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.