Eagler's Nest
General Category => Off Topics and General Interest => Topic started by: Flyboy on February 06, 2017, 02:16:53 PM
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Well I just figured I would announce the egg is cracked open and the work begun just outside Quinlan Tx. 18 ribs in 5 days, now to make K blocks for the other ribs. My eagle will be the 2XL model as I'm larger than XL. 2 banger VW might need a turbo, or just add the other 2 cylinders as a safety feature. lol Panning on full case 82mm x 92 or 94 mm engine. I need all the H.P. I can get. That's all for now. Wish me luck.
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Welcome to Eaglers Flyboy!
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Hey flyboy its scott in canton. Im building a cabin eagle but alot slower than you guys. We need to get together lol. Good luck
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Hey, Scott. When you get a chance, could you please tell me the size of the steel, square cross tube in the upper part of your cabin, front and rear ? It's the part that the wing spars bolt to. Thanks.
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Sure, ill look it up when i get home today
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Hey. I looked in my d.e. and c.e. plans and all the tubes are round on my plans. The only square tube i found was a tailwheel brace.
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Hmm...I found this pic somewhere and just figured it might be typical of a double cabin eagle cabin top. I'm building an XL but will go with full width cabin, hence my question. Could you please say what dimensions are called out ( diameter and thickness ) on your plans for the front and rear cabin top tubes?
Several others have recently indicated they're building XL's with a full width cabin and if they'd like to chime in with some tubing references that would be a good thing. Thanks...
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Hey, that's my plane in the pic! I don't remember what the dimensions of the square tube is but I can measure it. The plane is all torn apart right now. I cut the tail off right behind the cabin and am building a new tail that is about 26" longer. Part of the fun of home builts is making changes. Hopefully, that will get rid of the lead in the tail (i'm using an A65 for an engine, which may be heavier than a VW.) If anyone is interested in a tail and tail feathers, let me know! The tail could be spliced right into your cabin!
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I'd very much appreciate the size and thickness of the cross tubes fore and aft. If you'd email me dwstroud at xplornet.com with some details of construction / materials etc. and pricing of the tail and empennage that would help. Thanks..
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Hmm...I found this pic somewhere and just figured it might be typical of a double cabin eagle cabin top. I'm building an XL but will go with full width cabin, hence my question. Could you please say what dimensions are called out ( diameter and thickness ) on your plans for the front and rear cabin top tubes?
Several others have recently indicated they're building XL's with a full width cabin and if they'd like to chime in with some tubing references that would be a good thing. Thanks...
So are you essentially making a CE/DE but with only one seat? Will it still meet the max 103 weight? I'm planning on making an XL but I'd love to have the full square cab and folding wings of the CE.
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sideband. You likely didn't notice that I live in Canada and therefore don't have the 254 lb empty weight rule. A whole different set of rules actually.
I'm shooting for an empty weight of anything at or under 300 lbs which will still allow me to fly well under the gross weight of 575 lbs for the LEXL.
What I'm building is basically an XL but with the cabin top opened up so that the wing attach area is as wide as the fuselage bottom. There was a
similar shaped plane built by a very talented guy and he called his plane Bodacious. Many pics will come up on a Google search on that name and
there are some in the photos area of this site. I've been asking questions lately about the size of the overhead carry through tubes of various airplanes
to get an idea of what I'll need.
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Stroud, you're right I didn't notice you're from the great white north! haha I've actually seen Bodacious before and had forgotten about it. I really like how he's squared the top of the cab off and implemented folding wings and wing fuel tank. The main attraction of the CE to me was the folding wings and the option of having doors. I'm hoping that going with aluminum wings over wood may bring me enough weight savings to be able to build a square cab as well. Are you going with a 1/2 or full VW engine?
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I'll likely go with a Verner 3 cyl and tweak the look of the fuselage a bit towards that of a Velie Monocoupe 70. I got the idea from a Youtube video which shows a Farman replica with a Verner engine. The Farman could likely be closely duplicated from a Minimax and there is a lad in the Czech Republic flying one now with the Verner. The possibilities seem endless sometimes.
