We remain limited to 1370 lbs mauw in the UK and with the Airmaster AP332 plus
the airframe strengthening mod, I find that my lowly 80 hp Rotax manages very
well. Should 1450 lbs ever get approved, then one of the conditions imposed to
use the extra 80 lbs would almost certainly be to instal a 100 hp engine.
Having said all this, it still intrigues me that in the UK there are Europas
weighing
in empty at well over 900 lbs. For discussion's sake I'll take 920 lbs
as an example. That leaves 450 lbs to play with. After near-filling the tank
with
100 lbs of fuel, it is easy to see that only 350 lbs remain to accommodate
two 175 lb occupants. Hmmm !
I've made an agreement with my group members that we leave the tank with 50
litres
(80 lbs) for the next man, who can fill it further if he's not going to be
flying heavy. 50 litres gives 2 hours of very safe flying with about 45 to 60
minutes reserve.
This plan should work well for us with 861 lbs empty weight, but in the example
of a 920 lb airframe also limited to 50 litres, there would only be 370 lbs
remaining.
Sorry to bore you with my simple arithmetic, but more than 4 decades
of earning my living as a pilot have shaped my thinking into non-adventurous
mode, as far as aircraft loading is concerned.
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