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The Europa is a kit aircraft that can be built and
stored at home, the idea behind this concept was to produce an aircraft
that makes real flying affordable. The aircraft can then be easily
transported to the nearest airport or farmer’s strip – filling up with
ordinary car petrol on the way. The aircraft can be rigged ready for
flight in under five minutes, then carry two people in comfort with
sufficient baggage for extended touring.
The Europa comes as a complete advance build kit. The kit is divided into
four parts; three airframe and one engine.
The airframe is all-composite and uses the best blend of materials and
moulding techniques.
The fuselage and wings are vacuum bag moulded using advanced pre-preg
epoxy and phenolic fireproof resins. Glass and carbon fibre facings are
used to make the parts, along with a high-density pvc foam core material.
The fuselage comes in three mouldings – top, bottom and cockpit module.
The cockpit moulding consists of seats, centre console, fuel tank area,
headrests, baggage area and rear bulkhead. This moulding also includes all
the hard points for undercarriage, engine mount, control system, wing and
seat belt attachments.
The wings come pre-moulded and largely pre-assembled, requiring very
little work to complete. Flaps (or air brakes), ailerons, rudder and
tailplanes are supplied in pre-formed extruded foam. They come complete
with jigs and simply need covering with glass cloth and epoxy. Special
lightweight fillers are used to give that glass-smooth finish.
All metal components come pre-made so there is no forming, jigging or
welding to do. The instrument module comes in one moulding so the builder
can completely fit it out with all instruments, switches, radios, etc.
prior to installation. Our prototype is fitted with multi-pin plugs and
sockets and the entire instrument module can be removed in less than five
minutes.
The Europa kit is designed for the first-time builder and no prior
knowledge is assumed. The plans and instructions take you in small steps
through the complete project with explanations of what to do, when to do
and how to do. The instructions contain an education chapter covering
techniques, materials used, workshop layout and tools required. Before you
start building the airframe you complete the Europa wheel chock as part of
the education chapter. This is designed to give you practice and
confidence in the materials and techniques used. Because the Europa is an
advance build kit, we estimate that it should take between 500 and 1000
man-hours to complete, depending upon the level of equipment and finish
The latest version the Europa XS has recently celebrated the milestone of
1000 Europa's sold. A Mono-wheel and a Tri-gear version of the Europa XS
are available while a whole new world has been opened up with the
introduction of the Europa XS Motor Glider. The transition from short,
touring wings to long Motor Glider wings can be accomplished in a matter
of minutes, offering Europa owners an unparalleled choice of aircraft
configuration.
The Tri-gear aircraft is much easier to operate in the takeoff and landing
phase than the mono-wheel plane, being similar to a Cessna 150 or
Cherokee. This aircraft exhibits better paved field handling. It has the
same max. takeoff weight as the mono, that is 1450 lb (US only), so will
have approx. 30lb/14kg less useful load than the mono. Although not having
the same soft wet grass field performance of the mono-wheel, the tri gear
can be compared to a Cessna 150 in terms of rough field capability. Once
in the air, both airplanes exhibit the same delightful handling. the major
benefit of the mono-wheel is the reduction in weight and increase in
performance, its about 5-10 kts faster than the tri-gear.
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