Europa XS - Why one big wheel?! Wanting to buy? 

Thanks for this comment. I’m thinking of buying one of the mono wheels and my only concern is the one mentioned of prop strike as I would be flying mostly in and out of grass strips. What’s your view and experience on this? Thanks, Ian

@@ian757 I’ve never had a problem flying of grass strips and down to 200 meters in length😊 Just keep in mind to take of in a three point attitude and lett the tailwheel leave the ground last and realease a bit backpressure on the stick when airborn to build airspeed. It just jumps in the air when she will fly at about 50-55kts. And the same for landing. Three-point attitude with tailwheel touching down first and stick all the way back to have tailwheel controll immediately after touchdown😊 You’ll get used to the handling of the Monowheel. And try to get a hold of the XS, not the classic. It’s the classics that have had an issue with groundloops and propstrike mostly because og the tailwheel beeing almost 1 meter closer to the main wheel

Ditto.

@iancaesar427 I certainly hope not! The mono has to be flown with care, that's for sure but is perfectly predictable and a pussy cat on grass. I only ever use the wheel brake for power checks. It is really important to keep the steerable tailwheel firmly in contact with the ground to ensure directional control so using the brakes is not a good idea. The Monowheel XS is vastly improved over the classic, with longer out riggers to prevent waddling which keeps the critical laminar flow wing, wings level, prior to the ailerons switching on at about 35kts. The mono XS also benefits from having an extended stinger type boom for the tail wheel, which increases the wheel base and places the aircraft in the flying attitude, negating the requirement for lifting the tail and running on the main wheel only prior to lift off. The accepted take off technique is to leave the stick on the back stop until the aircraft is ready to fly and to keep the ailerons neutral. G-JHKP featured several times (in cockpit shots) in the video, has a CS prop and 100hp Rotax ULS. As it leaps into the air, we relax the back pressure on the stick and adopt a sensible climb attitude. The elevator is very powerful and responsive and the tail can be raised long before the rudder becomes effective enough, to provide directional control. However, raising the tail in the normal way as per Auster Chipmunk Tiger Moth etc must be avoided as it puts the aircraft on it's main wheel, creating a single pivot point, about which the aircraft can and will yaw left. It does this for several reasons. Prop wash, P factor and the left wing being forced down onto the left out rigger, by the aircraft rolling in the opposite way to engine rotation. These all cause a left yawing force. Any cross wind from the left makes things worse. I am of the belief that experience and the redesigned extended tail wheel and outriggers of the XS have improved things hugely. In the Classic version raising the tail and trying to pick up a low wing were fraught with danger during acceleration. Ailerons not working, not working, not working but producing drag. Bang ailerons working at full deflection! Fully held off landings are required, so the stick hits the back stop at touch down, pinning the very effective steerable tailwheel back on the ground. I love our Mono XS. 14lph at 120kts 18lph at 130kts 1500fpm climb solo 1000 fpm @MTOW. Having several 1000 hours tail wheel flying and gliding coupled to 10,000 monowheel glider and motor glider take off and landing help I'm sure, I have been flying mono's of one sort or another for almost 50 years. Despite that I am very cautious on Hard Runways and will not entertain them in any sort of x-wind, whilst I've coped with 18kts from the left on grass. G-JHKP is comfortably operated from it's home 550m grass Strip and is airborne in 200-250m and takes 300- 400m to roll to a stop without resorting to the wheel brake. Using the brake will lighten the load on the tail wheel and risks loss of directional control.

The Classic is more prone to groundloops than the XS😊 Due to the tailwheel beeing almost 1 meter closer to the mainwheel. Never had any issue with groundloops with my XS neither on grads or asphalt😊

Thanks, I see you are also an EV97 pilot. No doubt we'll cross paths some day.

@@Mikejl83 That would be awesome to meet you at some point, hopefully at a fly in or event this year. Yes I have an Ev 97 Eurostar. :)

Interesting, I'd be worried about a prop strike on bumpy surfaces. My dad nearly bought one, but even as an ex glider pilot (in the early days of the classic?), he was put off by the mono-wheel. The Tri Gear or taildragger seems a much better proposition. If they can make a 600kg version for LSA type market I'm sure that they'll have a decent market share.