Tiger Tim
Well-Known Member
With the ongoing discussion about V-twins on the forum and the general 'Wild West' state of conversions, there has been some talk of Leonard Milholland's (of Legal Eagle fame) plans as can be purchased here:
https://legaleagleairplane.com/product/briggs-and-stratton-engine-plan/
I will try and do my best to fairly review them without giving away any of their contents for free. That would be unfair to Mr. Milholland if I did. Bear in mind I only bought these so-called plans twenty minutes ago so they've only received a preliminary skim. Some may have noticed I've already referred to them as 'so-called plans' and that was on purpose. They are not what I'd call plans for a conversion though towards the back of the booklet are drawings for some ancillaries you can't just get off the shelf like a tube engine mount and exhaust flanges.
That's about the only downside I see here, that they may be misrepresented somewhat in what you're getting. Don't expect to order this package then walk into your machine shop with a Vanguard 23 and walk out some time later with a powerplant ready to your airplane. This is probably actually a good thing as it's really a book of, "Here's what we wanted, here's what we used to accomplish it, now here's a shopping list for you and written instructions for assembling as we did."
I don't know where else to say it so it's going here: total FWF weight as installed is 81lbs 2oz. This includes the engine mount and a Warp Drive prop.
The booklet runs through the following
-Pleasant greeting from Leonard
-Table of contents
-A sort of mission statement as well as what this engine conversion is and isn't
-Component weights in pounds and ounces. They start with the Vanguard as un-boxed, then weigh what comes off as well as what goes on, then a final FWF weight
-Several pages of what has to come off the stock engine then where and how to install the add-ons. Where several solutions were tried they detail why the current is the one they chose
-A list of everything(?) you'll need, including suppliers for most
-Five pages of engine mount drawings
-Six pages of disassembly and assembly photos (40 pics total)
I'll be honest, at first I was a little disappointed but after a second and third pass through to write this review I may have judged them prematurely. On first pass it just looked like something you might find in a really complete blog post, or a forum thread that somehow didn't have any disagreement. What it really is though is a year of someone else's R&D on how to put together existing parts and succeed. Sure you could figure it all out yourself, but what's your time worth? You can get a huge leg up in the minute and a half it takes to buy and download and for that I think fifty bucks is a bargain.
https://legaleagleairplane.com/product/briggs-and-stratton-engine-plan/
I will try and do my best to fairly review them without giving away any of their contents for free. That would be unfair to Mr. Milholland if I did. Bear in mind I only bought these so-called plans twenty minutes ago so they've only received a preliminary skim. Some may have noticed I've already referred to them as 'so-called plans' and that was on purpose. They are not what I'd call plans for a conversion though towards the back of the booklet are drawings for some ancillaries you can't just get off the shelf like a tube engine mount and exhaust flanges.
That's about the only downside I see here, that they may be misrepresented somewhat in what you're getting. Don't expect to order this package then walk into your machine shop with a Vanguard 23 and walk out some time later with a powerplant ready to your airplane. This is probably actually a good thing as it's really a book of, "Here's what we wanted, here's what we used to accomplish it, now here's a shopping list for you and written instructions for assembling as we did."
I don't know where else to say it so it's going here: total FWF weight as installed is 81lbs 2oz. This includes the engine mount and a Warp Drive prop.
The booklet runs through the following
-Pleasant greeting from Leonard
-Table of contents
-A sort of mission statement as well as what this engine conversion is and isn't
-Component weights in pounds and ounces. They start with the Vanguard as un-boxed, then weigh what comes off as well as what goes on, then a final FWF weight
-Several pages of what has to come off the stock engine then where and how to install the add-ons. Where several solutions were tried they detail why the current is the one they chose
-A list of everything(?) you'll need, including suppliers for most
-Five pages of engine mount drawings
-Six pages of disassembly and assembly photos (40 pics total)
I'll be honest, at first I was a little disappointed but after a second and third pass through to write this review I may have judged them prematurely. On first pass it just looked like something you might find in a really complete blog post, or a forum thread that somehow didn't have any disagreement. What it really is though is a year of someone else's R&D on how to put together existing parts and succeed. Sure you could figure it all out yourself, but what's your time worth? You can get a huge leg up in the minute and a half it takes to buy and download and for that I think fifty bucks is a bargain.
