Well, what they don't tell you is just about everything! Having had a share in an aircraft for a while, I decided I would take the plunge and buy my own. Syndicate flying is great, very cheap and few downsides. For me, I wanted to be more in control, to do what I wanted, fly when I wanted and not have to worry about checking a diary to see if someone else had realised it was going to be a nice day.
I'd done some research and concluded that what I wanted was a 600kg microlight which would give me everything - cheap to fly, cheap to land and have the carrying capacity for a passenger and/or gear and a full tank of fuel. I scoured the various websites advertising planes for sale and one or two came up that fitted the bill, including a Europa XS Trigear that, whilst not a microlight, certainly looked the part and ticked pretty much all of the boxes. As a plus, it was located at Bicester, around an hours drive for me. I arranged a viewing.
The owner was extremely friendly and helpful and showed me the plane. It was a home build, though not by him, had only flown a couple of hundred hours in its lifetime and benefitted from a rebuilt engine - due to having sat around doing nothing for several years. A test flight followed and it was so easy to control, reminding me in many ways of the Eurostar I currently flew. As a bonus,the engine was much quieter, well, it didn't need to work as hard, being a six cylinder, three litre engine, cruising at around 2,300 rpm whereas the Eurostar was 4,500 rpm. I was sold. We did the financial stuff and during early February 2024 I arranged to fly over with James, one of my instructors to pick up the plane and I would fly it back to Gloucester.
Firing it up, we stared at the control panel, trying to prioritise what to look at, obviously engine oil pressure and temperature were vitally important. The was an Engine Monitoring computer with a good, clear readout that helped enormously, showing those values plus fuel pressure, Cylinder and Exhaust temperatures - although I didn't know what the values needed to be so they were just numbers at this stage. Happy that everything looked reasonable, we made the decision to head over to the end of the runway.
The steering is slightly unusual in that it works on finger brakes, the rudder pedals only controlling the rudder so below about 20 knots, the rudder plays no part in the directional control. We zig-zagged across Bicester taxi way to the end of the runway, desperately trying to master steering! Engine warm enough and pre-take off checks done, the power went on and we sped down the runway and off. This was much more powerful than the Eurostar and I found I was raising flaps almost as soon as we had lifted off.
Back at Gloucester we made a reasonable landing, although the front wheel shimmied like it was going to fall off. James suggested I get it looked at - job one already. Over the course of the next couple of weeks, I flew with Phil on circuits and a bit of upper air work, just to ensure I was doing things right and he agreed I get the wheel looked at. Parking it in the hangar I just stared at it, this was my plane, good or bad, it was my plane!
I asked around and was referred to an aviation engineer over at Finmere who I contacted about the wheel shimmy. We agreed a day and time and I took the plane over. The problem was quickly rectified, there is a nut on the top of the wheel arrangement that needs to be tightened to reduce the play. Testing is simply a case of attaching a spring scale and pulling to see what the force required is, it should be around 8kg to move the wheel. We adjusted it until it was within spec and I took it for a quick test, all was good, job done. I'd set aside the day for this job but finished so early I decided to go off to Welshpool for lunch, partly because I had plenty of time and partly because I could do what I liked. On the way, problem two reared its ugly head - the radio performed very badly with lots of noise, I tried for a service with Brize Radar but had to give up as I couldn't hear them. Welshpool radio wasn't much better and I had to be almost in the circuit to hear properly. Luckily with Gloucester, I could hear them as I came South of Worcester.
Experimenting later with the radio and reading about other peoples problems, I traced it to the USB cable that charged the Sky Echo device, removing that, the problem went away! I'd actually managed to fix a problem all on my own!.
Since then I've done a reasonable amount of flying, getting used to the considerably faster cruise speed. The Eurostar cruised at around 80 knots, the Europa is happy at 120 knots. One of the initial problems I had with it was slowing it down to circuit and landing speed but as I flew more I got that more under control. During April, I arranged for the engine to get a 100 hour service. The engine is a Jabiru which is a very specialised engine, but I'd been given Steve Carrs name, who is an expert with that engine and an all round nice guy too. Based at Brimpton, less than an hour away, we arrranged a date and I delivered the plane to him and caught the train home. A couple of days later, caught the train back to Mingham and enjoyed a thirty minute walk across the fields to the airport. All was well with the engine, Steve had worked his magic, but also gave me a list of items that he recommended to be done, some I could tackle myself, others we agreed were for him and would be done at the next service. Jabiru engines need a service every 25 hours, but at 25 and 75 it is just an oil change which I have done myself, then pass it to Steve for the 50 and 100 hour work.
