Dear All,
May I come into this conversation at a late stage.
When I became a member of the Europa Club Committee and subsequently Vice
Chairman leading to Chairman, I tried to see if we could get an increase in
the MAUW upto 1450 lbs on the basis that there were Europas around the world
already flying at this figure.
Despite sending out a plea to the Matronics site I did not receive the
requested information to be able to put a case forward to the LAA for
consideration.
I appreciate that a change in the UK might be difficult as I understand that
the original 1370 lbs figure was extrapolated from the loading tests that
were originally done by the old Europa company and then taking into account
the multiplication factors used for 'plastic' aircraft etc. So to change the
MAUW may require further destructive testing for which the funds are
probably not available.
I repeat my request that any information on aircraft authorised throughout
the world at higher MAUW would be useful to start discussions with the LAA.
My own trigear is 861 lbs empty and I wish I was 175lbs, so it is always a
case of compromise when planning overseas trips.
Any information passed to me will be used with discretion. Thanks in
anticipation.
Steve Pitt
Chairman, Europa Club
G-SMDH trigear XS 912S with Airmaster
----- Original Message -----
From: "jonathanmilbank" <jdmilbank@yahoo.co.uk>
Sent: Wednesday, May 22, 2013 12:09 PM
Subject: Europa-List: Re: Monowheel to trigear conversion - figures
> <jdmilbank@yahoo.co.uk>
>
> We remain limited to 1370 lbs mauw in the UK and with the Airmaster AP332
> plus the airframe strengthening mod, I find that my lowly 80 hp Rotax
> manages very well. Should 1450 lbs ever get approved, then one of the
> conditions imposed to use the extra 80 lbs would almost certainly be to
> instal a 100 hp engine.
>
> Having said all this, it still intrigues me that in the UK there are
> Europas weighing in empty at well over 900 lbs. For discussion's sake I'll
> take 920 lbs as an example. That leaves 450 lbs to play with. After
> near-filling the tank with 100 lbs of fuel, it is easy to see that only
> 350 lbs remain to accommodate two 175 lb occupants. Hmmm !
>
> I've made an agreement with my group members that we leave the tank with
> 50 litres (80 lbs) for the next man, who can fill it further if he's not
> going to be flying heavy. 50 litres gives 2 hours of very safe flying with
> about 45 to 60 minutes reserve.
>
> This plan should work well for us with 861 lbs empty weight, but in the
> example of a 920 lb airframe also limited to 50 litres, there would only
> be 370 lbs remaining. Sorry to bore you with my simple arithmetic, but
> more than 4 decades of earning my living as a pilot have shaped my
> thinking into non-adventurous mode, as far as aircraft loading is
> concerned.
>
>
> Read this topic online here:
>
> http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=401106#401106
>
>
>
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