----- Original Message -----
From: "Garry" <garrys@tampabay.rr.com>
Subject: Re: Europa-List: wheel landings [was: Flying a heavy Europa XS?]
|
| I remain completely baffled as to why so many Europa pilots have chosen
the
| mono over the trigear when given a choice. There is absolutely zero
| performance advantage to the mono, in rate of climb, in cruise speed, in
| fuel burn, or whatever. The difference is that the mono is inheritantly
| unstable in landing (and takeoff) configuration. Everyone (almost) else
in
| the aircraft business, both large and small, has abandon the taildragger
| design, and no one else is building mono wheel planes. For the life of me
I
| cannot understand why Ivan thought he could be successful when the rest of
| the world says it's an unstable design. The proof is in the results.
| Europa mono's are ground looping, wheelbarrowing, bending props, running
off
| the tarmac, and generally destroying themselves with regularity. Perhaps
| that is a smart marketing strategy........to design a product that
requires
| regular parts replacement and rebuilding, but as a pilot I'm not
impressed.
| I do acknowledge that there are a few among our ranks who get a certain
| thrill out of placing themselves in danger on every flight, and love the
| challenge of taming a wild and unpredictable beast. It makes for good
chest
| thumping and bragging rights at the local pub, but might I suggest that
you
| take up the (American) sport of bull riding. It's probably safer and more
| satisfying than trying to land a mono. I'm not trying to stir up the
ranks,
| but simply trying to understand the motivation of choosing an unstable
| design over a proper one. Both Europas are fabulous planes in the air,
but
| one operates on the ground in a proper fashion while the other acts like a
| drunk and wounded gooney bird. Let's hear some logical and unemotional
| arguments in favor of the mono. Trigear pilot
Garry,
I guess you knew what would happen. .......even got a reply out
of David Miller over here! I agree with all the replies. I suppose the
retracting gear and the wing design attracted me the most. Mind you, like
"did you remember to take out the garbage?", you're saved - 'did you
retract the gear?'
Yes, with a tick of power, and the stick at the back you could
sift into a tight strip at the same speed (maybe), but I have 17 inches of
lovely golf caddy rubber and you have a tiddly disc on a stalk to contend
with the uneven lumps that follow. I think I'll be saying, "where do I sign
in?" about the same time you're saying, ".... on the overshoot, may see you
next year.....".
I could be wrong - I was wrong once before.
Cheers, Ferg
|