Hallo everybody!
I am new to the list and a preparatory stage builder (a dreaming stage
flyer).
I had not looked at private flying for 20 years. Once, after a 1979
Florida vacation of flying lessons I had decided that flying was too
expensive - one flies either professionally or not. So I had given up on
flying - a page turned...
To my delight I recently discovered that a whole kitplane industry has
grown in the interim and that owning and using an aircraft may now be a
reasonable proposition (not all beloveds saw this right away, but my
wife will support, or tolerate - boys and toys).
I have since collected a lot of bookmarks and a small stack of books. I
decided early on that the Europa looked exactly right and I signed up
for the Europa Club. Very good. A lot of information still to be
gathered and processed, but a very nice start.
Reiterating my kit selection process (why the Europa - sorry to bore):
Aircraft requirements:
1. Engine power range 80 - 120 hp
2. Fuel unleaded or diesel
3. Seats 2 side by side
4. T/O & Lnd. Distances at most 800 ft
5. Maxload = MTOW - Empty wt. at least 500 lbs
6. Vcr at least 140 mph
7. Wings and tail fold/de-rig to at most 80" (about 2.0 m) wide
A pretty thorough search (Internet and EAA AeroCrafter list of 700)
shows that the Europa is the only contender. Allowing leeway in
requirements 5, 6 and 7 the following aircraft come closest (random
order):
<www.capellakitplanes.com> : Capella XLS
<www.skystar.com> : Kitfox Voyager/Outback
<www.zenair.com> : Super Zodiac CH601 HDS/XL
: Gemini CH602
<members.aol.com/dynaero> : MCR01 (Ban-bi)
<www.arvcorp.com> : ARV Griffin Mk III
<www.fly-kr.com> : KR-2/KR-2S
<www.storm-sg.it> : Storm 300 Special
: Sea Storm Amphibian
<www.pulsaraircraft.com> : Super Pulsair 100
<exp-aircraft.com/aircraft/pipistrel> : Pipistrel Sinus 912
Short falls (and good points):
Capella XLS speed 120 mph, hor. tail width? (640 lbs)
Kitfox Voyager/Outback speed 130 mph, hor. tail width? (800 lbs)
Super Zodiac CH601 (2) de-rigs to 90" (2.3 m) ()
Gemini CH602 no de-rig (2 eng.,650
lbs)
MCR01 (Ban-bi) no de-rig, maxload 490 lbs (180 mph)
ARV Griffin Mk III speed 121 mph, hor. tail width? (660 lbs)
KR-2/KR-2S de-rigs too wide, maxload 460 lbs (180 mph)
Storm 300 Special no de-rig (165 mph)
Sea Storm Amphibian no de-rig (amph.,642 lbs)
Super Pulsair 100 no de-rig (190 mph)
Pipistrel Sinus 912 speed 129 mph, maxload 424 lbs (glider)
Secondhand numbers of course and not likely pessimistic.
Also, numbers do not tell how these aircraft fly. Reviews and reports
favour the Europa.
Last not least: building support for the Europa looks very good, price
ok (but UK adoption of the Euro would help).
So, the Europa it is.
Now I've been pondering weights, weight and balance being a central
issue with airplanes, and one on which the builder can have some
influence. And I want the diesel engine, the folding bikes and a good
helping of clean socks.
I made the following list for the non-contenders above, showing MTOW
(lbs), Empty wt. (lbs), Maxload (lbs) and ratio Maxload/Empty wt.
('weight efficiency') in descending order of the latter:
Capella XLS 1200 560 640 1.14 high A wing, T&F fuselage
MCR01 (Ban-bi) 990 440 490 1.11 low C wing, C fuselage
Super Zodiac CH601 HDS 1200 570 630 1.11 low A wing, A fuselage
Kitfox Voyager/Outback 1550 750 800 1.07 high A,W&F wing, T&F fus.
Super Zodiac CH601 XL 1300 660 640 0.97 low A wing, A fuselage
KR-2S 980 520 460 0.88 low C wing, C&W fuselage
KR-2 900 480 420 0.88 low C wing, C&W fuselage
Gemini CH602 1450 800 650 0.81 low A wing, A fuselage
ARV Griffin Mk III 1500 840 660 0.79 high A wing, A fuselage
Pipistrel Sinus 912 992 568 424 0.75 high C wing, C fuselage
Sea Storm Amphibian 1540 898 642 0.71 high A wing, C fuselage
Super Pulsair 100 1200 700 500 0.71 low C wing, C fuselage
Storm 300 Special 1255 748 507 0.68 low A wing, A fuselage
---- ---- ---- ----
average of 13 1235 656 574 0.88
Europa XS Mono-Wheel 1370 760 610 0.80
Europa XS Tri-Gear 1370 790 580 0.73
Apparently it is not exquisite management of 'weight efficiency' that
gives the Europa its desirable qualities. A layman's guess: it is not
the MTOW that is low but the Europa's weight that is somewhat high,
considering aircraft volume and design payload. Taking off the Rotax 912
(140 lbs) the weight is more than double that of the MCR01 (an extreme
example of exquisite weight management) - 620 vs. 300 lbs. A good two
thirds of that is probably the fuselage including u/c etc. but without
wings and hor. tail. The weight may have gone to (select): ease/quality
of build, simpler/less expensive materials mix, crash resistance, load
carrying reinforcement, extra stiffness/better safe than sorry, ...
The fitting of the much desired new standard engine (WAM 120,
<www.wilksch.com>) with VP prop will likely be a challenge. Maybe the
numbers indicate that there could be room for a 10% or 40 lbs or so
weight reduction of the fuselage. I would be all for it, even if it gets
reflected in the kit price.
Building is the addition of weight. For the classic Europa with Rotax
912 770 (760?) lbs of this is prescribed. The variation in actual
completion weights as reported by the Europa Club membership appears
quite large. Of 42 completions the lightest 10 range from 729.5 to 768
lbs, the heaviest 10 from 825 to 849 lbs, the median weight is a little
over 800 lbs (nr 43 omitted - atypically weighing 889 lbs, possibly with
kitchen sink). Fanatical weight watching certainly seems worthwhile. I
will have to find out where the most weight sensitive building areas
are, if any.
Does anyone know the publication (12 issues, 36$ US, 52$ overseas, POB
196, Morrisville PA 19067-0196, USA) "Make It Light"? The add in EAA
AeroCrafter says the subject is "...saving weight without
sacrificing...". I would prefer a book on the subject if there is one.
Weights and folding bikes. Below some sites from the folding bicycle
front.
<www.gfonline.org/bikeaccess/default.htm>
<www.a2bmagazine.demon.co.uk>
<www.bromptonbike.com>
<bikefriday.com>
<www.strida.com>
<www.alexmoulton.co.uk>
<world.std.com/~nexibike>
<www.whooper.demon.co.uk/foldsoc>
<www.whooper.demon.co.uk/moulton/notmbc.html>
<www.pashley.co.uk/[p]/pj5-bb.htm>
<www.r-m.de>
<www.bikindex.com/bi/index.asp>
<www.sandsmachine.com>
The lightest folding bicycle I found is the Micro, now from Pashley, UK,
at 9.5 kgs without rear carrier. Say 45 lbs for two of them. It received
a good review from a cycling enthousiast and it is also relatively
inexpensive - 275 (299) UK pounds with 1 (3) gears.
It is all academic - work at hand still is laying the groundwork for
preparing the garage for upgrading to a space that can be turned into a
workshop.
This has turned out longer than I thought.
I hope some of it is useful/elicits comments/leads to more on weight
saving methods.
Jan de Jong.
|