>The gross weight issue that
an airframe will weigh in the upper 700's to low 800's is only for the
original Europa. The XS is a heavy unit in comparison. That is not
noted anywhere. My aircraft grossed out at 910# The airframes coming
out of Flight Crafters run from high 800's to low 900's. So the increase
in gross weight by 70# over the original Europa will just cover the
increase in the final kit weight. <
I don't think that this is the case. There may be a very slight weight
increase for the XS but it is not that much. I have a Classic and a friend
of mine locally has an XS with similar specification and we have almost
identical empty weights (around 850lb). Most of the differences are in the
wings. There is no way that each wing on an XS weighs 35lb more than a
Classic. Weights have increased slightly over the years due to mandatory
mods. Generally I notice that many builders (in the USA in particular) want
to add lots of heavy extras. Unless you and your passenger weigh less than
350lb then any empty weight over 850lb is going to mean that the baggage
allowance is going to drop below 50lb which is rather limiting for a touring
aircraft like the Europa.
850lb (empty wt) + 350 (pilot & pax) + 120lb (approx full fuel) + 50lb
(baggage) = 1370lb (MTOW)
Nigel Charles
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