The Katanas I rented had a terrific gust-lock, which could not be missed
(it had to be removed prior to being able to sit in the plane), was
portable, reasonably light, and locked all controls. Obviously this does
not get around the control play/loading as Ferg has pointed out, but it
worked quite well, and could be adapted, copied for the Europa.
I have a jpeg sketch I can forward to anyone interested....
Cheers,
Pete A239
-----Original Message-----
From: John & Paddy Wigney [mailto:johnwigney@worldnet.att.net]
Subject: Europa-List: Control locks
<johnwigney@worldnet.att.net>
<<< The seat belt can be adjusted to hold the stick fully aft and
central. This is what I do
when I tie the aircraft down for a nightstop. Mono or tailwheel Europas
don't have any problem
with the rudder as they are interconnected with the tailwheel preventing
the rudder from blowing
around in the wind. Nigel Charles >>>
Hi Nigel,
I have just got back from a trip to Sun N Fun at Lakeland, Florida and
agree with your comments regarding holding the stick with the passenger
seat belt. That part works fine. However, the rudder is another thing.
On the way down from North Carolina last week, the wind was very gusty
and turbulent and at one brief stop at Gainesville, Florida, I was
surprised to be paged in the FBO office to look after my plane because
it was blowing around !
The plane was chocked on the mainwheel and the control stick secured but
I found that since the rudder was not locked, the gusts were strong
enough to swing the plane quite a lot as the tailwheel will swing when
encouraged through almost 90 degrees; so I pulled the plane to an
adjacent tie down and secured the tail so that I could finish my morning
coffee. This was on concrete and may be less apparent on grass since the
wheel will dig in more. I do not have the solution for the problem yet
and it is on my list of 'to do' items. Any suggestions from fellow
Europaphiles would be appreciated.
Cheers, John
N262WF, mono XS, 912S
Mooresville, North Carolina
==
==
==
==
|