Legend Cub build

We’re wrapping up the first two week session down in Sulphur Springs. The girls did a lot of hands on, learning new skills and techniques. Our 16 y/o did lots of sheet metal work, rib forming, riveting, MIG, and covering. Darin and his crew have been outstanding. They have many years of experience in those three large hangar shops that comprise their “factory.”

Some pics of Maggie and Maureen at work.

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Very cool. I look forward to following this thread.


Bill

Additional pics. Don’t know why some are sidewise. Best I can do for now.
Long days for the youngster, but she loved it. Almost finished her tailwheel endorsement as well while here. 60 landings in a J3.

Tacked frame out of the jig and ready to go to primary TIG station.
Legend TIG’s all their frames, including float fittings, pod tabs, etc. My farmer dad would have approved!

Better soak up everything those old guys are willing to teach. I sent my boy to the A&P program and they no longer teach wood or fabric. They barely teach anything anymore unless it involves towing commercial jets.

The two weeks have flown by. All of the different tasks blended into one big busy period at the end of the summer for the girls, yet everyone enjoyed themselves. One more day tomorrow, then back to Maine until the frame is finished and we can go to pre-assembly.

Darin Hart (Legend owner) thought Maggie may be the first customer to form their own wing ribs. She’s talking about coming back next summer to work. We’ll see how she feels about that when it’s time to head out for spring exploring and fishing in Katmai.

Tail feathers

There is no better man than Gene Crist to teach someone wing building. Great guy and a Vietnam vet.

CubCruiser said:

There is no better man than Gene Crist to teach someone wing building. Great guy and a Vietnam vet.

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Yep. For sure.
Gene and I shared some reflections on our military service.
He and Maggie really became buddies.
Superb gentleman.

Happy for you that your kids are involved with your hobby!! So refreshing to see younger people actually doing something with their hands then manipulating the buttons on their phone!! Looks like a great father-daughter time was had! Kudos!!

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Seating goal - finished example of 3-seat model

People who know how to cover and rib stitch are so rare, it’s best to raise your own!

Is Pat Bowers still working with them? I guess if he’s still around he’d be close to 90. Great guy, great craftsman and funny as all heck.

Rich

Pat is still there, although I’d put him at around 80. He and Gene have a witty rapport where they both accuse the other of knuckleheadedness. All in good fun. Maggie benefited so much from their mentorship.

EDIT: You can see Pat in the background of sheet metal brake pic #4 in Post #3 above.

It was 17 years ago when I picked up my AL3 from the factory. I was 59. Now I’m 76. I guess that makes sense. Sorry to accuse Pat of being an old guy.

Rich

edit: Yes, I see him now. Thanks.

Johnny, what paint colors/scheme are you going with?

Classic Cub Yellow with late 70’s or early 80’s theme. Simple 2-tone.
Either the below or the final scheme of simple lightning stripe on side.

Right on, keep it simple.

Back down in Sulphur Springs TX for two weeks of frame pre-assembly. Weather much more suitable for a northern fellow than last time. 7 hours of IMC during the trip down here from Maine in the 180, but at least I’m current on approaches until May.

Frame is welded and painted after four weeks of work by the factory and now we’re starting to have what looks like an airplane. It was fascinating to see the progress from storage racks of individual tubing, to cutting and jigging and watching Maggie MIG tack joints, to finish welding by TIG. I’ve been a fan of TIG welding for many years and feel that it’s a superior weld compared to MIG when done by a pro (which I’m certainly not but Legend’s four welders are). Takes much longer, that’s for sure.

Setting up for L21 windows/skylights, fabricating and fitting and installing the extra large baggage door and MOAC upper deck carbon fiber door, fitting rudder and running cables, fabricating and installing 3/8” fuel lines (I’m about flared out!), running 1/4” hydraulic lines and installing supplemental bracing for potential ski pump, etc. Also cutting and fitting fiberglass honey-comb baggage floor and carbon fiber interior. Lots of checking, cutting, grinding, fitting. Legend has a great interior guy that vacuum-forms their CF stuff. Pretty impressive. Next week is the cowling from scratch. That promises to be a laborious process.

The Aerosport IO375 w/ 7.8:1 pistons (https://www.aerosportpower.com/) arrived from Kamloops BC just in time for Christmas. https://airflowperformance.com/ mechanical Bendix-type FI fed by 30.5G Atlee Dodge tanks and a big durned fuel filter and Steve’s Gascolator to keep things running over the mountains. Maggie is excited to see how well it will perform compared to the AL3 she had been flying.

