Dear Europa Friends,
First let me say I am really enjoying my Monowheel. This last weekend I took my
wife on a trip to Miami (first x-country on the Europa for her) and it was a
total success. She really loved it and we had a great weekend.
With that said I have a question about something that has been bothering me for
a while. Although the airplane has been great, I am trying to gain confidence
on my engine. Let me explain: My engine is a 912ULS rebuild by an iRMT Repair
Center. Not quite an overhaul though (no crankshaft change but engine was torn
down, inspected and were necessary new parts installed). The engine runs quite
nice but I did have some issue with it that have been addressed. I am having
a little difficulty fully trusting this engine as I think it feels a little
rough and noisy.
I have been told that the engine sounds great and smooth from outside the
airplane
(some people thought it was an electric airplane since it is so quiet) but
I find it quite noisy inside and feels a little rough. Maybe its me being picky
since it is really not bad but I am so used to after almost 40 years of flying
behind Lycosaurus and Continentals engines that I find that my engine seems
to scream inside the Europa cockpit. Vibration is not high but I do feel what
I can only describe as a high frequency short amplitude harsh vibration in the
panel and I can hear it contributing to some level of fatigue after an hour
or so of flying. It's a bit gritty and makes me feel as if the gearbox is
grinding
itself to pieces. But oil looks fine, no metal in the filter or magnetic
plug and the gearbox clutch torque check passes fine. I have balanced the carbs
multiple times. I have dynamically balanced the prop and replaced the rubber
mounts with Europa supplied ones. I have to reiterate, it's not bad and my
Lycoming
on the LongEZ vibrates more but in the Rotax it feels a bit harsh and
I am not used to it. I did fly in an RV-12 with the same engine and it felt
smoother.
So a few questions:
1.- Is the Europa a little noisier and transmits more vibration from the engine
than say an RV-12?
2.- My aviasport tach needle vibrates quite a bit. Like a high frequency buzz.
My altimeter also tends to wobble a bit at certain power settings. is this
normal?
3.- I just installed new mounts from Europa but do you guys think that these
mounts
may be a little hard and allow a bit of vibration to pass through to the
airframe. They do feel hard.
4.- Could it be just me not used to the Rotax? maybe this is perfectly normal in
the Europa and the RV-12 just happens to be a little smoother. my airplane has
not interior covering, just painted. the RV-12 I flew was covered inside.
If I just knew that it is normal for the Europa to be a little noisier than the
RV-12 inside I would relax. Just no way to know since the only Europa I have
ever flown is mine.
Best Regards and Thanks.
Chris
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