Peter, Having built my Europa Classic mono 25 years ago and converted it to
trigear
about 8 years ago, I couldn't agree more with Steve. Rigging and de-rigging
not only take much of the fun out of the activity, but also bring attendant
risks.
On one occasion in the early days, a fellow group ownership member and I somehow
managed to rig one wing with the flap drive pin misaligned with the socket in
the cross tube and took off together with considerable flap assymetry.
Fortunately
the landing, which was deliberately performed at higher speed to maintain
roll control authority, didn't result in wingtip damage, even though the
outrigger
folded up.
On another occasion a different group member took off with the pitot tube
disconnected,
however he used the GPS as a substitute ASI while facing into wind to
ensure that he didn't stall on the approach to landing.
On yet another occasion a group member was rigging a wing with hands not
completely
dry, so the wing slipped from his grip and the wingtip was damaged.
There has been at least one fatal accident, which I believe was caused by
frequent
rigging, to the extent that a bush inside a tailplane disbonded resulting
in the tailplane migrating off its drive pegs in flight, causing the aircraft
to pitch violently which broke an essential component in a wing root, all seen
by an eye witness. Other Europa people have a different take on this tragedy,
but I'm very sure that frequent rigging was the cause.
Please keep your Europa rigged in a hangar and perhaps find someone to share the
hangarage costs. Perhaps consider a full set of covers, which aren't the very
best solution, but better than constant rigging/de-rigging.
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http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=503288#503288
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