Having taken three years to complete G-OURO, I must be radio rental to
voluntarily ground it for what might be several months, but that is what
I've done. Without even really flying it. Let me explain. G-OURO flew to
Cranfield this year, and was finally given its Permit in early September,
after 15 hours of test flying. Earlier this year, as newly-built Europas
came on-stream, stories became legion of the "difficulties" a number of
pilots were having with both landings and take-offs, and several mods were
introduced to make our dream easier to cope with arriving and departing
terra firma. I started to worry that my limited (that is, 45 minutes in a
Falke motorised glider) experience in tailwheel aircraft might not exactly
qualify me for the rigours of the Europa mono-wheel experience :-
ace-of-the-base I am not ... I love my creation dearly, but I had reached
the stage when all I wanted to do was to look at it, modify it, and, er...
well, modify it again. Actually flying G-OURO was for another day.
Clearly, this sorry state of affairs could not go on, and pearls of wisdom
---From John Grant, the only other Europa builder in Norfolk (?)and a committed
triker got me thinking that it might be possible to convert my perfectly
flyable Europa into a tricycle undercarriage "pussycat" (factory-speak),
whereby all my wimpish doubts would disappear. And would you believe it,
they have, as the factory confirmed it would be "no problem..."
The mono-wheel system has now been completely removed, I don't have to do
Modification 37 (tee hee) and I eagerly await the tri-gear kit, due shortly.
The way I see it, there are other benefits, in addition to the rather major
ones of taking off and landing, much-improved visibility on the ground being
one of them. Another is being able to fill the tank full of fuel, as the
aircraft sits "on the level" of course - if you are a single-handed operator
as I am, a useful advantage indeed.
And have you seen the mono wheel-well after operations on a wet muddy
runway? I'll be able to virtually close it off and sanitize it nicely, as
well as making it much smaller and thus more comfortable for the
occupants - a sort of LA mod in spades - as well as create more baggage space.
As an electrically-operated flap system is fitted in place of the current
all-or-nothing mechanical flaps, the pilot will have full control over both
landing and take off flap settings - surely an advantage - and will probably
have up to 40 degrees of flap range too.
Of course, there are cons as well as pros - increased empty weight (possibly
between 30 & 40 lbs), a reduction in performance (say 8 to 10 knots off the
cruise, though decent fairings could reduce this figure to around 5 to 7
knots probably)and the Europa's rough field performance will be compromised,
also trailering might not be quite so simple. But if, like me, you intend
to operate from either tarmac or decent grass airfields, field performance
should be fine - I also will keep my Europa fully-rigged in a small hangar,
so no problem here either for the single-handed operator.
However, I do have the considerable benefit of more grunt up front, namely
the NSI EA-81 100 hp engine from Aero Developments - clearly a big help in
mitigating any loss in climb/cruise performance and in operating from grass
fields. By the way, normal level cruise (not a shallow dive ...)has been
working out at around 130 knots, for realistic rpm and fuel consumption, so
a loss of 5 to 7 knots won't hurt too much.
This posting is simply for information - I will report on progress from time
to time.
David Dufton, Born-Again Triker ...
G-OURO
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