High guys,
(I'm still on one) Yesterday John Brownlow flew the Wilksch diesel powered
Europa properly for the first time. I was late arriving at the airfield, I
got lost and wasted half an hour driving around the Buckinghamshire
countryside. Muttering. I finally called Mark on his mobile to ask where
they were on the airfield and was the airplane flying. "Look Up" was the
reply, and there it was. Bill Wynne's long awaiting Europa a thousand feet
above my head with it's engine making a lovely smooth growl, slightly
louder than a Rotax but I could still hear the airframe wind noise.
After shutting down John quietly gave us the results of this early test
flight. Good acceleration, short take off run. Rater of climb at least as
good as any 912 Europa with a VP prop. Pressures and temperatures were all
controllable. The oil temperature got a little high on climb out around 100
deg. C at 800 feet but reducing power a little halted the rise.
Cruise at 2,100 rpm, 1600 ft. stabilized at 125 kts. which I thought was
pretty good at the weight on the day. John was pleased with this first
indication of good things to come. Mark, Martin and Phillip, who've worked
so hard for this, were there, as was Dan, their new colleague. They were
all delighted with the behaviour of their engine on these first three
flights. I was just glad to be there, pleased I'd been invited and
delighted that it all went so well.
The Wilksch team is small, dedicated and has a well matched and powerful
blend of skills that should ensure success in this venture. They also all
have two ears and one mouth, and use them in that proportion. So often one
meets brilliant innovators who are oblivious to any wisdom from elsewhere,
the old Not Invented Here syndrome. Not these guys. It won't be easy but I
can't recollect meeting a group of people who work together as well as
these four . A privilege to know them.
Graham
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