Matronics Email Lists :: View topic - What did you do with your Europa this week 8/19

Matronics Email Lists
Web Forum Interface to the Matronics Email Lists

Get Email Distribution Too! FAQ Search Memberlist Usergroups Register

Profile Log in to check your private messages Log in

What did you do with your Europa this week 8/19 - 8/26

Matronics Email Lists Forum Index -> Europa-List

View previous topic :: View next topic

Author Message

h&jeuropa

Joined: 07 Nov 2006
Posts: 635

Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2022 10:26 am Post subject: What did you do with your Europa this week 8/19 - 8/26

Starting thread for this week



Jim

Area-51

Joined: 03 May 2021
Posts: 377

Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2022 3:36 am Post subject: Re: What did you do with your Europa this week 8/19 - 8/26

Maintenance... pulled off upper/lower cowling for inspection on recent five year rubber change; got to the bottom of remaining oil weeping by resealing #1/3 valve covers and two M6 oil pump retaining bolts... fitted a set of NGK iridium spark plugs and a 50hr oil/filter change today ahead of fitting wide band O2 sensor to monitor fuel mixtures...

01CBF93D-14B5-4BAA-8CD1-0BB6E2F1024B.jpeg

Description:

Filesize:

73.26 KB

Viewed:

2123 Time(s)

peterz(at)zutrasoft.com
Guest

Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2022 3:13 am Post subject: What did you do with your Europa this week 8/19 - 8/26

912s? What brand and heat range iridiums have you used?



Thx,

PeteZ



 	  Quote: 	
		   On Aug 22, 2022, at 1:19 AM, Area-51 <goldsteinindustrial(at)gmail.com> wrote:

 

 

 

 Finished current service session and carried out post quality assurance checks this morning on the 912... "Amazing" 😊 is the word; engine runs on the iridium spark plugs like its fuel injected now, unbelievably smooth and has got to be the smoothest 912 i've experienced so far; mag drop check is identical at 50rpm; startup is instant with zero vibration through entire rpm range right down to 1100rpm. Wouldn't surprise me if remaining final O2 sensor mixture tuning session requires no further adjustment. Can't wait to give it a fly tomorrow morning!

 

 Break Break:

 

 James the oil weeping was identified at two of the M6 oil pump bolts; so They were removed individually and permatex grey applied to the bolt shanks and refitted and re-torqued. Both valve covers on the right bank were also weeping, so removed, checked for any screw driver damage to parting lines, degreased both cover and o'rings with shellite then refitted with a light smear of permatex grey at the o'rings then refitted M6 bolts and re-torqued. (Note that whenever using sealants, especially silicon, on oil-side engine components to never apply excessive amounts as dags have been known to break off and block fine oil galleries and cause premature component/bearing failure).

 

 

 

 

 Read this topic online here:

 

 http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=507735#507735

 

 

 

 

 Attachments: 

 

 http://forums.matronics.com//files/c718d874_725d_4787_83be_882d0c0988ba_116.jpeg

n7188u

Joined: 15 Nov 2015
Posts: 401

Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2022 6:27 am Post subject: Re: What did you do with your Europa this week 8/19 - 8/26

Nice 110 NM (220 round trip) flight for breakfast from 7FL6 to KOBE. It's nice to be the fastest airplane in the group   



Son came with me for a change and had a good time.



I modified my vent system to improve filling but actually made it worse. Started to work on that yesterday but as I got underneath the left wing to keep the wingtip from banging on some stuff I had on the floor on that side and I banged my head on the static probe and broke the stupid plastic tip (and gauged my stupid head). Oh well, just another project for the week! 



No pics today.



Chris

Area-51

Joined: 03 May 2021
Posts: 377

Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2022 4:27 pm Post subject: Re: What did you do with your Europa this week 8/19 - 8/26

Hitting head on the spinner after working under the lower cowl hurts real bad; neck cracks and everything... did it twice two days in a row... changed work method before breaking neck... spinner didn't budge 🙆‍♂️🤷🏼‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️



45min check flight this morning... took off in calm conditions before wind picked up and came in from the north bringing 5-10kt gusting NW/NE xwind convergence over the field on touchdown... came in over the fence at 70kt and landed dead stick... engine now free of oil weeps and running like silk.



Next upgrade task; faraday mesh the seat wells and fit Trig ADSB transponder.

DuaneFamly

Joined: 16 Jan 2022
Posts: 18
Location: Chandler, AZ

Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2022 1:03 pm Post subject: What did you do with your Europa this week 8/19 - 8/26

Good morning Jim, 

Well, this is the time of year I pull Eddie off the airport for her annual inspection. I figure it gives her a break from the heat and the monsoon storms. 

So far, all looks good. Just some typical maintenance issues, adding some ideas I got from Forum (adding spacers to stand off the “ D” window for better air circulation), and cleaning all the things that get dirty. 

