Tony, I think you've got a few things wrong, old chap.
I had to have a 40 hour flight test period and I can't see why anybody
should get away with any less.
>From whom did you get permission to land on the beach? ?Te Rauparaha? You
probably need a quota to collect those muscles.
But the main point is, all this business about ground loops and breaking
propeller blades can at least be ameliorated in three ways. One is to say to
yourself three times on your take off and three times on your short final
"STICK BACK. STICK BACK. STICK BACK" and as soon as you are on the ground,
do it. Do not answer to the reflex to check forward when you bounce.
Another is, fit a Robson mod to your Singleton tail wheel/rudder mod with
your tail wheel cables attached 100mm out from the centre line. This results
in the wheel being deflected to the same angle (30 degrees) as the rudder
instead of a greater angle which is the cause of the twitchiness and
steering difficulty at fast and moderate taxiing speeds. It also takes a
longer pedal movement to achieve the same tail wheel movement and is
therefore more controllable.
Another aid is to have a little bit of sticky tape at the base of your
windscreen which is lined up with a small aerial type of thing half way down
your cowling arranged so that the (imaginary) line from one to the other is
exactly parallel to the axis of the fuselage. You use these markers and a
tree dead ahead on the horizon to line the plane up perfectly as you set
down. Until I put this gadget on I would not have believed I could be so far
out when thinking that the plane was straight for landing. If you always
sit with the same posture you can also use this set up to make sure you are
getting the tail wheel down first. I always sit in the same posture. The
breadth of my butt does not allow anything else!
Regards, Peter.
---From Peter Robson Robsonpr@clear.net.nz.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tony Krzyzewski" <tonyk@kaon.co.nz>
Sent: Friday, May 12, 2006 10:22 AM
Subject: RE: Europa-List: ...and another thing
>
>
> I've had the pleasure of flying both mono and trike versions of the
> Europa and have just been asked to do the 25 hour test flight programme
> on a Europa trike that's about to arrive in NZ which I will happily do.
>
> If you have nice fat tarmac runways that you always operate off then the
> trike is great - but in places where grass is the dominant surface and
> some of those surfaces are unprepared (and at times quite narrow) then
> I'd take a monowheel into those locations anytime whereas I'd think
> twice about using the trike off those strips.
>
> One of Ivan's design considerations was that the aircraft should be able
> to operate of an unprepared farm field hence the monowheel
> configuration. Many pilot's, myself included, love the monowheel
> configuration and no, I don't end each landing feeling that I've just
> survived an horrific experience. The mono has actually taught me how to
> correctly land an aircraft and I wouldn't have missed acquiring that
> skill for anything.
>
> The mono is great for taking to the beach as it handle firm sand
> beautifully. It's hard to beat landing a monowheel Europa on a deserted
> black sand beach, cooking up a batch of big NZ greenlip mussels
> collected off the rocks and then flying home after a most satisfying
> day.
>
> Believe me, the trike at times, with its finger brakes, can be just as
> 'entertaining' to handle as the monowheel. Like all aircraft it takes
> practice, experience and good airmanship to handle an aircraft well, be
> it a monowheel or a trike
>
> The mono v strike debate will go on for as long as there is a Europa
> flying. Some people will never feel comfortable flying the monowheel and
> for those people they have the opportunity to fly the trike. For those
> of us who have got to know the monowheel you just have to accept that we
> love using our aircraft in locations which are ideally suited to the
> design and have a propensity for walking around with stupid grins on our
> faces after flying one.
>
> Regards
>
> Tony
>
>
>
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