Ever since its creation the Europa club has played a major roll in bringing
the Europa fraternity together. Many builders, flyers, wannabe's and willbe'
s have developed strong friendships through the activities of the club. This
network of friends will undoubtedly grow stronger as more planes fly and the
membership grows, but although the social side of the club is strong not all
Europa flyers can, or even want to get involved with the social events. I
think we need to offer more benefits for being a club member.
I have been on several club fly-outs and fly-ins over the past 5 years and
also done my fair share of solo trips. One thing that is always at the back
of my mind when I leave my home field is how would I get the plane back if I
had a mechanical problem or minor accident while away. Well we all know the
Europa doesn't rely entirely on wings to get around, but trailering may not
always be the most convenient way to recover a poorly, or slightly dented
aeroplane, and not everyone has a trailer anyway. So I thought why not try
to put together a rescue service for club members who have encountered
problems while away from their home base. The thoughts so far, are for the
club to offer assistance, to get your plane back to base. It should be made
clear from the start that this would be get you home assistance, and is not
intended to be a spare parts service for aircraft that are tucked up in bed
at their home base off line due to unavailable parts, although the club is
also considering a spares service to run along side this scheme to help out
in these circumstances.
It would mean the club holding in stock an assortment of parts most likely
to be required in an emergency i.e. propellers, tyres, tubes, petrol pumps
etc. which could be despatched to the stricken member on an overnight parcel
service, or even maybe flown out to them by a volunteer. Parts sent out
would be supplied on the basis that they are returned in original condition,
replaced, or paid for depending on the type of part. Also help with the
recovery by road if necessary and even a bit of technical, moral, and
physical help. The benefits of help from fellow Europa builders familiar
with your plane cannot be understated. A list of inspectors available and
willing to travel, to sign off the repair if necessary could be drawn up and
made available to members. This service need not be restricted to the UK,
international parcel delivery services can be quick and efficient these days
and there is no reason why an international network of 'Rescue Bases' could
not be established with local co-ordinators, which would be a great comfort
to foreign tourists alike.
Like most things, its success would rely on a little help from a lot of
people, your committee devote a lot of time and effort for the benefit of us
all, but for this scheme to be successful it needs input from the members as
well. I have already received a very favourable reaction to the article I
wrote for the club magazine on this subject with several members
volunteering to help.
I know there are many none club members on this list, who are benefiting and
contributing to its success and I am sure they could benefit from being a
club member if services like these are introduced. Let me know what you
think, would it work, would you join the club if there was benefits like
these, what parts should we stock... any ideas. I would like to compile a
list of people willing to help downed Europa's and their pilots. Any help,
---From just providing a bit of local knowledge to the whereabouts of an
engineer or where an item can be purchased, right through to hitching up
your trailer and going to the rescue. How many times do you fly off to
another airfield just for the sake of flying, well how about offering to
deliver parts to a downed pilot, much more rewarding than that 20 cup of
tea! Got a spare bedroom at home? well there might be a Europa pilot stuck
at your local airfield one day, give him some help over night, and I bet you
will have a friend for life. Europa's are really spreading their wings now,
so volunteer's in countries other than the UK are especially valuable.
Will you stand up and be counted when someone needs help? You never know it
may be you one day!
Any thoughts, ideas and volunteers, please e-mail me, if we can make a
success of this, the club will have another valuable asset.
Jim Naylor
jnaylor@avnet.co.uk
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