Photograph:
A Milholland Legal Eagle in the United States (Author’ collection)
Country of origin:
United States of America
Description:
Single-seat light sport aircraft
Power Plant:
One 22 kw (30 hp) two cylinder horizontally opposed converted four-stroke single-ignition air-cooled engine
Specifications:
- Wingspan: 7.16 m (23 ft 6 in)
- Length: 3.96 m (13 ft)
- Height: 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
- Wing area: 9.9 m² (107 sq ft)
- Never exceed speed: 129 km/h (80 mph)
- Max speed: 97 km/h (60 mph)
- Cruising speed: 80 km/h (50 mph)
- Stalling speed: 40 km/h (25 mph)
- Rate of climb: 91 m/min (300 ft/min)
- Range: 161 km (100 miles)
- Fuel capacity: 38 litres (8.35 Imp gals)
- Empty weight: 111 kg (244 lb)
- Loaded weight: 227 kg (500 lb)
History:
The Legal Eagle is an ultralight aircraft designed and marketed initially in the United States by Leonard Milholland. It is a high-wing, strut-braced aircraft with a modified Volkswagen engine mounted in tractor configuration with a tailwheel undercarriage. It is produced in kit form by J & N Bolding Enterprises of Baytown, Texas for construction by amateur builders. It was named Legal Eagle as it was designed to comply with FAR 103 Ultralight Vehicle regulations in the United States.
Construction is of welded 4130 steel tube, most of the fuselage being of open truss structure. The wing is of all wood built from spruce. The tail surfaces and the wing are covered with fabric. A number of variants have been made available, including the basic Legal Eagle; the Legal Eagle XL with an enlarged cockpit and a 112 kg (246 lb) empty weight; and the Double Eagle, a two-seat model with side-by-side seating fitted with a 45 kw (60 hp) Volkswagen engine, with an empty weight of 175 kg (385 lb) and with a loaded weight of 408 kg (900 lb).
Power is provided by a Volkswagen four-cylinder horizontally-opposed air-cooled engine which has been cut in half and drives a two-blade Culver Wooden propeller, this unit being converted by Better Half VW of Brookshire, Texas. A couple of examples have been built in Australia, including 19-8866. An example, a Legal Eagle XL became ZK-LLX (c/n XL B-35) in erly 2020.