New XL Legal Eagle

[TezzaT]

Hi All.
Well after a six year build as time and monies allowed, have finally finished my XL Eagle XL-B-35. Just waiting on final sign off before test flight.
Rgds
Terry

[Chuck in Indiana]

Nice work.    Where's that thumbs up emoji?

[okdonn]

Looks great! Good work, congratulations!

[Kamcoman77]

Congratulations on your build! Love the purple fuselage. It looks like you are using a 4-cylinder VW. What horsepower do you have? Did it give you any headaches getting the weight & balance set?

[TezzaT]

Thanks for your complements. Yes, we are using a 1600cc VW engine. Surprisingly, the weight and balance worked out OK with in the designs figures. We were fully expecting a nose heavy A/C needing COG adjustment. We weighed the A/C four times. Empty no fuel: with 24Lr fuel [abt 5us gallons]and me sitting in the A/C at 190Lbs with empty and full fuel. Each time it stayed in balance OK through to "its" gross weight at 580Lbs. We are looking at at between 45 to 50Hp and Frank has built a prop to suit. Now for the truth of test flying Yea!!

[914pete]

Nice looking Eagle. What covering did you use?

[Chuck in Indiana]

The wing leading edges look very nice.

[TezzaT]

Re cover: 1.8oz Dacron fabric from AC Spruce with one coat of sealer and two coats of silver acrylic house paint, all rolled on with 6" roller. Looks OK though.

[Chuck in Indiana]

Did you put any false ribs in it?

[TezzaT]

No, just cinched the ply down real tight when gluing. So far it has stayed nice and tight now for about three years whilst I worked on the fuselage. Fitted in four foot sections so I could make sure it was glued OK

[Dan_]

If you bond the wood in very dry conditions, it will have more tendency to wrinkle when it absorbs moisture in humid conditions.

Some wet the wood with paper towels on the outside (say over night) to insure the wood is as moist as it will ever be before attaching to the ribs.  After the epoxy cures, and the wood dries out it will stay `tight as a snare drum`.

[Flyguyeddy]

Hi All.
Well after a six year build as time and monies allowed, have finally finished my XL Eagle XL-B-35. Just waiting on final sign off before test flight.
Rgds
Terry

Looks like you have two idler arma for your pushrod elevator.  What is the reasoning behind that, if i might ask?

[TezzaT]

Re: Elevator control rod, reason for two idlers was primarily for "stiffness" of this rather light tube, plus it made it easier to line up. First off, just had the one behind the seat, but, it soon became apparent that this rod would need further support, hence the second one near the tail. This system works really well. Not my idea though, copied from another builder off this site.

[914pete]

I set up my elevator with the control rod as well with the idler near the tail. The control rod needs a slight upward bend behind the seat so when using it the rod would swing side to side a little and probably would flex more under load. Worked fine but seemed "sloppy" so I added a guide behind the seat. The control "rod" is WAY smoother then the cables I have set up for the rudder.

[Chuck in Indiana]

The control "rod" is WAY smoother then the cables I have set up for the rudder.

The reason the rudder cables aren't smooth is you are asking way too much of the fairleads. For that much angular deflection, you need to use pulleys. If you look on page 15, it shows the rudder cable fairleads out toward the longerons.

Sec. 25.689 Cable systems. 2(c) Fairleads must be installed so that they do not cause a change in cable direction of more than three degrees.