>I've always wondered why everyone says you can't wheel land a Europa... why???
Chris - some have tried, and many have failed!
Consider the situation: you are rolling along on that one wheel just
after touchdown and slowing down, to the speed where the rudder
becomes ineffective. At this point, you are now in contact with the
ground through one point only, and have lost directional control; you
are no longer the pilot but have become a passenger on the way to a
groundloop or worse.
A similar possibility arises at takeoff. As the elevator is more
powerful than the rudder, you can lift the tail and find yourself
balancing on the head of a pin without directional control; however,
as you should be accelerating smartly here, the rudder may start to
bite before disaster overtakes you.
I must say that I speak as an observer at this stage - I have never
landed a Europa myself yet, but I have seen the sort of mess other
folk have made because they neglected to keep the tailwheel in good
contact with the ground. The old tailwheel habit of getting the tail
up, or of doing wheeler landings, will not serve you well in a
monowheel Europa.
regards
Rowland
--
| Rowland Carson PFA #16532 <http://home.clara.net/rowil/aviation/>
| 750 hours building Europa #435 G-ROWI e-mail <rowil@clara.net>
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