Karl,
You say: "I think that almost all Europas are operating out of paved
airports." I guess you're in the US, then? The rest of the world does things
rather differently... hence many of your assumptions are, I'm afraid,
incorrect.
I am just one example of someone building a monowheel to operate with higher
performance out of a short, bumpy grass field. There are many like me!
Regards,
Jeremy
From: owner-europa-list-server@matronics.com
[mailto:owner-europa-list-server@matronics.com] On Behalf Of Karl Heindl
Sent: 25 September 2008 13:15
Subject: RE: Europa-List: Monowheel designs... any others out there?
Graham,
I think what Garry meant was that no aircraft designer in the fields of GA
and commercial aviation would dream of recommending a monowheel setup like
the Europa for a factory built aircraft.
You are throwing in all these other types for comparison. None compare. The
military planes were for highly specialized tasks, flown by very
professional pilots off very large large military fields. They are all jet
powered, hence no danger of a prop strike. The Harrier has other means of
very precise directional control near the ground.They were all designed many
decades ago
Gliders and motorgliders all have very benign ground handling
characteristics, and are stearable with the rudder down to very low speeds.
On takeoff the towplane or winch provide additional directional control. I
believe that the Europa monowheel is only really safe in the hands of a high
time glider pilot.
And safety is really the bottom line in this argument. let the statistics
speak for themselves.
The performance claims for the monowheel are also just so much gobbledigook.
There are some trigears that outperform most monowheels.
The original concept of being able to land on any farm field etc. is also
out of dreamland. Why do monowheel pilots shy away from short grass fields ?
Because a full flap and high aoa takeoff is the last thing you want for a
short field takeoff from a bumpy grass field.
I think that almost all Europas are operating out of paved airports.
Lastly, there are very few alternatives to the trigear. I can only think of
the Remos, with folding wings and a clamshell trailer. But that is in a
different price range.
Karl
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> Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2008 00:52:36 +0100
> From: grahamsingleton@btinternet.com
> To: europa-list@matronics.com
> Subject: Re: Europa-List: Monowheel designs... any others out there?
>
<grahamsingleton@btinternet.com>
>
> Garry wrote:
> > Examples of monowheel designs have been proposed as follows:
> >
> > Schleiker K14............is a motor glider
> > Glassflugel...............is a glider
> > Schempp Hirth............is a glider
> > DG Flugzeughbau...........is a glider
> > SZD...........is a glider
> > U2..........I was unable to determine if it was a monowheel or not
> > ASW.........I was unable to determine what it was
> >
> > The only real airplane I've found is the Fournier RF 3,4,5, etc.
> >
> > Garry
> U2 is definitely a monowheel/taildragger
> Harrier is a monowheel nose dragger
> btw most gliders are very real airplanes, many of them will cruise cross
> country faster than a C152 as long as the sun shines
> far too many "real??" airplanes have too much built in headwind.
> btw 2. the mind is like a parachute, if it ain't open
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