Hi Carl,
In reply to your missive on Mod 37 -:
a) People are taking it seriously but with the amount of chat about it some of
us don't feel that repetition is necessarily more constructive. I admit that
this doesn't contribute to the discussion but it does avoid cluttering up the
air waves.
b) I agree that David's suggestion sounds like a good one, although with
reservation after reading Klaus's offering.
c) I rather disagree with Margaret Watson in that she suggests that something
that is marketed as a kit plane need not be of 'servicable quality' and that the
'punters' should pay for all the mods to make it so. British legislation states
that if something is sold to the public then it should be up to the job - or
some words to that effect - and if the Europa undercarriage ain't, then it's
Europa Aviation's responsibility to get it right and not necessarity ours. I
wonder about the fact that we are onto mod No.37. Is it possible that the
product was marketed prematurely before all the problems were resolved?
Oh, also, I wish that the mods WERE free of charge. They seem to cost me a few
bob, so if anyone has any other arrangement with Chris Gunney, maybe they could
let me know.
d) Insurance point could be of concern, although I am in no way an expert on
home-built insurance. However, I am very keen that anything that could be a
future liability be done 'in house' to avoid the increasing problem of insurers
trying to get out of their obligations (should I apologise to any insurers out
there?)
e) What is wrong with approaching Francis Donaldson direct? He must be aware of
the situation and with a sound Engineering Mind would not have OK'd Europa
Aviation's solution without having 'mused' over alternatives. I suspect that
Drop Testing would not be a problem as this has already been done and shown to
be more than satisfactory (we are told).
Unfortunately, I suspect that on landing an aircraft there are more complicated
forces involved than those subjected on the frame by just drop testing (at least
if it is me flying it!? :-{ ).
I agree with you that cost is not of a great concern as we have all paid out a
lot of money already. At this stage I am more concerned with getting the right
job done correctly, safely and with the agreement of the PFA and any insurance
company to ensure that we all end up with a 'plane that works well and should
there be any problem (hopefully not) there won't be a difficulty with insurance.
Regards,
Peter
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