Guys,
I wouldn't worry to much about this.
The #1 fatal accident cause in the Cessna 150/152 is guess what - stall/spin
The #1 fatal accident cause in the Piper Tomahawk is guess what - stall/spin
Both of these airplanes are the tamest stalling things you can imagine. In
the Cessna in particular you have to work hard to even get it into a spin.
The Europa is a great design, and even Cliff's plane stalled ok - even if it
was no Cessna 150.
The stall strips were on it as of last week. Much as I would like to blame
the crash on the plane or setup, it was pilot error pure and simple - and it
was a big error. He never should have been that slow (he did that way too
often and we warned him a lot), and tried to turn in tight from a screwed up
base leg.
Many have asked me off list if AOA's or Stall warners would have helped and
I don't think they would.
I once had a friend land his swift gear up. The tower was yelling at him
over the radio to put his gear down - but he told me later he could't hear
them because the gear warning horn was too loud.
There is no substitute for good pilot skills and paying attention to flying
the plane first.
Bob Jacobsen
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