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Flying the Lancair Evolution turboprop in Europe (production moved to Europe)

Last I heard, they designed it to be certified. Whether they will ever achieve that, I doubt, because they can sell enough for the US Experimental regime.

But that is one plane which would make me want to move up right now.

300kt, 28000ft.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

... now if we could build and fly FAA regime experimentals down here...

EBZH Kiewit, Belgium

But that is one plane which would make me want to move up right now.

Same here, everlasting dilemma: single turboprop or twin piston?

LDZA LDVA, Croatia

My take on that is that - money aside - it hangs first on the mission profile, and second on parking etc facilities (it's a bigger plane) back home.

The logical next step is the Jetprop. I have flown in it a bit and it's a great plane. Awesome performance and - especially for a TP conversion - it has good range. My reservations are

  • One would not be doing local bimbles in it; it's just not the sort of aircraft for sightseeing, and being able to easily do local flights is important to me

  • It isn't as strong as the TB20 - evidenced by the in-flight breakup numbers between the two types

But against a DA42, there is no contest. The Jetprop (or something like the PT6 Lancair if you could operate one in Europe) would completely outclass a DA42 in every respect except, subjectively, the looks.

I would also think that anything that is not relying on Diamond parts and servicing is a good idea.

This article on twins v. singles is quite interesting.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

The only thing that makes it useless for European pilots that you can't fly IFR with US experimentals. Apart from that, one could operate it over here, correct?

I agree, that's a very attractive aircraft.

I interacted 2 years ago by e-mail with the owner of a N registered Lancair 4P based in Switzerland. Here are his statements concerning flying IFR in a N registered experimental in Europe: "so far I had no problems. For Germany I had to ask for a permit and received it for one year. In France I had never problems. In London nobody asked about it either. In Switzerland no special permission is needed.

I always call the country's FAA and ask what I need to enter the country."

Belgium

In the UK you are limited to 30 days.

Not sure how they measure it, because obviously they don't care if it is sitting in a hangar for a year. Anything can sit in a hangar. I think the permission is for flights during a 30 day time frame, only.

Obviously if you don't ask / don't tell, it's OK but that's not the same question If the flight is illegal before it departs, you definitely won't be insured.

If one could fly US Experimentals reasonably easily in Europe, it would be a totally dramatic development which would demolish most of the crap we have to deal with.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

In the UK you are limited to 30 days.

In Germany you need a yearly permission which is usually a formality. There was some excitement in 2012 because the permissions were not granted due to some administrative issue but it was resolved. There are a lot of N-reg experimentals flying in Europe.

I don't know what the rules are when flying with a US experimental from one Euro country to another. Do you need a permission like for micro lights?

I just checked again regarding IFR -- you cannot fly IFR/VFR night with EASA reg experimentals but you can do with N-reg experimentals provided they are approved for IFR by the FAA. So the Lancair 4P can fly IFR in Europe. Hmm, how much was one again?

In Germany you need a yearly permission which is usually a formality. There was some excitement in 2012 because the permissions were not granted due to some administrative issue but it was resolved. There are a lot of N-reg experimentals flying in Europe.

That is really interesting because if you'd built the aircraft, or had an A&P certificate (not IA), you could sign off your own maintenance and inspections. Basically you would be independent with your aircraft.

I noticed that David Robb, the American ex BMW designer, had an N-registered experimental Pitts in Germany that he was trying to sell. I'd wondered how he made that work...

Same here, everlasting dilemma: single turboprop or twin piston?

If you want a piston twin that rivals a single engine turboprop I think you need to move aaall the way up to the high end of the segment and even there you might have a hard time finding a suitable candidate. A Cessna 421 maybe. From a safety point of view, piston twins are less safe, especially when flown by a crew of one.

Although much more expensive to buy, in many countries in Europe a small single engine turboprop (like a Cessna Silver Eagle or a JetProp) can be operated more economical than a piston twin due to the price of avgas.

The only thing I don't like about turboprops (except that I can't afford them) is that they are not ment to fly low. When I fly to new places, I don't want to see the places i overfly from 24k feet.. To me that's to much like sitting in the back of a 737. Instead, I rather do shorter legs and go a bit slower.

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