Europa XS
These figures describe a typical build. Each aircraft of this design was built by its owner, and the one you are looking at may differ.
The Europa XS is the 1997 development of Ivan Shaw's British two-seat composite kit, a low-wing with a 27 ft wing that detaches for trailering, 780 lb empty and 1,370 lb gross, sold with the distinctive retractable monowheel-and-outriggers gear or as the Trigear, and quoted by Jane's at 135 knots cruise and 636 nm on a Rotax 912 ULS; the earlier Classic is the same design with heavier wings.
The Europa was designed to live in a trailer and fly 135 knots on 100 hp, and it does both; the monowheel is what makes it polarising - a single main wheel with outriggers that demands a precise, tail-down landing and has caught out pilots used to conventional gear - so Trigear examples are easier to insure and sell. It is a composite kit from a company that changed hands, so the quality of layups and bonding, the gear and the fuel system are the builder's and the inspection is a specialist's; the Classic's wet-layup wings are heavier and older than the XS's moulded ones, and which it is matters. No stall figure was found here. The owner may maintain it and the condition inspection needs an A&P or the repairman certificate; Europa Aircraft in the UK still supports the type.
Variants of the Europa
- Europa XS · 1997 · 64 active · this page
Also consider
TAILFAX SCORE
Partial: 13 out of 30 (safety not scored, too few records)
Among 1–2 seat pistons (321 models)
Compare with…
Put Europa XS side by side with up to three other models.
- Europa XS
Watch this model
One email a day if anything changes: new ADs and NTSB records.
What it is
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | monowheel |
| Engines | — |
| Engine | Rotax 912 ULS (99 hp; 912 UL, 914 and others fitted) |
| Horsepower | 100 hp |
| Fuel | — |
| Certification basis | amateur-built |
| Production start | 1997 |
| Production end | — |
| Endorsements required | — |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 135 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 636 nm |
| Service ceiling | — |
| Climb rate | 1,000 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | — |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | — |
| Landing over 50 ft | — |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 590 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | — |
| Max takeoff weight | 1,370 lb |
| Empty weight | 780 lb |
| Usable fuel | — |
| Fuel burn at cruise | — |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $49,500 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $62,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | — |
| Overhaul cost, low | — |
| Overhaul cost, high | — |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 121 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 64 |
| Median year built | 2005 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 5 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 78.13 · thin base (low)1 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 78.13 · thin base (low)2 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 8 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 12.5 · thin base (low)3 |
| Airworthiness directives | 1 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | low |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 64 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 64 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 64 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 1-2 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | —1 |
| Severity | —2 |
| Access | 6.9 of 103 |
| Support | 4.4 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 1.7 of 105 |
| Overall (sum of the categories shown) | Partial: 13 out of 30 (safety not scored, too few records)6 |
- Accident record: class median 36.69 · 321 models in class.
- Severity: class median 13.04.
- Access: class median 1,000.
- Support: class median 77.5.
- Liquidity: class median 20.
- Each of the five categories places the model within its peer class, from 0 (the worst of the class) to 10 (the best): a position among comparable models, not a grade. The overall score is the sum of the categories shown that are scored, out of 10 for each (50 when all five are); it is given only when at least 4 of the five are scored, and it can be set against another model's only when both are in the same peer class and scored on the same categories. When accident record and severity cannot be scored because the model has too few records, the other three give a partial score out of 30, labelled as such; it is never set against a full score.
Data as of: FAA registry Sep 28 · NTSB Oct 2 · ADs Oct 6 · scores Sep 30