The Europa is a kit aircraft that can be built and stored at home, the idea behind this concept was to produce an aircraft that makes real flying affordable. The aircraft can then be easily transported to the nearest airport or farmer’s strip – filling up with ordinary car petrol on the way. The aircraft can be rigged ready for flight in under five minutes, then carry two people in comfort with sufficient baggage for extended touring.
The Europa comes as a complete advance build kit. The kit is divided into four parts; three airframe and one engine. The airframe is all-composite and uses the best blend of materials and moulding techniques.
The fuselage and wings are vacuum bag moulded using advanced pre-preg epoxy and phenolic fireproof resins. Glass and carbon fibre facings are used to make the parts, along with a high-density pvc foam core material.
The fuselage comes in three mouldings – top, bottom and cockpit module. The cockpit moulding consists of seats, centre console, fuel tank area, headrests, baggage area and rear bulkhead. This moulding also includes all the hard points for undercarriage, engine mount, control system, wing and seat belt attachments.
The wings come pre-moulded and largely pre-assembled, requiring very little work to complete. Flaps (or air brakes), ailerons, rudder and tailplanes are supplied in pre-formed extruded foam. They come complete with jigs and simply need covering with glass cloth and epoxy. Special lightweight fillers are used to give that glass-smooth finish.
All metal components come pre-made so there is no forming, jigging or welding to do. The instrument module comes in one moulding so the builder can completely fit it out with all instruments, switches, radios, etc. prior to installation. Our prototype is fitted with multi-pin plugs and sockets and the entire instrument module can be removed in less than five minutes.
The Europa kit is designed for the first-time builder and no prior knowledge is assumed. The plans and instructions take you in small steps through the complete project with explanations of what to do, when to do and how to do. The instructions contain an education chapter covering techniques, materials used, workshop layout and tools required. Before you start building the airframe you complete the Europa wheel chock as part of the education chapter. This is designed to give you practice and confidence in the materials and techniques used. Because the Europa is an advance build kit, we estimate that it should take between 500 and 1000 man-hours to complete, depending upon the level of equipment and finish
The latest version the Europa XS has recently celebrated the milestone of 1000 Europa’s sold. A Mono-wheel and a Tri-gear version of the Europa XS are available while a whole new world has been opened up with the introduction of the Europa XS Motor Glider. The transition from short, touring wings to long Motor Glider wings can be accomplished in a matter of minutes, offering Europa owners an unparalleled choice of aircraft configuration.
The Tri-gear aircraft is much easier to operate in the takeoff and landing phase than the mono-wheel plane, being similar to a Cessna 150 or Cherokee. This aircraft exhibits better paved field handling. It has the same max. takeoff weight as the mono, that is 1450 lb (US only), so will have approx. 30lb/14kg less useful load than the mono. Although not having the same soft wet grass field performance of the mono-wheel, the tri gear can be compared to a Cessna 150 in terms of rough field capability. Once in the air, both airplanes exhibit the same delightful handling. the major benefit of the mono-wheel is the reduction in weight and increase in performance, its about 5-10 kts faster than the tri-gear.
