The Europa XS and Europa Classic are a family of Britishcomposite two-place low-wingmonoplanekit aircraft. Designed by Ivan Shaw, the Europa was introduced in the early 1990s. Europas are manufactured by Europa Aircraft and supplied as kits for amateur construction. More than 450 Europas have been completed. The Europa was conceived as a modern kit aircraft for personal use within Europe. Its design aims were: high speed, low cost, able to be built and stored at home, easily transportable on a trailer, using Mogas fuel, able to be rigged for flight in under five minutes, carrying two people in comfort, and providing sufficient baggage for extended touring. Apart from "low cost", these objectives were largely met.
Development
Ivan Shaw's design work on the Europa, as it was initially named, began in January 1990. The first prototype, G-YURO, first flew on 12 September 1992 and Popular Flying Association certification was gained in May 1993. Most Europas have been sold in kit form, although five factory-assembled aircraft were produced between 1994 and 1996. The first kit-built aircraft to be completed flew on 14 October 1995. By the autumn of 2007 450 Europas of all types had been completed and were flying. The basic design was later developed by Ivan Shaw into a United StatesFARcertified aircraft, built by Liberty Aerospace in the US as the Liberty XL2. The Europa is classified as a homebuilt in its home country of the UK and qualifies for a Permit to Fly. This limits it to day and VFR flight. Previous restrictions of flying over built up areas were removed during 2008. In Canada the Europa is an amateur-built aircraft and qualifies for a Special Certificate of Airworthiness. In 1997 UK Prime Minister Tony Blair launched the Millennium Products competition to promote British industry in the 21st Century. This culminated in 1999 with a winners list of 1012 manufacturers and their products. One of these was the Europa XS, described as "A light aircraft which offers speed, economy and performance and can be stored on a trailer in your garage." Europas are flown in Europe in the very light aircraft category. In the United States the Europa XS is currently awaiting light-sport aircraft certification and as of April 2017 the design does not appear on the Federal Aviation Administration's list of approved special light-sport aircraft.
Design
The streamlined composite design and the particularly low canopy give the Europa both high cruise speeds and high fuel efficiency due to its low drag. The Europa can be fitted with Rotax 912UL of, the Rotax 912ULS or the turbocharged Rotax 914 engine. Europas first became available with a monowheel landing gear and a tailwheel. The wings had small castors on outriggers that were lowered with the flaps. Shaw chose the monowheel configuration for its perceived advantages of reduced weight and improved performance over a tricycle configuration. In practise, the monowheel Europa proved tricky in inexperienced hands and could be prone to prop-strikes and groundlooping so the company developed a tricycle undercarriage which has become the more popular version, particularly as any performance disadvantage has been slight. Europas can be fitted with either normal wings made out of fiberglass, with wing area and 13.43 lb/ft2 wing loading at MTOW, or motorglider wings, made from carbon fiber with a greater span. Since the fuselage is common to both motorglider and tourer then with both sets of wings the same fuselage can be configured as a tourer and a motorglider alternately. The wings can be removed for transportation or storage in five minutes. The Europa touring wing uses a unique Dykins 12% thickness/chord ratio airfoil designed by Don Dykins, who had been deputy Chief Aerodynamicist at Hawker Siddeley Aviation, and later technical director of British Aerospace and chief aerodynamicist on the European Airbus. The motorglider wing uses a different wing section, also designed by Dykins, with its center of pressure coincident with that of the smaller wing to ensure that the rudder and tailplane are equally effective with either. Wingspan is increased to bringing the wing area to. The motorglider wings are fitted with airbrakes rather than flaps. Development is also under way for wings suitable for a light-sport aircraft variant of Europa XS. The fuel tanks are located in the fuselage and have a capacity of standard and optional. This gives a range of standard or extended at economy cruise setting. The plane can use AVGAS or MOGAS depending on engine requirements and national regulations. It is also possible to upgrade fuel capacity with the addition of extra fuel tanks.
On 1 June 2007 a Europa Classic, registration G-HOFC, broke up during a flight over South Wales, United Kingdom, killing both occupants. The investigation indicated irregularities in the construction of the right wing attachment at the rear lift/drag pin. There was also evidence of movement of the tailplane surfaces beyond the normal range of movement. As a result of the initial findings, the Light Aircraft Association released two Airworthiness Bulletins requiring immediate and repetitive inspections:
PFA 247/FSB006 ‘Europa Classic and Europa XS Tailplane Flutter Avoidance and Integrity Of Tailplane Attachment’
PFA 247/FSB007 ‘Europa Classic Integrity of Wing Attachment’.
The content of these Airworthiness Bulletins was made mandatory in the UK by the issue of Mandatory Permit Directives. The final accident report concludes that these modifications and the mandated inspections of aircraft already completed, adequately address the construction issue. This accident affects only Europa Classics, all of which should have now been modified, and not the XS model which has a different structure.
Aircraft on display
Yorkshire Air Museum - prototype Europa G-YURO, painted in its Millennium Product colours.
