Originally Posted by
MarcusH
It's interesting that you have flown both types. How were they to fly? Which had a better payload? Which landed and took off shorter? Finally which was faster?
The quoted cruise speed of the Bristell with a Rotax 912ULS 100hp engine is 116 knots, which I assume is at 75% power. With the same engine and power setting, the Europa tri-gear
without wheel fairings (spats/pants) is about the same speed, but with the fairings it cruises 5 knots faster. The Bristell already has the fairings, so nothing more can be gained.
The Europa mono-wheel cruises at around 125 knots with the same engine, while the fastest Europa mono with the Rotax 914 turbo 115hp can make well above 150 knots TAS cruising at 10,000 ft. I have performed a WOT check in such a Europa at 2000 ft and seen Vne 165 knots indicated straight and level.
Generally Europas are a lot less capable load-wise that the Bristell, but having a higher wing loading they cope much better in turbulence. With full fuel the Bristell can go maybe 50% further, but most people don't want to travel for so long between pee stops. In the UK the maximum weight allowed for a Europa is 622 kg (1370 lbs). Empty weights of Europas vary widely, but the last time I tried to calculate a fleet average, the answer I got was around 400 kg (880 lbs). So the difference of 222 kg (490 lbs), less full fuel 49 kg (108 lbs) leaves 173 kg (380 lbs) to play with. Not much!
As regards tall pilots, the XS has the extended foot-well and pedals on the left, with no adjustment possible apart from cushions. I've seen tall pilots cope well enough without the Hi-Top modification, but they use very thin cushions.