I did find two small delam bubbles, one trailing edge mid wing and the other on a leading edge of a stabilator. So I’ll see about fixing these. 

Other than that, just keeping busy. 

One funny note: the wife and I just got back from a few weeks on a travel trailer trip (can’t say RV trip because some might think I’ve traded planes) and during the trip I got the chance stop at the famous Leadville airport we all grew to love during our flight training. Pattern altitude of 11,000 feet is inspiring. And it was almost 90’F that day. Talk about density altitude! The wife was getting a headache from the thin air so I can just imagine an engine trying to suck in enough air and the wings clawing for the sky on takeoff. 



Mike Duane

Chandler, Arizona 

Europa XS conventional gear 

N377EA



Sent from my iPhone



 	  Quote: 	
		   On Aug 24, 2022, at 3:51 AM, h&amp;jeuropa <butcher43(at)att.net> wrote:

 

 

 

 Starting thread for this week

 

 Jim

 

 

 

 

 Read this topic online here:

 

 http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=507724#507724

_________________
Mike Duane

Area-51

Joined: 03 May 2021
Posts: 377

Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2022 8:07 pm Post subject: Re: What did you do with your Europa this week 8/19 - 8/26

Decided to bite the bullet and attack some hard ground yesterday. With terror ready and waiting for the europa's left jive party trick it never got close to showing up.... no longer hesitant toward operating off tarmac; all the attentive practice, instructor type training and command time has delivered results... brought 181 down over the keys for a great landing and used the remaining 1200m of road to review competence at flying the wings on the ground and keeping centreline... did the same while backtracking for takeoff; rollout and unstick lasted less than 100m, then a minute later 181 was departing overhead at 1500' above the field. Reviewing the cockpit footage shows the little beast off the ground and away before airspeed was even barely alive!!

5B9A85F6-A116-4B27-97D6-29CD738836D4.jpeg

Description:

Filesize:

88.61 KB

Viewed:

2071 Time(s)

peterz(at)zutrasoft.com
Guest

Posted: Fri Aug 26, 2022 2:23 am Post subject: What did you do with your Europa this week 8/19 - 8/26

Great to hear.  I too find tarmac a non-event, and indeed less stressful than bouncing around on grass. I find the Europa quite lazy on tarmac compared to my little hummelbird lol.



Cheers,

PeteZ

C-GNPZ

C-IPWZ



 	  Quote: 	
		   On Aug 26, 2022, at 12:13 AM, Area-51 <goldsteinindustrial(at)gmail.com> wrote:

 

 

 

 Decided to bite the bullet and attack some hard ground yesterday. With terror ready and waiting for the europa's left jive party trick it never got close to showing up.... no longer hesitant toward operating off tarmac; all the attentive practice, instructor type training and command time has delivered results... brought 181 down over the keys for a great landing and used the remaining 1200m of road to review competence at flying the wings on the ground and keeping centreline... did the same while backtracking for takeoff; rollout and unstick lasted less than 100m, then a minute later 181 was departing overhead at 1500' above the field.

 

 

 

 

 Read this topic online here:

 

 http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=507779#507779

 

 

 

 

 Attachments: 

 

 http://forums.matronics.com//files/5b9a85f6_a116_4b27_97d6_29cd738836d4_191.jpeg

budyerly@msn.com

Joined: 05 Oct 2019
Posts: 282
Location: Florida USA

Posted: Fri Aug 26, 2022 9:25 am Post subject: Re: What did you do with your Europa this week 8/19 - 8/26

It has been a hard couple of months.



First Europa Stuff:

N12AY is down for a few weeks.  During Sun ‘n Fun while on display, a couple decided to sit on my aircraft together on the port wing.  At about 300 pounds total.  My wing leading edge root section seemed OK after security shooed them off.  



I have been flying my Euorpa with local instructors doing stall, advanced handling training with them.  After a few weeks I noticed a former repair I made (from a depression from my knee while loading the plane) began to raise again indicating it delaminated again.  After flying for a few weeks the delamination grew to about plate sized.  I’ve grounded the aircraft now. 



I know it is just the foam underneath that has been crushed and that causes a separation which eventually shows up as a delamination.  I will cut back the skin, reinforce the foam, then by deftly inserting small ribs of properly shaped glass I will reinforce the walk area (aka butt sliding area) for the trigear.  This area in a Classic has lightening holes in the foam and can flex if overloaded.  Once the ribs are cured I will restore the foam and using uni in 4 layers as was in the original biaxial glass.  I will reinstall the outer skin glass properly tapered and overlapped.  Then fill sand and paint.  



My annual condition inspection is coming due in January so I will make use of the down time and do my 5 year fuel hose change as the R-14 hose is about 8 years old.  The fuel hose is in excellent shape so this will be a good validation of my fuel line choice.  Note that oil lines I inspect closely at each oil change/annually and replace whether good or not at 5 years as oil lines are in close proximity to the exhaust.