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The 3 cyl. engine sounds cool. I have decided to make my 2xl an inline opposed twin engine built in 1 VW case turning the same propeller. LOL In other words, an 1835cc full 4 banger. After much glaring at the bathroom scales I came to realize a 285lb pilot in a 254 lb airplane brought forth new visions of flight. However, Ultra Light was not among them. I plan on going to the next thicker guage sheet metal for the seat strips. I would hate to break thru the seat and have my rear end hanging below the fuselage tubing. That's not my idea of a tail dragger. Ole Larry has run rings around me building wise. I still have 3 more ribs to put K blocks in, then on to the spars. Took a few days off for a trip to the coast. Lots of liquid sunshine so I came home. Building starts again tomorrow Lord willing and I have to squeeze a few side jobs in too so I have relinquished the builders race to Larry. LOL We have built these 2 planes at least 10 times over the phone and sometimes that's more fun than actually doing it. Especially when Arthur rears his ugly head. You know Arthur... Arthur itus. At any rate I imagine the 2xl will gain weight and I hope I will loose some. It will fly when it's finished. My main goal is to have it tested and ready for Reklaw 2017. Remember, if it isn't fun don't do it, unless the wife makes you. LOL Go Larry Go
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Don't relent yet Flyboy, I'll go to the coast myself, you call me when you catch up and I'll come home so we can go at it again. Don't forget I go to the office every day. That gives you retired guys plenty of time to easily catch me. Dang, get out in that shop with your ax and chop out some parts! 😜
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OK Larry I'll carry my couch to the shop and my TV so I can fully enjoy the building process. Always remember, "Never do today what can be put off till tomorrow" ,unless you actually want to do it today. Never try to build an aircraft faster time wise than it's intended cruise speed in mph. There is a big difference in being lazy and being an expert in conserving energy. Though they sometimes looks alike. Building too fast can end up in a situation where you don't know where your going, and there is no sense being late getting there. LOL Happy,Happy,Happy
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Thanks for the report, flyboy. In all seriousness, what strength level of the Legal Eagle series of planes are you really building to, please ? Is it a beefed up LEXL, a single seat Double Eagle or what ? I'm looking at beefing up my specs in any way necessary for my approx 575 gross spec. XL. Are you doing anything to the wing more towards the strength of the Cabin Eagle etc. ? Thanks.
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It's just a beefed up Legal Eagle XL. I call it a 2xl because I'm 30 lbs over the published max weight. Have to work harder at dropping that to maybe 10-15 over. I'm just pondering the 1835 to have enough power to lift me on a 100 degree Texas afternoon. Can't say from experience, but I have read that on a hot day with a 38 hp 2 cylinder engine I would be very marginal on power. Wished I could remember where I read that. Be that as it may what pilot complains about having too much power. I can always throttle back. Don't have any real plans to beef up wing as I have been told it is designed to 4+ Gs. I hope to never see more than 2. I think I may go larger on gear tubes due to larger pilot and possible engine. I do like the double eagle torque tube aileron system a fellow eagler told me about, though I have never seen it as yet. The folding wing would be nice, but haven't checked to see if it is even possible with LE xl. Right now I have a few things I would like to do but nothing is concrete yet. Besides, if all our planes looked the same that would take away part of the fun of building your own aircraft. But really, would say 330 lbs empty weigh make us unsafe or dangerous.
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I ask this with respect..only for the safely of anyone reading this. Flyboy...
are you a licensed pilot and if not, have you ever had any flight training ?
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It is almost always better to build a plane structurally to plans for a given weight capability and power, than it is to take one designed for less and home engineer what is "thought" to be a bit stronger. It is a bit hard to explain "cumulative stress" but in simple terms, it is stress that a part goes through, that is ALMOST good enough or strong enough to handle. That is simply, with each "almost good enough" event, a part gets weaker but does not break. until one day the accumulation of these events causes a fairly large event or breakage.
If you feel your well past that, go for it.
Generally cosmetic changes do little to effect strength. Thus are generally ok.
Scott
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Sorry for the absence from the forum guys. Other projects have a way of bullying their way to the front. In answer to Scott and Dave, I don't have any problem with you guys questioning what I do. I do sometimes myself. lol Yes I have around 200 hours pic AND a license. I have had an A&P since 1981 and 32+ years heavy sheet metal repair and modification experience on everything from C-130s to 747s, and several years of little aircraft repair and rebuilding before that. I have had all my proposed (not yet realized) modifications run past several of my Aircraft Engineer buddies with a thumbs up. The larger gear legs are because of
the gear failure stories I have heard, and lets face facts, I am not a poster boy for Anorexia or how ever you spell it. If she ends up too heavy even with a 2 banger, then she will just be a VLS (Very Light Sport) lol and get licensed. I was told by someone who knows Leonard that the original LE was drawn on the hanger floor and built and that plans were made when others showed interest. Can't verify that but it sounds reasonable. Bodacious has the cabin LE thing whipped, and I have seen several LEs with all 4 cylinders installed and working and flying fine on Youtube, so it's not like I am reinventing the wheel here. Yes the larger engine will weigh aprox. 45lbs more but it will take some of that tail wheel weight off the back end, and the gear beefup will handle the increased load in the cabin area. Don't be afraid to think outside the box. Figure the loads or have someone else do it, like I did. Hey, If a couple of bicycle mechanics can do this, so can we. Ifn you get to going too fast, throttle back, you don't have to fly wide open. Just my opinion, so "Geterdone"