Legal Eagle Flying Adventures

On a nice cool day installing and rigging the wings is a chore but on a day that reached almost 100 degrees in a hanger that was even hotter I could never have gotten it done with out help of Susan, Jeff and Madison.  I want to thank them for there help and support.  There is lots to do yet, install aileron fill pieces, they are a setting in back of hanger waiting there turn, install ailerons and install control linkages. Finish wiring the tail surface braces, complete fuel tank installation, waiting on fuel line, complete wiring to instrument panel, waiting on switch and install center section cover and last but not least install windshield.   Sounds like a lot but will not take long.  Hope to be taxi testing next weekend or early week after.

These are the aileron nose fillers. I used hardware store gutter aluminum material and bent it by hand on edge of work bench with 1×2’s and clamps.

I would be nice to have a 8′ bending brake but this works and does the job.

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.