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IMG_6297
The ease of getting the engine is inversely proportional to the cost. Just fork out enough moolah to buy a wel appointed family car and within a week the postman drops this on your doorstep.
It also means I have had to sell the family car and now drive a Twizy.
Date: 11/26/2016
Views: 1298
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IMG_6299
Martien van Lievenogen maintains the engines of a B-25 bomber, so who better to help me with the installation?
Date: 12/22/2016
Views: 1038
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IMG_6300
Martien comes up from Eindhoven with some serious hoisting equipment.
Date: 12/22/2016
Views: 1075
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IMG_6302
Building a Europa would be extremely dull if everything went right the first time. This applies to the engine as well it seems. It is delivered without a mounting frame. Call the dealer who tells me most planes use a different mounting so the frame is not delivered as standard. I ordered the engine for a EUROPA, so how difficult can that be? But no problem, if I give him even more money he will send me one.
Turns out fitting the frame to the engine is a nightmare. All sorts of stuff has to come off and even then it is like a Chinese puzzle to get it to fit. We persevere and win.
Date: 12/22/2016
Views: 1513
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IMG_6303
After the frame is on, all the bits like the water pump and wiring have to go back on again.
Date: 12/22/2016
Views: 997
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IMG_6399
A problem with the water pump is that the lower port position interferes with the engine frame. Has nobody at Rotax ever thought that one through?? Solution is to heat the tube and twist it slightly as shown.
Date: 03/16/2017
Views: 1195
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IMG_6305
The Europa engine frame goes on next. The bolts need to be cut, but with the stbd bottom one it is a close call between shortening it enough to fit in the frame and keeping enough thread at the end. As usual a tap with the hammer is needed to make the difference.
Date: 12/22/2016
Views: 938
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IMG_6309
Last step is fitting the lot to the landing gear frame. The bottom two bolts in particular are daunting because by this time the holes are virtually inaccessible from the back.
Date: 12/24/2016
Views: 971
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IMG_6311
Then the engine needs to be aligned properly. Vertically at 90 deg, and slightly offset to the right. This is adjusted with washers. Since you have four sets to play with, no idea how much effect each washer has and in what direction, and rubber mounts, the possibilities to get it wrong and be frustrated are alarmingly high.
Date: 12/24/2016
Views: 950
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IMG_6312
Since a number of different combinations of washers will need to be tried, you basically have to take the engine off every time. I get around that by pulling the bolts out halfway and carefully inserting or taking out washers. With the tension on the whole construction the washers fall out four out of five times, but it is still preferable.
Date: 12/24/2016
Views: 967
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IMG_6314
IT'S ON! Another one of those "I might actually get this thing to fly" moments
Date: 12/24/2016
Views: 898
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IMG_6361
Putting on the exhaust springs. Spent some time thinking out clever gizmos to stretch out and place them, but in the end a screwdriver held at both ends is very effective and quick.
Date: 12/28/2016
Views: 1197
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IMG_6363
Exhaust completed
Date: 12/28/2016
Views: 1107
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IMG_6372
Drilling and clecoing the air duct
Date: 12/29/2016
Views: 1069
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IMG_6373
Riveting stuff
Date: 12/29/2016
Views: 1020
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IMG_6374
Proud puppy
Date: 12/29/2016
Views: 1063
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IMG_6376
The holes for the water cooler don't line up so need some trimming to make them round again
Date: 12/31/2016
Views: 1063
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IMG_6377
Trial fitting the oil cooler. You don't want to do this on your back, especially as the bolt sizes in the manual turn out to be wrong. Same for the water cooler.
Date: 12/31/2016
Views: 1025
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IMG_6396
Another WTF moment.. Things had been going too smoothly. Fitted the air duct, the brackets and coolers with little trouble, so it was time for the Europa Gremlin to strike back. Find that the outlets of the water cooler overlap the muffler. Don't know exactly how hot it gets but it must be more than a silicone hose can stand. The whole lot will have to come off again. Shite.
Date: 03/01/2017
Views: 886
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IMG_6409
The duct needs to be considerably further back than I thought. That is what you get when the manual shows a grainy photo with the caption "approximate position of cooling duct" with an obsolete muffler, which gives you no guidance at all. Anyway, this is the new position. Should have measured the coordinates for posterity but now it's in I am durn well not going to take it out again. Use eyeball instead.
Another problem is that the space between the footwells recedes and getting the ducting even a few cm further back is impossible. I dont't want to disassemble the duct to trim it so resort to the inelegant solution of sanding the footwells slightly. Looks worse than it is. But be warned- trim the back end of the CD 1 a few mm before riveting on CD 2 and 3.
Date: 04/14/2017
Views: 951
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IMG_6411
The same for the stbd side.
Date: 04/14/2017
Views: 1004
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IMG_6418
The oil cooler goes back on.
Date: 04/18/2017
Views: 950
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IMG_6421
The water radiator reinstalled. The bolts in the forward postion of the CD 4 and 5 brackets stick into the sides of the radiator. That cannot be good so I sand them down as far as possible. That stops them from pressing directly but with vibration I think it may be necessary to put something absorbent in between.
Date: 04/18/2017
Views: 1043
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IMG_6424
The first water hose goes on. It is a tight fit between the engine frame and the firewall, which makes it difficult to push onto the radiator. A bit of vaseline helps!
Date: 04/23/2017
Views: 897
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IMG_6423
Same for the hose to the water pump.
