Facts and Figures About the Plane
About the Europa Kit
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 recommended engines for the Europa are the Rotax 912 80 bhp, 912S 100 bhp and the Rotax 914 Turbo version giving 115 bhp for takeoff and a maximum continuous power of 100 bhp.