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Old 1st October 2005 | 17:25
  #13 (permalink)  
Confabulous
 
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 338
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From: Ireland
AFAIK the Europa isn't aerobatic - I suggest a Rans S6 if you want something that meets your needs!

AVGAS price is going to keep going up, and it will be phased out in the next 10 years - it's not very profitable for the oil companies. Mogas will obviously keep being produced, but Jet A1 will have far better availability at airfields.

Besides, projected fuel burn is apparently around the 9L/hour mark, and at roughly half the cost of AVGAS (with more complete combustion etc), that's double the flying hours for the same price. Yes, £7-£9 and hour isn't a lot, but let's face it - the Rotax engines aren't the most efficient - far better then the Lycomings perhaps, but according to the specs, Rotax fuel burn increases at higher alt due to the lack of a mixture control, therefore the SFC is around the .45 - .48 mark, while Jet A1 power engines would be down around the .35 mark. Besides, isn't the Rotax experimental too?

Personally I think the better efficiency and lower fuel costs would be worth the higher price.

And having roughly 30% more range would put the lid on it for me! I wonder if those long range tanks can be fitted....

Last edited by Confabulous; 1st October 2005 at 17:55.
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