Svein,
Congratulations on what is the finest hour of your journy. Enjoy!
Jeff
N55XS - Baby Blue
Sidsel & Svein Johnsen wrote:
> All,
>
> Late this morning I took my Europa XS trigear on its first flight from
> Kjeller airfield outside Oslo (ENKJ, known to some of the readers of
> this forum from visits with their Europas).
>
> I followed the first flight program recommended in Europa Owner's
> Manual, but I must admit that I had a very strong urge to take it on a
> really long flight!
>
> Although I have flown the Europa at a demo flight in Lakeland, I still
> find it an amazing aircraft to fly. So nimble yet so stable. I was
> checked out on the Diamond Katana a couple of weeks ago - not even
> close to Europa when it comes to "fun to fly".
>
> Left wing is a bit heavy when letting go of the stick, and so am I but
> whether this is the reason will be checked out on subsequent flights
> with more equal loading. Clean stall at abt 51 kt, full flap stall at
> abt 42 kt (to be reconfirmed later in the test program). Left wing
> drop in both configurations but quite undramatic all told and very
> easy and quick to recover from the stall.
>
> Duration 20 minutes in the air, absolutely uneventful except some
> shimmy of the nosewheel on touchdown. I have evidenty loosened the
> shimmy damper nut too much to get easy steering, so this will have to
> be tightened up a bit.
> The engine sings like it enjoys what it is doing, and the temps etc.
> were all well within limits.
>
> The only problem occured when opening the canopy afterwards for the
> photographer. I wanted a "cool" picture of myself, but that
> well-known Europa flier grin just sat there!
>
> So the stats, Rowland:
>
> - Europa XS trigear
> - Kit no. A225
> - Rotax 912ULS
> - Airmaster A332 with Warp blades
> - Build time 4 years 9 months - 3300 hrs of which 300 filling and
> sanding (should have filled less and sanded more, see next item!)
> - Empty weight, with fairings and all the options plus some, steel
> nosewheel springs, heavy leather interior trim: 966 lbs
> (the good thing, though, is that CG is right where it should be at
> 60.2 in and that the Norwegian CAA has approved 1450 lbs MTOW)
>
> A profound "thank you" goes to all on this forum for help and support
> through the building period; to Andy (whose address I unfortunately do
> not have), Roger and John at Europa; to Neville (who is worth his
> weight in gold); and last but not least to my fellow builders here in
> Norway for invaluable contributions leading up to this most fantastic day!
> <>
> Best regards,
> Svein
> LN-SKJ
>
>
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>
>
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