Europa XS Motorglider
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Nigel Charles looks at the Europa's dramatically changed, graceful performance with motor-glider wings Photos Andrea Featherby Europa XS Motorglider It has been 18 years since I first saw the Europa prototype at the PFA Rally at Wroughton. I think I knew almost immediately that the Europa was going to be something special. Kit aircraft at that stage were in their infancy and we were at a point where modern technologies such as composite materials and lightweight engines were encouraging innovation. With the help of the LAA (PFA as it was known then) a number of kitplane manufacturers brought their ideas to the marketplace. The canard designs of Burt Rutan from the USA whetted the appetite and enthusiastic potential kitplane customers soon appeared at shows like the PFA Rally. One of the early UK builders of the Rutan designs was Ivan Shaw. He built a Varieze and subsequently a mini Starship twin derivative, but he recognised that the requirement for long, tarmac runways (readily available in the USA) was a handicap in Europe. The UK, for example, has over 500 airfields with runways over 400m but only about 125 of these offer hard surface runways. He quickly came to the conclusion that there was demand for an aircraft that could handle farm strips and at the same time cruise at a reasonable speed while avoiding consuming large volumes of avgas. The problem was that tyres with a large footprint were required to cope with farm strips, and large tyres create drag. One solution was a retractable undercarriage, but the weight and space required for two large tyres was potentially problematic. Ivan realised that the monowheel layout of the motor-glider could be modified to become retractable. This was a fairly straightforward design idea for the main wheel, but his idea to use the flaps to retract the outriggers (like the Harrier jump jet) was a stroke of genius. From this concept the design of the monowheel Europa was born. The Rotax 912 four-stroke engine had been available for a while and was proving to be a rugged and economical source of power. Ivan based the design around this engine and, despite attempts by some to use other powerplants, the Rotax stands out as the powerplant of choice today. Having conceived an aircraft that would have low touchdown speeds, yet was clean enough to have cruise speeds of three times the stall speed, Ivan needed some clever aerodynamics to turn his design into reality. Fortunately he met with Don Dykins, who had recently retired from British Aerospace having

been chief aerodynamicist for the Airbus wing. Don not only designed a wing that satisfied Ivan's requirements but even more cleverly arranged it so that, with no tailplane alterations, it could later accept substitution between standard and motor-glider wings. While the aircraft has always been a delight in the air, early monowheel versions of the Europa were a little tricky to handle on take-off and landing, particularly on hard surfaces. Many of the resulting mishaps were due to a lack of training, but some modifications were made to simplify the necessary type-specific training. For...

the Europa is to get the motor-glider fully approved in the UK. Although several examples have been flying in the USA and elsewhere, where certification for kitplanes is more relaxed, the final steps to complete Permit approval in the UK are only just about to be realised. This is the prime reason why the flight test aircraft for this article was registered in Luxembourg. The enthusiasm by the original owner of LX-CWT was partially because the airfield from which he wished to operate only allowed gliders and motor-gliders. This leads us on to look at the reasons for some pilots to choose a...

an Airmaster constant-speed prop with warp-drive blades (probably the most popular engine/prop combination for the Europa). However, one of the other flying examples in the USA, a monowheel variant with a turbocharged Rotax, has earned the nickname of mini-U2 (after the spy plane) and with the steep climb performance you can see why. The wing efficiency in the climb reminded me that it was time to try out what this aircraft is all about and that meant turning the engine off. Having isolated the ignition, I was rewarded with near silence while we drifted down at about 300fpm at 70kt IAS....

FLIGHT TEST At the moment, both versions of the aircraft have the same maximum take-off weight and, given that the glider wings are about 90lb heavier, this at present reduces the useful payload. David is looking to rerun the calculations and hopes to raise the mtow to 1,450lb for the glider version, which would put it back on a level playing field with the standard Europa. As most of the increased weight is outboard of the fuselage, it is weight that will not affect the bending loads on the wing, so I can see how this reasoning may allow the increase in gross weight without further...