Engine: Light gray to spot leaks down the road. Sky Dynamics magnesium flywheel (Featherweight Flywheel (skydynamics.com) . Built by Aerosport to run constant speed prop in future if desired, but we’re going with Sensenich ground adjustable for now to keep weight down.





Should shave about 3 lbs off the nose







We decided on dual E-Mag P models for the simple redundancy (two mags that each automatically shift between engine driven internal alternators and external bus). It’s almost a “triple redundancy” - alternator in Left; alternator in Right; ship’s power to Both.



Put two handles on each side to make it easier to lift tail in deep snow. Not much added weight, but good utility. Top handles are bolted to brackets we welded in to make it easier to cover that section with fabric.




Extra large baggage door from scratch. Holly-dog needs room to jump in!
It’s awesome to have all the tools, materials and expertise right at one’s fingertips - a big benefit of building at the factory.

Here’s a link to video of the little critter saddling up in the Skywagon [video]https://share.icloud.com/photos/0ba8PaS4QikKi0JOvU2a6NXxQ[/video]





L




3/8” fuel lines. Corner bends are covered in vinyl tubing. Definitely my least favorite part of forming the lines. That vinyl tubing is stubborn, even with hot soapy water! Maybe it’s my broken finger that accompanied me from Maine?







Individual tank lines extending back beyond cargo pod rear lip for draining lowest point at rest. I didn’t want drains above/through/into the cargo pod. Legend is now configuring all their frames that will likely have cargo pods to have rearmost/lowest drains extended back.
One of the benefits of Legend is that they are easily able (and willing) to make mods on the fly to accommodate individual needs. We’ve made so many little changes during the build to fit our way of flying in Alaska.

Trim is in

Nut plates for L21 glass. Little guys took half a day.

Very nice project!


The Aerosport IO375 w/ 7.8:1 pistons

What power do you expect with that engine?
Why have you choose 7.8:1 compression?

195hp or so.
Ability to run MOGAS, aged village or drum fuel; heat and stress management for reliability and longevity.
Lots of flight over pretty but inhospitable terrain with these guys waiting to gorge.

Olibuilt said:

Very nice project!


The Aerosport IO375 w/ 7.8:1 pistons

What power do you expect with that engine?
Why have you choose 7.8:1 compression?

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Aerosport IO375 w/ 7.8:1 pistons:




I tough 9:1 compression was ok for car gas..?

I'm looking to upgrade from my stock Lycoming O-360 C4P 8.5:1 that I regularly run on 91 octane car gas.

No 91 octane in ak unfortunately. 90 is max.

Yep vj88 is correct but it depends on who you ask and there the several factors involved. I notice engine builders seem to have much lower octane requirements than most anyone else. Most of the stuff you hear is I ran mogas and never had a problem that is good enough for some not for others. I blend whenever possible but will run straight mogas if that gets me home.
DENNY

Piston choices were 7.8:1 (195 HP), 9.0:1 and 9.7:1
Aerosport sales opined 91 octane minimum for the 7.8:1 pistons.
I opted for the one that would most likely get me home time and time again regardless of the fuel.

I’m not unhappy with my high compression engine but I can’t say it’s made an important difference. I find it interesting that Whirl Wind changed their prop instructions to 9.3-1 maximum before they stopped making STOL props. I wonder what the back story is. I do think over the life of a plane the lower (I didn’t say low) compression will wear less on the airplane. I’ve always said there’s no replacement for displacement. That statement stands. Compression? For my low altitude flying it's probably not important. I think your decision will pay dividends.

What ignition did you decide on? I presume a 375 is a 25° BDC engine? If Pmags you could install a curve switch and have a low octane option. Like Polaris used to do on snowmachines. Or tune a couple of degrees less agressively and not worry about it.

Does Legend mention ACE engines in their builds? I know two guys with ACE power. An IO-409 and an IO-379. Very interesting engines. No accessory case so no engine-driven fuel pump, no mags option. They use dual electric pumps. Both have EFI and CDI type EI so dual batteries on a bus manager. The 379 uses the mono-cast aluminum cylinders. Not sure what the 409 has. My nephew says the 379 is the most powerful Cub engine he’s flown, and he’s had a bunch of Cubs. I’m a bit surprised we don’t hear more about ACE.