
Please check this url for images and info on the plane.
Sincerely,
<Thomas happy Scherer>
http://www.freeyellow.com/members8/europa81
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