Finally have some space in hanger to assemble this LE so getting Started, been making progress this last week and getting all the little things finished. Working in the home garage, shop, things go so much faster because everything you need is right there and if you need a break or some cool air, on these hot days, it is just a few feet away. Working at the airport requires lots of pre-planing and staying far out in front of exactly where you are. A good work period can be destroyed by not having correct tool, missing bolt or nut and everything takes longer, at least get lots of steps in.
As the building progresses some things yield nice savings in weight but other items are not as simple. I have not weighted the seat belts yet, hope to tomorrow, but I bet they weight 3 pounds or more. Switches, I am wiring this LE different than ORV and have eliminated 2 switches and some other electrical weight but the switch that remains is not light. Fuel tanks get built but things that attache to them like the tank outlet fitting and fuel valve, are make of brass, could not find ones make of aluminum that will fit what i am doing. I could save a bit with a small inline fuel valve, but would prefer a fixed location, if it is ever needed to be shut off in an emergency I do not want to be feeling where it may be.
There are a lot of things I doing with this LEXL that are different than the norm. After testing I will provide my findings to allow others to advance from my experience. The tail wheel is not new, I am replicating what what Denny Saleen had on his Legal Eagle in Oshkosh in 2018. It has some possibilities of saving weight, being easy to build and after testing to see if it meets my requirements will let you know findings. Other changes get involved and once tested we will pass on.
So starting now we are working on getting this LEXL assembled and our goal is to Start taxi testing next weekend and Lift off a few days later. The fun thing about building a Legal Eagle is when getting to the end it is not like larger machines where you are 80% complete with 75% to go. Fuel system finalization, instrument panels, wiring, rigging and weight and balance are not months and months of work but only a few days.
Legal Eagle Flying Adventures 