I understand that the Europa is very prone to abruptly dropping a wing, trying
to enter a spin, when stalled with full flaps in the landing configuration. On
the other hand, in the clean, unflapped configuration the stall is very benign.
I wonder if this is true of all Europa's or only some depending on the
particulars
of that builders end product and possible modifications. I have nearly
1000 hrs in a Citabria with very much of it flying into short "backcountry"
dirt strips requiring significant STOL characteristics. I don't have flaps
so regularly use severe straight and banked slips. The Citabria is a "dirty"
plane compared to the "very clean" Europa so I believe the use of severe slips
in the Europa is never warranted. My experience with very clean planes, I also
have 1000 hours in my high performance glider and since the air brakes work
so well, severe slipping is not needed...though some less than ultra clean
gliders,
ie, trainers, can make use of severe slipping. It seems likely that Cliff
Shaw's accident was a result of this abrupt spin stall characteristic in landing
configuration. I have a rule (though not unique), "never skid a turn",
keeping a nice margin above stall. It seems that the Europa (and probably all
super clean planes, for instance the Cirrus), have a propensity to severe stall
spin in landing configuration. I understand that many Europa pilots land
with an airspeed up to 65 but this uses a greater landing distance considering
the stall speed is in the 40's. Europa's original touted mission was short
field,
pasture strips. For those who often use this short field capability, I
would like to know the particulars to make the Europa perform safely in this
manner.
Not having piloted a Europa, but am close to finishing my build, I am
curious to these questions.
Bill McClellan
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