Hi Bruce,The Europa that Andy is working on is mine.He is at present
completing the instalation of a Grand Rapids EIS system .Within the next
week or so, Florida storms permitting,we will be doing some test runs on the
Jabiru.The plane will then be shipped to Bob Berube at Flightcrafters to do
the actual test flying.To meet the vagarities and vulgarities of Transport
Canada,I am required to have 100hrs befor an imprt license will be
issued.The results during this 100hr period and from Andy,I am prepared to
publish on this forum however I can as of now comment that the co-operation
and interaction between myself and both parties has been excellent.I might
also add that my Europa is using a fixed pitch Prince airscrew that is an
interesting combination.Andy has some excellnt web photos that you may be
interested in viewing if you contact him and you have my permission to
request them.I am open to any comments and suggestions that may be offered.
Frank S Wood.Pincher Creek Alberta fswood@shaw.ca
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bruce" <bruce@justbruce.com>
Subject: Europa-List: Jabiru Engine Questions (round 2 of 2)
>
> Jabiru Questions (round 2 of 2)
>
>
> Andy (of Suncoast Jabiru)
> -----Thank you for your response to my previous questions.
>
> Europa-list members
> ----- 1. Thank you for your postings to the europa-list in
> response to my Jabiru 3300 questions. I appreciate the
> shared dialogue and hearing of your experiences and
> opinions.
> ----- 2. Thank you also for the more than twenty private
> e-mails that were sent to me and not to this list. Some of
> those e-mails informed me of their own Jabiru 3300
> installations, or of Europa/Jabiru installations that they
> were aware of. Other e-mails thanked me for bringing up the
> topic of alternative powerplants. A few e-mails suggested
> additional questions for Andy and Jabiru and I have tried to
> include their questions below. Three of these private
> e-mails were extremely critical of me posting my first set
> of Jabiru questions and suggested that powerplant
> discussions should be held on another forum. The writers of
> those three personal e-mails are in addition to those
> list-members who have publicly posted on the europa-list
> their dislike for a vendor supplying information to the
> list. I believe information that helps us make the most
> important decision we face in the construction of our
> Europas is worthy of inclusion in this list regardless of
> the source so long as it is based on real-life experiences
> that can be confirmed. If Andy starts to annoy us with
> special offers or other blatant messages of a commercial
> nature, then we can ask him to be quiet and return to his
> lurking mode.
>
> My Jabiru 3300 questions for today:
>
> 1. Reliability: By popular demand, we would like to hear
> your comments about reliability. What statistics have
> Jabiru gathered? I'm sure others on the list will respond
> with their own experiences and observations. This issue is
> of utmost concern for all of us evaluating powerplants, and
> perhaps the most difficult thing for you to prove to us.
>
> 2. Cowling / appearance: I've searched various Jabiru
> factory and dealer websites and have been unable to locate
> any Europa cowling photos other than Bob Harrison's one-off
> (?) solution. I understand from your recent e-mail comments
> that there are two commercially available cowlings -- the
> one from the Jabiru factory and another one that you
> (Suncoast Jabiru) have produced.
>
> 3. Installation: Do you have any photos of a recent
> vintage Jab 3300, installed in a Europa XS. (The only
> images that are easy to find are Bob Harrison's Classic
> Europa utilizing a custom cowling (?) and a custom (?)
> engine mount? I'd appreciate seeing a series of photos
> taken at different stages of the installation showing
> pre-install preparation (fuel line and power feeds etc.),
> engine mount only installed, then photos with engine
> mounted, then with air baffles mounted and modified as
> necessary, then with bottom cowl, and finally with the top
> cowl all closed up and ready to go.
>
> 4. Serviceability and access: I recall Bob Harrison
> commenting somewhere that it was challenging to access the
> carburetor and perhaps other components in his Europa
> Classic. I think he also speculated that access in a Europa
> XS would be even tighter due to the XS's extended foot
> wells. (Sorry Bob H. if you are not the one who posted this
> observation). I would appreciate hearing comments from Andy
> or Jabiru users regarding this concern. I also would like
> to see photos that illustrate this issue if it really is a
> problem and what you do as a "work-around".
>
> 5. Electrical generating capability: From the archives of
> the Europa List and the Jabiru List, I have found that many
> builders believe that perhaps neither Jabiru nor Rotaxes
> have alternators sufficient to power all the strobes, nav
> lights, wig-wag recognition lights, avionics, and other toys
> that we would like to run. Obviously most Europa's are
> flown with the standard Rotax or Jabiru alternators, but is
> it feasible to stack a pair of the Jab alternators on the
> rear of the 3300 like I believe they do on the Jab 5100 and
> does the Europa installation leave you enough room to do so?
> Would there be adequate room to mount one of B&C's vacuum
> pump alternators on the Jabiru vacuum pad, (and does it
> work). Are there belt-driven alternators that can be
> sourced and do they fit under the cowl?
>
> 6. Prop flange design and prop weight: A Europa-List
> member has provided very extensive documentation of the
> challenges he faced and the modifications he had to make in
> order to utilize his chosen constant speed prop with an
> early Jabiru 3300. What is Jabiru's current position on
> this matter and have modifications, changes to
> specifications or other provisions been made in recent years
> that address this issue.
>
> 7. Lastly, inquiring minds are anxious for the
> fuel-consumption update that you mentioned in an earlier
> post. We need adequate and realistic fuel performance
> details. Fuel usage in a Europa is a huge issue due to the
> small tank size. Fuel capacity is only 18 U.S. gallons but
> early Europa marketing materials diffused this issue by
> discussing Kim Prout's 2.1 GPH economy-cruise experiences in
> his 80 HP 912, and Dennis Vorheee's 200 MPH experiences with
> his 914. A review of some of a list-member's postings
> indicate Jabiru powered Europas will, based on his
> experiences, only have a couple of hours of flight time. I
> have saved emails from him reporting 7.08 (converted to U.S.
> gallons) GPH at 125K and 6.12G GPH at economy cruise (110K).
> (I believe his e-mails stated consumption in Imperial
> gallons which I hope I have accurately converted to U.S.
> gallons.) At his higher consumption rate, that works out to
> only 2 hours and 34 minutes from which you have to subtract
> a 30 to 45 minute reserve.
>
>
> Thanks again for everyone's comments,
>
> Bruce L
> XS 142
> Tracy, California
>
>
>
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