This condition inspection will allow me to make some more mods also.  I sold my LED light pod to a customer, and I’ve decided to add a landing light to 12AY.  There are many choices now and it will be interesting.  



I have selected components and fabricated a stall warning circuit with not just the piezo noise maker but also a voice warning circuit.  It seems my young instructors all have ANR headsets and couldn’t hear the horn and in the right seat did not notice the warning light easily.  I bought about $40 in electrical sound boards and voltage reducers and did about $500 in labor and testing and have made a postage stamp sized MP3 player with its own Buck Converter voltage regulator to allow ship voltage from 15 to 10 volts while putting out a precise 5 volt output.  My intentions were to make it an add on to the Europa stall warning.  I did not buy the Europa stall warner, I made my own some years before and have converted mine to be exactly like the Europa one to test.  It works very well.  The circuit has a push button on the panel to silence the horn and voice if desired during airwork.  It will work with the music or aux audio input of most intercoms as I tested it with the Sigtronics, PS Engineering PM 3000, and Flightcom 403 and they all worked fine with a good sound level.  The sound is adjustable and the input can be wired directly to the pilot headphone jack avoiding the intercom completely if desired.  The warning comes on right at 5 knots above the stall clean and about 3 with full flaps as set up.  Paper will follow.



I will also play with my new leading edge stall rumble strip for better airframe buffet approaching the stall without causing a premature drop in lift as you flare.  It takes quite a few flights to get the POH stall strips to work just right without too much of an increase in landing speed.  More on these mods later when I get time to do a paper.



I’ve been laid up for some days due to a slip and fall accident.  I was delivering some wing walkers along with some glider wings in my shop that were to be donated to the Ron Alexander Youth Aviation Program in Griffin GA.  During a fuel stop I began my routine checking of the trailer.  It was raining and I was wearing new shoes and standing on greasy gas station concrete.  I stepped on the trailer tongue and began to slip.  I attempted to step down on to the concrete and my other foot slipped off the trailer and my legs and feet became entangled in the steel structure and heavy trailer wiring bundle.  I hit hard with my legs pinned in the tongue A frame and hit face first but both forearms came out and I did a half roll relaxing my legs.  Needless to say, I hit like a ton of bricks but was lucky as I didn’t break any bones.  Of course, I had extensive bruising and jarring of joints.  My back was a mess for a while.  I am back to homo erectus and can walk easily without a cane.  I guess I’m getting old and fumble footed.  Not my best judgement decision for sure crawling over a wet trailer in the rain with wet feet.  Dumb.

As far as flying:

I have been flying though.  My flight with new instructors was prompted by a few minor but noteworthy near mishaps at our local airports.  It prompted me to do a FAAST program briefing on how to regain and maintain flight proficiency.  In the US you must complete 3 landings within 90 days before you can carry a passenger.  You are required a BFR or Biennial Flight Review also.  So, a pilot may not fly for nearly two years, and then hop into an aircraft and go fly.  Make three landings and take his grandkids up to fly, or fly with is non aviator friend to a breakfast at a small airport he’s unfamiliar with.  In my professional years as a pilot, I had currency and recurrency requirements.  If you didn’t fly in 30 days you had review rides with an instructor and over 90 days a full mission, instrument and advanced handling proficiency flights and emergency procedure training simulators and flight check reviews.  So, we kept ourselves current and proficient to avoid impacting the unit with additional training.  But after a ground school or other professional course, recurrency was needed and the requirements written down.  



The KPCM FBO chief instructor had me fly with some of our local instructors as they had only flown in the Cessna 172, 152 and the LSA 162.  These aircraft have benign stall characteristics.  However, from watching local pilot pattern work the chief pilot was alarmed at how many local incidents and near incidents there were in our flying area.  What we were seeing was poor pattern spacing, indifference to the winds, unorthodox salvage of poor final approaches and very long hot landings ending in a porpoise or requiring guys to grind on the brakes to stop on the 3-4000 feet of runway available.



I put together a FAAST presentation on regaining and maintaining proficiency to help out.  We have presented it with mixed reviews because it requires thorough airwork.  We pilots are opinionated and confident in our ability. If our instructor didn't teach it, its not important. However, in talking to our local aircraft owners, with the cost of fuel, operations and maintenance getting so high, many just don’t fly as much as they used to.  The airplane gets flat tires, filthy dirty, and old avionics get cranky and they go fly anyway.  I was shocked to hear about 20% say they haven’t done a full stall since they got their pilot licenses.  Some have not exceeded 15 degrees of bank in years. On their BFR (flight review) they simply recover at the horn and that is good enough to pass.  Normally they just fly faster and wider in the pattern to keep “safe” and then stick the aircraft on the runway any way as long as it is smooth.  None would consider a go around if they were high and hot or were landing well down the runway.  None of our locals had done a simulated power off pattern to a low approach over a runway EVER.  We did a chair fly of emergency procedure review with one chap and were disturbed on how vague his recall was on how he would handle rather simple emergencies. Nice guy, in a couple of hours he was back up to speed. 



