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Legal Eagle Question

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Victor Bravo

Well-Known Member
Supporting Member
Joined
Jul 30, 2014
Messages
13,443
Location
KWHP, Los Angeles CA, USA
I'm hoping to get some advice and info from THIS forrum, because I know you guys reasonably well from hanging out here. I have NOT yet joined any other forums, Eagler's Nest, etc. I know about those forums but I want to have this first part of the discussion here.

I just ran across a completed Legal Eagle for sale at an attractive price. I believe that it is NOT the XL version. The airplane has an engine on it that I know nothing about, a Kawasaki ultralight engine. The wood structure was built with Weldwood yellow glue, not West epoxy, not Resorcinol, not T-88.

I have not seen, touched, bought, or otherwise committed to it yet. (I'm looking at this as a potential airframe for the O-100 engine; I'm honored that I will likely be a "beta tester" and "fleet data acquisition mule" for the program.)

My first question is what is the realistic range of acceptable empty weight for an original Legal Eagle? I know they can be built to 250 pounds, but this one has brakes, and this one would eventually have the O-100 on it (weight 105 pounds). I have no idea if this one was built as light as some of them. So the big question is NOT whether the LE can be built as an ultralight, but how much more than 250 pounds do they usually get, with a 4 stroke engine on them?

Second question is... how much over 250 pounds can it get from a structural safety standpoint? I'm sure it would get off the ground at 700 pounds takeoff weight, but you wouldn't have a 4G or 6G airplane. No, I'm not going to do aerobatics in this one but we do get gusty weather here in the mountains around LA.

(also, even though I stopped eatling like a pig recently, and have lost some weight, for some mysterious reason I'm still not getting any calls from swimwear modeling agencies. The mattress has about a 220 pound crater in it, and the dog only weighs 15 of that)

Also, anyone here have personal experience using Weldwood as a primary structural adhesive for wing spars? (Yes I put in a call to Pete already, but I want everyone else's opinion too)
 
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