Gary Leinberger

I spent most of the summer getting ready for a trip to Florida in August (great time to be there) to work with Bud Yerly, the US Europa dealer. He has a shop where he helps Europa builders get over the difficult spots. I put a great deal of time this summer in preparing for this trip and it really paid off. We were able to get a terrific amount of work done over an 11 day period, working 8-12 hours a day.

Tasks finished included hooking up all the controls, installing the rear torque tube for the stabilator, hooking up the elevator trim motor and stabilator mass balance arm, installing the gear housings (a 40 hour job itself) , and installing the front wheel/motor mount support. We also mounted the wings and the flaps, as well as the ailerons and the quick disconnect fittings for the aileron controls. Finally, we put in the pitch control tube and the support for the upper canoe and installed the rudders and rudder cables. We also set up the finger brakes. So it was a busy time.

At Christmas I am planning on going down again. I left the plane in Florida to have Bud do a few other things for me, like wiring and finishing the wing pin mounts, and the rear of the wing bracing tube.  I brought my trailer home and plan to take it down with the rest of the parts, including the glider wings and motor (912S Rotax) that I just received last week.

Things to finish:

  1. Mount motor
  2. Buy prop – an Airmaster fully featherable for use in gliding
  3. Install top of canoe, and windows and windscreen.
  4. Firewall forward kit – i.e., the cowling
  5. Instruments and panel
  6. Paint

 So basically I have about 50% done and 95% to go. Total hours now is about 1250, and had about 1000 done at the beginning of the summer.

Here are some pictures of what I am building:

These are both mono-wheels – I am building the tri-gear and I have both sets of wings.

The glider is a mono-wheel, the short winged one is the tri-gear

Here’s a small shot of mine on the gear.

This is the gear support housing – what a bear! – 40 hours to build – including 6 just to get the 8 pieces of plywood correctly cut. The glassing was really a pain – tight spaces and bent over the cockpit for about 20 hours.

This is the tube for the elevator and the elevator tube mid-support/mass balance beam guide/support for the rear canoe (top). You can also see the rudder cables

This is the front wheel/motor mount support – the tube is the lower middle is the front wheel arm. On the right is my most important tool.

 Between now and Xmas I need to finish some fiber-glassing on the glider wings, and get moved out of my brother’s barn and moved into the Lancaster airport. Everything takes so much time.

I am also getting my Skystar Lite ultra-light safe to fly. I licensed it as a light-sport and once I get the blasted 2-cycle engine running safely, and the ignition shielded so my radio works a bit better, I will start flying it out of Lancaster airport.

This is late this summer flying out of Keller Brothers.