I recently received a communication from a Europa Club member,
indicating that he would not be renewing membership at the end of
March. He has given me permission to share his reasons with you, in
the hope that it might save someone else some grief. Here follows a
partial quote from his message about G-BWGH:
>Golf Hotel was the Europa that tried to land on Sark, and has now
>been written off by our insurers.
>The cause was a stripped thread on the single bolt holding on a
>rocker box cover. It took 60 hours + to work loose after replacement
>of the rocker shaft bushes, and then let go all the oil within 5
>minutes of take off from Jersey. No prior warning dribbles, just a
>catastrophic engine failure with 30 seconds notice of overheating.
>I have to question whether a single steel bolt into an alloy head
>securing a critical component is good aeronautic engineering
>practice, but at least none of our group was responsible for
>ignoring the torque settings.
>Incidentally do you think all Europa operators have laid out the 80
>on top of a 6000 engine to buy the workshop manual giving the
>torque settings? For anyone who has not - do so, it could save your
>aircraft.
>I was not the pilot, and nobody was even scratched, but I have taken
>umbrage at the sheer waste of time,effort and cash in turning GH
>into a really nice tourer, and I am retiring hurt from the air for
>the forseeable.
regards
Rowland
| Rowland Carson Europa Club Membership Secretary
| Europa 435 G-ROWI PFA #16532 EAA #168386
|