Date: 04/23/2017
Views: 945
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IMG_6425
Hose from oil sump banjo to oil cooler
Date: 04/25/2017
Views: 912
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IMG_6426
Hose from oil cooler to reservoir.
Date: 04/25/2017
Views: 981
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Cowling installation
Opening up all the holes, including one for the extra cooling duct
Date: 03/23/2014
Views: 1011
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IMG_5761
Splash moulding fitted in place
Date: 03/23/2014
Views: 1120
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IMG_5763
Building up the duct with micro and bid
Date: 03/23/2014
Views: 1359
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IMG_5765
Finished duct
Date: 03/26/2014
Views: 1316
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Fitting the cowlings
The two cowling halves need to be trimmed to fit each other and the plane. The manual suggests clecoing them together and adjusting to the firewall. Sounds reasonable enoough, but you dont know how to put them together UNTIL you know how they fit around the firewall, and you can't find that out because the propeller hole won't fit around the flange at this stage. Fitting the top first and then the bottom is also not an option because the flanges are the wrong way round to do that.
The only option is to do it in exactly the "wrong" order and start with the bottom cowling, despite having to work against gravity.
Date: 01/11/2017
Views: 1144
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IMG_6383
Luckily there is one thing you can do without problems and that is trim the back edge of the upper cowling.
Date: 01/11/2017
Views: 1146
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IMG_6393
Getting the bottom cowling roughly in position. Front end needs to be 25mm from propeller flange and centred on it
Date: 02/28/2017
Views: 1024
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IMG_6394
I start off with the back bottom of the cowling, trimming it to fit the flange on the fuselage. Cleco it, then work upwards, making sure that when it hangs loose the front is still the required distance from the propeller flange
Date: 02/28/2017
Views: 923
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IMG_6398
Same for stbd side
Date: 03/01/2017
Views: 956
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IMG_6656
End up at the top of the cowling. The last bit of the cowling flange needs to be cut off to get the cowling flush with the firewall flange.
Date: 06/05/2017
Views: 1003
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IMG_6655
Because the cowling will sag without the support needed to fix it in the first place, it is a bit of a gamble whether I have pulled it back far enough. Turns out just right. Phew.
Date: 06/05/2017
Views: 1159
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IMG_6657
Trimming and clecoing the top cowling
Date: 06/05/2017
Views: 1089
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IMG_6659
Rear of top cowling in place
Date: 06/07/2017
Views: 1077
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Milspec Series 4000 fasteners
It is clear to me that the Europa method of fixing the cowlings with anchor nuts and screws is a non-starter. Some kind of quick release is an absolute must. Looking at sites like Aircraft Spruce shows you can get receptacles, grommets, retainers etc in all sorts of shapes and sizes. The possible combinations are astronomical and and how do I know any of them are suitable for the Europa?
Raimo Toivio advises Milspec fasteners. Turns out they have a one-size-fits-all adjustable solution.Two in fact. At their recommendation I opt for the larger 4000 series, though seeing how solid they are (these can hold an Apache together!), the 2000 series would probably have done fine. They're also slightly cheaper. The photo shows the parts and tools you get from Milspec.
Date: 06/30/2017
Views: 1163
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IMG_6660
First action is drilling holes for the grommets with the step drill
Date: 06/08/2017
Views: 1015
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IMG_6661
The grommet goes in the hole
Date: 06/08/2017
Views: 1155
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IMG_6662
The grommet is fixed with a retainer ring which is pushed on with a tool resembling a door stop
Date: 06/08/2017
Views: 1121
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IMG_6663
The retainer is popped in with a special pair of pliers
Date: 06/08/2017
Views: 1353
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IMG_6664
Milspec have a special template for drilling the receptacle rivet holes, a fact I somehow missed in ordering. Make one myself. What better material to use for a template than.. a template
Date: 06/09/2017
Views: 1359
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IMG_6665
Riveting in a receptacle. The rivet holes need to to countersunk. The Cherry rivets supplied have a sort of washer on top which comes off as the rivet is pulled. I initially countersunk too deep before I realised this.
Date: 06/09/2017
Views: 1282
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IMG_6782
The 4000 series may be adjustable, that does not apply to the rivets. Those supplied are fine for most of the positions, but where there is a large buildup of glass and Araldite such as at the bottom of the footwell and fuselage joins, they are definitely too short. Grinding down the area helps in some cases, but you can't do that too far, so for the difficult ones I resort to the Europe supplied rivets. If you are considering this solution, it may be worth getting Milspec to send you 10 or so longer Cherries.
Tip: If you mispull the Cherry rivets they are impossible to drill out. The only way is to use a powerfile to sand off the other side, then use a punch to knock it out.
Date: 06/29/2017
Views: 10589
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IMG_6670
Adjusting the depth. The receptacles are initially free to turn in their housing (Tip: use a screwdriver to turn them as far out as possible before fitting). Once the retainer is in you keep turning it clockwise, the receptacle will pull it in and you stop when the retainer is flush with the grommet. Pull a small pin out of the receptacle, it locks and that's it! Perfect fit every time.
Date: 06/09/2017
Views: 1314
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IMG_6674
Marking out the area around the flange that needs to be removed
Date: 06/09/2017
Views: 1285
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Look Ma, no hatches!
Because the cowling can now come off and on in seconds, at the recommendation of Raimo I dispense with the the access panels for oil and water. Less work, less weight and less drag
Date: 06/30/2017
Views: 1438
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