Greetings all,
Just wanted to let everyone know that N245E broke the surly bonds of earth
the flight was uneventful. I spent the better part of the flight circling
the field trying to get the piston rings to seat, although I did take a jaunt
up the valley 10 miles or so once I felt comfortable with the engine. I would
have flown longer, but I found it quite uncomfortable with my seat cushion
removed and using my parachute for padding.
It fly's straight and level hands off and the handling is crisp and
predictable. Minor adjustments in the rudder cables are needed, but other than
that
it is a ball to fly! The Jabiru 3300 performed flawlessly and the airplane
jumped off the ground in about 400' on the turf runway. I didn't really record
any performance numbers, but I will in the next few flights and I'll post them
here. I did run it up to 137 knots once, though, and there was plenty of
throttle left. Ground observers said it was very, very quiet.
Many thanks to all here in the Europa family and special thanks to Andy
Silvester for all his assistance and the fine FWF package he's put together. I
also want to thank Neville for his guidance along the way and Andy Draper and
the Europa factory for their assistance as well. Lastly, I want to thank my
wife Susan for her consistent encouragement and support, not to mention her
patience, over the 3.5 year build. She's chomping at the bit for me to get my
40
hours flown off so she can fly it.
The Europa Permagrin has begun.....
Regards,
John Lawton
Dunlap, TN
N245E - FLYING!
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