Simply stated....because I was spoiled by the Facet 2300. The Euro flew fine and worked well off of the grass runway I flew from. But because I had been flying the Facet a lot more, I was used to being able to drop the flaps and then having to bring the throttle up to keep it in the air. It's easier to land than an ugly stick (and some would say it's uglier)

The Euro has no flaps and you must use aerodynamic braking to slow it down and land. For some reason (I'm sure it's mental on my part) I had a lot of difficulty doing this consistently. I don't know why I had so much trouble landing it, because I had flown many DFs in the past that had to be landed similarly (Byron F-16, Regal Eagle, George Miller T-38, to name a few). I had lots of beautiful landings with the Euro, but could not do it on a regular basis.

The YA F-18 has very effective flaps and once dropped I had to carry about half throttle. So landing it was just a matter of getting her lined up, then start easing back on the throttle, settle in on the mains, drop the throttle and let the nose drop.........just like the Facet. I lost the F-18 due to structural failure a few months ago (it was a 20 year old airframe that had been abused by me and others before me). I sure do miss it!!