Now, it is a fact that most flying machines are a bit of a compromise, and motor gliders more than most. Indeed, a lot of the early types were rather unsatisfactory, being too much like a glider to be a good powered aircraft, and yet not really having the performance of a decent glider. As with any aircraft designed to fly over a wide speed range, there are certain tricks that a designer can employ to improve the performance, with one of the better-known ways being to adjust the wing in some form. There are several ways in which this can be done, including variable incidence (Vought F-8 Crusader) variable geometry (MiG-23, Tornado, F-111) and by simply changing the whole wing, which is what the new Europa does. Therefore, the wingspan has been increased by 20ft, from 27ft 2ins to 47ft 3ins.

Upon hearing that the first production Europa Motorglider would be available for test flying at Sun 'n Fun, I wasted no time in scheduling a flight. However, Lakeland airport is simply too busy for demo flying during the event, particularly in the early afternoon, which was the time that I specifically wanted to fly. Why? Well, although there was never going to be any questions at all over the aircraft's flying characteristics under power, I was very keen to evaluate the machine's soaring potential, and for this I needed soaring conditions.

Consequently, I arranged to meet John Hurst, the General Manager of Europa's US division at Plant City airport. John is a very experienced power pilot and was eager to learn what a good soaring pilot could do with a sailplane. Unfortunately, we couldn't find one at such short notice, so I had to go instead! In fact, I was particularly eager to evaluate Europa's latest product for a very good reason. A few years ago I was one of the first pilots (outside of the company and CAA test pilots) to fly the prototype Europa motorglider. I spent a very pleasant afternoon soaring some weak wave and wrote a report that, although fulsome in its praise, contained a number of recommendations. Basically, I was curious to see whether or not they'd been implemented! The pre-flight inspection revealed no surprises. A few days before I had helped to replace the short-span wings with the motorglider wings, and had been pleasantly surprised at how quickly and easily this had been achieved. Only six pip-pins are used, two for each wing and one for each stabilator. All the controls self-connect, as they should, and it was fascinating to note that both the wing and wing-root fillet had benefited from a general tidying up (on the prototype the finish had been quite crude). Obviously, in order to be able to quickly change the wings the fuel tank has to be in the fuselage. Now, in some other aircraft fitted with fuselage tanks, any spilt petrol almost invariably seems to make its way quickly into the cockpit. With the Europa, the filler cap is designed so that should you accidentally spill some fuel it will run away from the cockpit which is nice.

The aesthetics of Europa's latest design are quite remarkable. As the motorglider wing has been designed to be flown on the XS fuselage, it would not be unreasonable to expect the motorglider to look a little bit like an afterthought. In fact, even when standing side-by-side, both variants look good, as either wingspan complements the fuselage perfectly. Indeed, both models are so elegant that it would be hard to say which wing was the original. Apart from the increased span the most obvious difference is that on the motorglider wing the flaps have been replaced by trailing-edge airbrakes.

Access to the cockpit via the large gull-wing doors is fine. These are well supported by gas struts and the aircraft can be taxied with them open. The cockpit is spacious and comfortable and features a large luggage bay, which is accessible in flight.

The moulded instrument panel and built-in glare shield follows current car design by being carefully shaped in order to angle all the instruments in towards the pilot. Another useful feature borrowed from the automotive industry is the plain, flat, level shelf in front of the P2. A feature that I didn't like was that the rocker switch for the electric pitch trim is still on the panel. This was where it had been on the prototype and, as I complained about it then I'll complain about it now! I would have much preferred to have seen a 'coolie hat' type trimmer on the stick top. As most gliders are flown right-handed, I opted to fly from the right seat, although I must emphasise that this is a personal preference. The throttle, undercarriage, wheel brake and airbrake levers can be easily reached from either seat. Slightly disappointingly, I did rather feel that more could have been done in the ergonomics department to clarify exactly what each of these four relatively closely grouped levers did. All were the same colour and also much the same size and shape. Of course, one of the great things about building your own aircraft is that any minor grumbles like this can be easily addressed during construction. At least it was nice to see that all four levers followed the same design logic as a throttle. So that's forward to fly/go backward to land/stop.

With John in the other seat and some good-looking cumulus already building to the north, it was time to get flying. The test aircraft is powered by a 115hp turbocharged Rotax 914, and as the prototype had been fitted with an 80hp Rotax 912, I was looking forward to having another 35 horses at my disposal. The choice of a Rotax for the motorglider is, in my opinion, a good one. You don't have to be an engineer to appreciate that there are several advantages in using liquid-cooled engines for motorgliders. Firstly, it is possible to have a much neater and tighter cowl than an aircraft fitted with an air-cooled engine and the reduced frontal area all help to reduce total drag. This is particularly important in the glide. It is also possible for the engine to run constantly at the optimum temperature and the not-inconsiderable hazards of shock cooling and over-heating are greatly reduced. Another advantage of liquid cooling is that the Rotax retains heat better than an air-cooled engine when soaring with the engine off. Due to the high rotational speed of the Rotax, the engine turns the propeller via a 2.43:1 reduction gearbox, which ensures that the propeller's rotation speed is less than half the engine speed. This keeps the propeller tip speeds low and quiet. Indeed, the combination of an efficient exhaust,(most new Europa's are fitted with a CKT exhaust) liquid cooling and low propeller speed all combine to make this an extremely quiet aircraft, and this is a very important feature. I fervently believe that operating more environmentally-friendly aircraft will become increasingly relevant in the skies over 21st century Europe.

Taxying out to the runway revealed that as both outriggers touch the ground, the Europa does not have that disagreeable 'lurching from side-to-side' gait that is a characteristic of most other monowheel motorgliders. The outrigger wheels are solid polyurethane on nylon stalks and are located at approximately half span. Visibility over and either side of the nose was fine. Steering is supplied by a steerable tailwheel, while braking is bestowed by a powerful but progressive hydraulic wheel brake.
With all checks completed, I rolled forwards a few feet to ensure that the tailwheel was straight and then smoothly opened the throttle. Acceleration was, for a motorglider, outstanding and I really enjoyed the no-nonsense way that the Europa asserted its unquestionable right to flight. I have flown quite a few motorgliders, and it is a fact that most of the early types shared two distinct and deeply unattractive characteristics a marked lack of enthusiasm for leaving the ground and a disturbing eagerness to return to it!

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