>> It seems from these letters and conversations that the monowheel is a
bit of a handful on the ground.
Who said that it's a handful?
I have now had the pleasure of taking five potential Europa builders for
their first monowheel experience. Without exception each of them
commented that they had been told that the monowheel was difficult to
handle on the ground and each of them subsequently commented that it
wasn't.
Making the transition to any taildragger from a trike requires practice.
It doesn't make any difference if it's a Piper Cub or a Europa
monowheel, you have to remember that handling a taildragger requires a
whole new set of skills to be learnt. It's not difficult, it's just
different.
One thing that taildragger pilot's are unanimous about is that learning
to handle a taildragger has made them a better pilot. There is less
margin for error when handling a taildragger on the ground so you end up
having to unlearn all of the sloppy techniques you get away with in a
trike.
I for one have made more greased landings in the Europa Monowheel than I
ever did flying PA38's, 172's and 177's. I find the monowheel an
absolute delight to handle when the wind gets up a bit and it's
certainly a lot easier to handle than a Piper Cub or taildragger Colt in
windy conditions. With the proper training and proper practice the
monowheel is everything that Ivan said it was (and more).
In the Europa fraternity we have the best of both worlds. The debate of
mono v trike will go on forever and neither side will dominate the
argument as each has valid points. The only thing that really counts is
the great big smile that features on so many Europa pilot's faces after
each flight.
Tony
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