On my recent trip to Australia I had the opportunity to fly the French MCR
Sportster, a further development of the original Banby. My friend's aircraft
was a bit lighter than my Europa, due to a carbon fibre fuselage with metal
wings and T tail and less luggage capacity( 20 lb total). However, its climb
performance with a three-bladed MT propeller and two aboard was a solid 1500
ft/min. up to the 4000 ft ceiling. My friend claims a 150 knt cruise as
well, which I can not verify. The propeller is considerably heavier and much
more expensive than the Airmaster. The kit is also more expensive than the
latest Europa kit price and the wings have to be built in factory jigs; they
offer a builder assist program at the factory in France. The engine is a
Rotax 912 S, same as mine and John mentioned 22 kg as the weight of the
propeller assembly. I also met with a couple of Europa owners in the Perth
area. More about this in a future Europa Flyer.
Peter Timm
# 110, C-GIET
Pemberton, B.C.
Canada
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