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Europa |
| N55XS | |
| July, 2005 |
Europa N55XS - The Big Day!
At 1:55 pm, CDT, July 23rd, 2005, at the hands of Air Force test pilot, Col. John Hanks (Ret.), N55XS (code named Baby Blue) took to the air for the first time. Undaunted by an ASI malfunction and using the GPS, instead, John took the 912S powered Tri-Gear into the sky with the grace and beauty of a YAK 50. The performance was so perfect that you'd have thought that he'd been flying it all his life...
Temps and pressures stayed within limits, throughout every initial tests. The Air Master prop was left in the fine position to remove any further distractions. The plane was stable, with no roll or yaw characteristics. Ground handling was superb!
Once the ASI and ALT are tested and checked, I'll get some hard performance numbers, however preliminary numbers show a clean stall at about 50 kts and a full flap stall at 40 kts. Today's two flights tested stalls and full flap and clean landings. According to John, the little Europa performed with great ease and had absolutely no bad habits. That's great to know, because it's my turn, next time... :)
Sorry for the poor quality of the pictures, but it was 94 degrees (hot!), 90% humidity (muggy!), bright and very hazy...
Click thumbnail for larger viewJuly 30, 2005
Well, it was my turn, today. Stayed in the pattern, practicing approaches and landings, 9 in all. Like Cliff Shaw said, get all the flaps before base and fly her in with the throttle. Worked like a charm. Thanks, Cliff! After I finished the pattern work it was off a few miles for a bit of exploring. The following are my observations on engine performance:
Oil pressure -30 PSI
Oil temp - 195 F
Water temp - 215 F
CHT - 275 FThe engine has a total of 11+ hours on it. Flight time, today was 4.0 hrs, for a total of 5.0 hrs. 5 down and 35 to go. Back at it, tomorrow...
On a side note--- My test pilot "just happened" to show up, at the airport and, of course, wanted to take her up for a little wringing out. The result was a private air show. Maneuvers involved were aileron rolls, barrel rolls, loops, clover leaves, 90+ degree turns, emmelman turns, power on stalls, wing overs and a few more that I can't remember. At any rate, Baby Blue is truly a versatile little bird...
Click thumbnail for larger view
