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Europa |
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| About the Builder |
Europa A-055
February 27, 2004
As a kid I always loved airplanes. I built models and flew U control and powered free flight. In the Navy I was a radial engine mechanic and, after the military, built and flew many radio control aircraft. But, as things happen, along comes a wife and kids. That put the dream of flying on hold, for a while...
Now that the kids are grown and gone, the wife and I have a little more time and fewer expenses. Enter the Discovery Wings Channel and their special on building an experimental aircraft, in late summer, 2003. Talked it over with my wife and we decided that I should pursue my private certificate.
I started looking at information, on the internet. My wife and I sat down and decided on a criteria we were interested in, for the new plane. It must be affordable, economical, easy to maintain and hopefully, something that we wouldn't have to leave at the airport. We looked at lots of kits, but kept coming back to the Europa. It seemed to have everything we were looking for. So off to the Europa site we went, to see what we were up against. Not exactly a "cheap" airplane. Undaunted, I joined a few online forums and discussed my wants with some very friendly folks. One day I get an email, from one of the forum members, informing me that there was a Europa monowheel on e-bay. I checked the listing, and, not being ready to buy, I dropped the seller a note, telling him that I was interested in talking, should he not sell the plane at the auction. Three weeks later I got a return email and we started talking about a possible sale. Long story, short, I told the owner I was going to Lakeland in February, to fly a Europa and make a decision. That was two weeks ago, and the decision is made.
This kit is a four year old, monowheel, that has never been started. However, flying a monowheel told me that the Tri-gear was the way to go. Spoke again with the owner and he agreed to contact Europa and arrange to return the monowheel parts and order the tri-gear replacements. Europa agreed to credit the parts toward the tri-gear conversion. Nice folks... Thanks, John...
The owner and I have come to an agreement on the price and I will be picking the kit up in the next few weeks. Until then, I spend a lot of my time preparing "Area 51" for the kit...
Click thumbnail for larger view
Below is the projected paint scheme for the plane. Yeah, I know Europa only recommends white, but, there's no way we're going to ride around in a plain vanilla airplane. The subtle colors should not generate much more heat than the plain white, and it will look a whole lot better...
