Designed by Ivan Shaw, the Europa was introduced in the early 1990s. Europas are manufactured by Europa Aircraft and supplied as kits for amateur construction. More than 450 Europas have been completed. The Europa was conceived as a modern kit aircraft for personal use within Europe. Its design aims were: high speed, low cost, able to be built and stored at home, easily transportable on a trailer, using Mogas fuel, able to be rigged for flight in under five minutes, carrying two people in comfort, and providing sufficient baggage for extended touring. Apart from "low cost", these objectives were largely met. The streamlined composite design and the particularly low canopy give the Europa both high cruise speeds (up to 200 mph (322 km/h)) and high fuel efficiency (up to 50 mpg or 5.6 l per 100 km) due to its low drag. The Europa can be fitted with Rotax 912UL of 80 hp (60 kW), the 100 hp (75 kW) Rotax 912ULS or the turbocharged 115 hp (86 kW) Rotax 914 engine. For more details of development and design, click here. Variants Europa Classic Originally called simply "Europa", this version is now known as the Classic and is easily recognised by its monowheel undercarriage. Kits for amateur building are no longer in production. The laminar-flow wings have foam cores that are skinned with glass fibre cloth and resin. Some elements of the later Europa XS can be incorporated into a Classic and vice versa. Europa builders invariably purchased the kit in stages, so some who had completed the fuselage were able to then opt for the quick-build Europa XS wings. Europa XS Introduced in 1997, the Europa XS is available in two models – the Europa XS Monowheel and the Europa XS Trigear. The XS incorporates many incremental improvements over the Classic, including preformed hollow wings, a more streamlined cowling, extended tailwheel, enlarged baggage bay, and a smaller spinner that was easier to balance. These developments meant that Europa XS still fulfils the original design objectives, but now offers extra speed, range, baggage space and comfort. It was also designed to reduce the build-time and simplify building. Europa Motorglider Introduced in 1997. Long span glider wings can be interchanged with the wings on the Europa XS Monowheel and Trigear. Europa LSA The Europa light-sport aircraft has a new carbon fibre wing incorporating a leading-edge slot. The result is a wing weight reduction of 30%. It reduces the maximum takeoff weight to 1,320 lb (599 kg) with an empty weight of 520 lb (236 kg), giving a slightly increased payload. A concept version appeared at Sun 'n Fun in May 2010 and the production aircraft debuted at AirVenture 2012. The LSA was launched in the US at Sun n Fun April 2011. As of April 2017, the design does not appear on the Federal Aviation Administration's list of approved special light-sport aircraft. Europa Taildragger Some Europas with conventional taildragger configuration have been built. These are not "factory" versions, but they do have LAA approval.[citation needed] They are said to have easier handling than the monowheel version. Specifications below are for the Europa XS tricycle gear model. Europa tailwheel Europa Monowheel