I'd hoped for a couple of months of easy fun flying, but quickly realised that the Annual Inspection was coming up. I contacted the Inspector who had done the work whilst it was at Bicester but he had more or less retired and recommended I speak to Dave Bland, a local Inspector. This I did and we got together so that I could show him what I had, which comprised of a huge holdall full of manuals, forms and stuff, plus a tailored service plan that I had created from the LAA templates. The latter was almost immediately binned and I was sent away with homework - create a single document that covers everything. I researched and searched and asked other pilots what they did. I then decided I needed a holiday, it was becoming overwhelming.
On my return from holidays I set about creating the form and was quite pleased with the results. I sent it off to Dave for his views and it turned out he was quite pleased with the document. A few well received comments were incorporated into version two which hopefully we will use for the actual Inspection/Service. In the meantime, I've acquired a Check Flight template, persuaded one of my Cotswold Aero Club fellow pilots to come along as note taker and results observer and am now working towards the Annual Inspection. In the meantime, if the rain holds off, I'll be doing some flying.
It then occurred to me that I might need some kind of official authorisation to perform the check flight so I contacted the LAA who told me that I needed to have 100 hours of SEP flying (tick) and at least 10 hours on the actual aircraft (tick) so it looks like I'm good to go with that part at least. There are no forms to complete which was a surprise, all I needed to do was to confirm my hours and that was that.
The Annual inspection went well, although there was a lot to do and as it was my first ever, most of it was done by Dave with me helping where possible. I learned a lot and hopefully next year I can tackle quite a bit of it myself. Major jobs included two new tyres on the main landing gear and a complete replacement of the Scat Hoses, the latter I did unsupervised which was very satisfying. The plane passed apart from a couple of issues with the starboard wing: a small crack was noticed, which, on closer inspection turned out to be nothing, and the push rod connecting rivets were loose which is slightly more work, requiring them to be removed and replaced with larger ones.
Unfortunately with the additional work, the permit expired before it was complete. Apparently it is not a problem and a check flight can easily be signed off by Dave. I guess a lesson learned is to start the Annual well in advance (I thought I had!) to allow for issues to be raised and solved in good time. Once the wing is repaired and check flight done, the permit can be applied for and hopefully returned quickly.
So, how is it working out? Well, there is a lot to do and a lot of paperwork. After every flight I have to fill in my personal logbook, plus the aircraft logbook, engine logbook, make a note of landings, make a note of any fuel I've uploaded and any other associated costs. I'm enjoying creating the various documents and forms and even wrote a Pilot Check list which I made into a booklet to keep in the plane. There have been some expenses buying toys; life jacket, PLB, iPad for Sky Demon and a spare headset. I even got a set of furry dice for my birthday which will hang in the plane, purely for my amusement, but will most definitely be 'Remove before Flight'.
The relationship with Steve Carr came to an end when he decided to stop servicing aircraft engines, so I looked around for an alternative and came across Targett Aviation, who now have the service contract, so hopefully that will be longer lived. Owning a plane is an ongoing round of flying, tinkering and flying again. After one engine service it was recommended that I change all the Scat hoses. I tackled that myself and was well pleased with the outcome, although one of the hoses did come too close to the exhaust and melted! I replaced that, adding some thermal lagging. Dave and I had a go at modifying the cowling to make it fit easier and I took the opportunity of re-routing one of the Scat hoses to reduce the number of twists and turns. This involved some hacksaw work which made me a little nervous, but it all went well and the hose is much straighter now. I also replaced the landing light connections to a snap fit as the old system required removal of the end plugs which go onto the lamp itself and these were becoming unreliable. So far, so good!
With the cowling, a modification to the front has now made it much easier to refit, and with the addition of a couple of mattresses I can position the lower cowling in such a way that I can refit it on my own - a major step forward.
Recently I discovered an oil leak which I couldn't track down, so took it to Targett. With some trial and error we discovered it was the oil filter, which had come loose! Tightening and the problem went away, well, until the next oil change, since when, there has been a further oil leak, so far, untraceable but definitely not the oil filter this time. Further investigation is ongoing.
The latest problem to occur was that a car backed into the plane whilst I was refuelling! The driver was an employee of the airport and the whole thing was captured on CCTV so there is no question of blame. Repairs are due to take place any time soon, but the cost is an astonishing £4,000! Luckily covered by the airport insurance.
The footer has links to the Gloster Strut, LAA and Europa Club, but here are some links that are perhaps more specific to owning an aircraft.
I have a Sky Echo fitted and was keen to see what the performance was like. This website shows the results for an aircraft.
If you're planning to leave your aircraft outside for a period of time or perhaps just want a cover for occasional trips, then Aircraft Covers might be a good place to start.
Planning a trip? Here is a list of all of the airports in the United Kingdom.
For General Aviation safety, check out GASCo
Always wondered what that abbreviation means but were afraid to ask? Abbreviations lists most of them.
Same thing for the Met Office Abbreviations
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