Steering a Europa Monowheel

RalphInCA

RalphInCA

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RalphInCA
There is a Europa Monowheel for sale at my home airport that caught my eye today.

Nice looking airplane.

Question: how would you steer this thing on the ground? How maneuverable would it be in tight spaces?
 

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Interesting.... http://www.europa-aircraft.com/monowheel/

Do you need a complex endorsement in addition to TW?

But we need to be quiet about it, otherwise SixPappaCharlie is gonna want one.

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Looks like a steerable tailwheel.

You can't use differential braking to make it spin, but with the wheel brake, rudder, and a little gas you should be able to make it turn on a dime.
 
Interesting looking setup, looks like they have a Tricycle gear option also but the mono wheel gets you 5kt more in cruise (sounds right) 135kt @ 8000 rpm vs 140kt @ 8000 pretty quick little plane for 80hp

Wonder what it is like to land in heavy cross winds with those sticks hanging off the wings? Do they just deflect?
 
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There was one parked in HBC at Oshkosh this year. I'd never seen one up close before. Pretty curious design indeed.
 
The tricycle gear Europa,is the liberty xl2 in this country.
 
Trailering it would save a fortune around these parts....enough to pay for itself in 7 years based on hangar prices around here
 
Got a Jab3200 in place of the recommended Rotax. Had a prop strike, and engine repl early. Related? Not sure. Ground handling would be high on my list of things to investigate before writing a check. Or - conversion to conventional gear. As an owner without the endorsement for inspection auth on this airframe, are you allowed to remove and then install the wings for flight? I don't know, but would find out from my local Friendly Flight Admin ofc first.

As with all EXP planes, build quality can vary - a lot. Looks ok in pics, but need an A&P up close and personal with things like spar, controls, fuel sys, etc.
 
docmirror said:
. As an owner without the endorsement for inspection auth on this airframe, are you allowed to remove and then install the wings for flight? I don't know, but would find out from my local Friendly Flight Admin ofc first.
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The only thing you can't do without the repairman's certificate is the condition inspection.

Wings come off and on gliders every day with no A&P involved even with standard type certificates.

I would avoid talking to the FAA because you might get some clueless individual who gives you a totally wrong answer. Then what do you do?
 
Does not look like a good airplane for a low time pilot. Would need to keep the wings extremely level on landing. Prop very close to the ground.
 
RalphInCA said:
Does not look like a good airplane for a low time pilot. Would need to keep the wings extremely level on landing. Prop very close to the ground.
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You might be surprised.

That being said, the stiff crosswinds we get could be a challenge.
 
I'm sure it's challenging. My buddy who flew U2's (imagine the same thing in a much larger configuration). Running off the upwind side of the runway wasn't completely uncommon.
 
Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
The only thing you can't do without the repairman's certificate is the condition inspection.

Wings come off and on gliders every day with no A&P involved even with standard type certificates.

I would avoid talking to the FAA because you might get some clueless individual who gives you a totally wrong answer. Then what do you do?
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Thanks. Strange to think that a guy could buy an EXP plane, go out and take off the engine, then put on a completely different engine(Subaru, etc) and take off into the wild blue. The regs are what they are I guess.
 
docmirror said:
Thanks. Strange to think that a guy could buy an EXP plane, go out and take off the engine, then put on a completely different engine(Subaru, etc) and take off into the wild blue. The regs are what they are I guess.
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Strange? That is the spirit of aviation. That is how so much of today's GA technological advances are made. The rules in general are written to protect passengers and innocent bystanders. If you change an engine the plane will be put back in to phase 1 testing. No passengers and limited test flight area.
 
docmirror said:
Thanks. Strange to think that a guy could buy an EXP plane, go out and take off the engine, then put on a completely different engine(Subaru, etc) and take off into the wild blue. The regs are what they are I guess.
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For a "major modification" you typically need to go back into the phase 1 testing. Details depend on when your operating limitations were written.

But how would this be different than hanging a Subaru on the airplane in the first place?
 
Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
For a "major modification" you typically need to go back into the phase 1 testing. Details depend on when your operating limitations were written.

But how would this be different than hanging a Subaru on the airplane in the first place?
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I don't want this to circle the drain in this thread, but it seems like an interesting situation to me. Now, back in the 80s, I used to install and remove the wings and canard on my Vari-Eze and I was neither the builder of record, nor did I have IA for that airframe, so I guess it's all ok.

As for hanging an engine, it gets a bit more interesting. This particular plane is designed with the Rotax in mind. Maybe it had a Rotax from the start, and after the prop strike they decided to go with the Jab, for some reason I don't know. I would consider changing engine types a major mod, and now that you mention it having to go back through phase 1 testing that would make sense, it's a mod. But clearly putting the wings on and taking them off is not a modification, although it is a serious undertaking in terms of risk, and it appears that just anyone with a valid pilot cert is allowed to do that, notwithstanding their mechanical abilities(or lack thereof).

<edited to correct grammar>
 
Direct C51 said:
Strange? That is the spirit of aviation. That is how so much of today's GA technological advances are made. The rules in general are written to protect passengers and innocent bystanders. If you change an engine the plane will be put back in to phase 1 testing. No passengers and limited test flight area.
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Actually, today's advancements in GA piggyback on billions, if not trillions, of taxpayer dollars. Most all of the avionics advances were through programs for, and currently use, military development. GPS and the databases for terrain avoidance and SVT, all military programs. All the new fang led airfoils and aerodynamic data; generated by NASA.Anybody see royalties being paid?
 
For a "major modification" you typically need to go back into the phase 1 testing. Details depend on when your operating limitations were written.
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All it takes is notification of the FAA. Depending on how intersted the FSDO guys are, it may involve new flight restrictions, it may not.
 
Art VanDelay said:
Very poor QC with that engine not to mention cooling problems. Ask Henning about Australian Quality Control. There's a whole cottage industry making liquid cooled heads for Jabiru's.
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Thanks. I'm not really serious about buying this AC but this is good info to know.
 
Incidentally i was test flying a Europa on 9/11 up in Lakeland Florida just as the sky was being shutdown. They're nice airplanes but if you want to wring the maximum performance from 4.5gph and 100 hp consider instead the 160kt French MCR-01.
 
StinkBug said:
Not to totally derail, but what's the deal with the cars chasing the planes down the runway? It's probably just perspective, but they look awful close in some of those shots. WTF are they doing?
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If you are talking about a U2 video, that is their chase car with other U2 pilots in it calling the guy's landing because he can't see for ****.
 
Henning is right. My daughter had an instrument on an ER2 (NASA's version of the U2) and she actually shot a lot of pictures from the right seat of the chase car of the landing one time and sent them to us.
 
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