I began working with our chief pilot to fly with some of his newest instructors on how to teach how a stall can happen and how the straight-ahead stall (clean and dirty) was not the only way to teach stall prevention.  The chief pilot and I did some practice and he summoned a meeting.  Many of these instructors had no experience in other aircraft other than the Cessnas.  In flying with one chap, he commented he never uses the rudder in the 162 because the springs are so stiff you can’t feel a smooth input.  It is not uncommon that the students then don’t use the rudder and simply steer the castering nose wheel with only the toe brakes, otherwise the rudder is unneeded.  Sad.



We use the Europa as an example for a new pilot (or old pilot) transitioning to a Light Sport or faster aircraft.   It’s a shame to have to direct and instructor pilot to go around as he tries to land the Europa like it was a Cessna 172.  They do that falling leaf approach I commented on.  It is interesting flying for me and our new instructors do learn some things.  I’ll do a paper when we and if we finish.



Stay proficient, keep up your airplane and enjoy the finest light kit built aircraft and all she can do.



Best Regards,

Bud Yerly

budyerly@msn.com

Joined: 05 Oct 2019
Posts: 282
Location: Florida USA

Posted: Fri Aug 26, 2022 9:41 am Post subject: Re: What did you do with your Europa this week 8/19 - 8/26

To Area 51:

Gaining confidence in the mono is done in steps, and if done with the right attitude, precision and perseverance, ends up being a joy.  



Believe me when we say we are all impressed at your skill and control as the mono is different.  Asphalt is no different in technique from smooth grass if you just keep on your toes and don't get distracted or lazy then try to stick it on.  



I agree with Pete, smooth asphalt is nicer than a rough grass pasture.



Well done.  Keep the stick back.



Bud Yerly

n7188u

Joined: 15 Nov 2015
Posts: 401

Posted: Fri Aug 26, 2022 12:44 pm Post subject: Re: What did you do with your Europa this week 8/19 - 8/26

Good to hear you are ok Bud. 



I am enjoying the mono a lot. But it does take time to master. Always seek how to get better flying it and it will reward you. 



Example: after having flown mine for a year and a half and 150 hours I was still not happy with the takeoff (I was following the technique in the POH). So I asked Jim B if  we could have a chat and discuss. He told me how he does the TO which was a little different technique. Next day I did the nicest takeoff I have ever done and now I am enjoying my mono even more. So keep at it and always question how to do something better if you don’t like how it feels.  I have found the mono to be an airplane that demands technique and attention to detail but it is immensely rewarding. 



Chris

alfuller194(at)gmail.com
Guest

Posted: Fri Aug 26, 2022 4:39 pm Post subject: What did you do with your Europa this week 8/19 - 8/26

I assume a leaking British car is 'fashionably acceptable', too - yes?  If so, my Austin-Healey is looking good! 😊  I've about given up on getting it to not leak oil.



----------------

All the best,



Al Fuller



--

Area-51

Joined: 03 May 2021
Posts: 377

Posted: Sat Aug 27, 2022 3:19 am Post subject: Re: What did you do with your Europa this week 8/19 - 8/26

Al... Fashion can be very fickle; its a good to know some things will never go out of style! B series BMC motors need neoprene valve and tappet cover gaskets, and permatex; crank seals need to be viton and the front pulley requires permatex where it slides over the crankshaft then on the crank bolt washer too... the timing case and sump require permatex grey and on each bolt thread... the rear crank seal requires mod to fit viton seal; the sump drain plug requires a dowdy washer... the gearbox input shaft require viton; rear yoke requires viton seal mod; speedo drive will always leak, don't bother with it.... easiest to pull the box and motor out... 😬



Break break



Thanks Bud! 😊 hope you are healing ok... years ago i took out both shins climbing across a dry trailer frame; i still slipped... figured i don't need to experience that twice in life so haven't stepped on a trailer frame since... still, walking into a telegraph pole hurts as well but i've managed to do it a few times more than once so far!

h&jeuropa

Joined: 07 Nov 2006
Posts: 635

Posted: Sat Aug 27, 2022 6:13 am Post subject: Re: What did you do with your Europa this week 8/19 - 8/26

We gave N241BW a much needed bath.  The next flight it rewarded us with a few more knots IAS!  We were surprised at the change.



Jim & Heather

Display posts from previous:

	Matronics Email Lists Forum Index -> Europa-List	All times are GMT - 8 Hours
Page 1 of 1

Jump to:

You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
You cannot attach files in this forum
You can download files in this forum