Tom Gressman called me and asked if I would help him maiden his Legionaire 140. No problem there and there was no one else using the field so I put out my winch and we got her up. Typical of Tom's skill's the second flight was a long one and pretty high here's some photo's.

Sweet! Thanks for sharing the photos.

Great looking plane

Aaaahhhh... the memories...

Attn: Ray Hayes, I'd like to hear from you concerning making pod's from your mold. I'm glad I found out you have all the right's to the L-140. Dave Nutt

See now, if you had a pretty fuse like that for those wings, why on EARTH would you design the SHUTTLE fuse instead!?

Those original fuselages were pretty hard for some folks to get right... They came in 2 halves and had to be bonded to a plywood crutch that was built first... and then the boom had to be lined up and bonded in...

Originally Posted by schrederman

Those original fuselages were pretty hard for some folks to get right... They came in 2 halves and had to be bonded to a plywood crutch that was built first... and then the boom had to be lined up and bonded in...

Quite true. This one was no different. The builder (me) did all the pod construction with polyester not epoxy. I've never trusted epoxy to polyester joints and wasn't going to do it on this plane regardless of the instructions.

This particular set of pod shells had non-existant fairings for the wing-trailing edge juncture, I had to fabricate them. Before and after shown below.

I made one other modification. The stab-rudder-fin is removable by design. I took this a step further and made the fin-rudder removable from the stab to facilitate travel with the plane.

Nice to see it in its finished color scheme, when I sent it to Tom the fuse pod and tail fairing were in gray primer, ready for final painting.

JT

Jim did a fantastic build. The L140 is straight and the incidence was correct right off the board.

The first sailplane I flew was Cecil's purple 140 as an 18 year old kid, I do love them but have never built one.

Marc

Guys,
This is a sailplane that I have been looking for. A Legionaire 140 would make my Nostalgia collection complete. If any one knows of a fuselage and set of plans please conatct me at ljolly@aol.com. Really sweet Tom....and JT sorry I missed this one. LJ

Originally Posted by Larry Jolly

Guys,
This is a sailplane that I have been looking for. A Legionaire 140 would make my Nostalgia collection complete. If any one knows of a fuselage and set of plans please conatct me at ljolly@aol.com. Really sweet Tom....and JT sorry I missed this one. LJ

SKY BENCH'S LEGIONAIR 140 LASER CUT PARTS
Fiber glass pod and carbon boomFull Kit to build 100" or 132" or 140" versions...$350.00 + $24.95 SH
Full Kit includes: plans (state which plan) and modification list, laser cut parts,
machine cut stab mount, beautiful fiberglass fuse pod and canopy, 1/2" aluminum
wing joiner rod, carbon tube and wood spars, carbon boom, all sheet wood
and tip blocks, Dubro Laser Nylon Push Rod pkg and hardware.

That's my 100 in the above picture... I sure miss that one. It's done up in what I liked to call "Team Legionair" colors.

Originally Posted by schrederman

That's my 100 in the above picture... I sure miss that one. It's done up in what I liked to call "Team Legionair" colors.

I don't know Jack ... looks kind of GIRLY to me ... Just kidding !

I have made a commitment to have the Legionair's available again at a lesser price than quoted on my web, my laser guy is back in the saddle and I have high hopes for a reliable source for pods. So we will see how the changes I made to the kit come out price wise. Should be announcing the info in 30 days.

Ray
Sky Bench ... Woodys Forever
WWW.Skybench.com

Originally Posted by Ray Hayes

I don't know Jack ... looks kind of GIRLY to me ... Just kidding ! Ray Sky Bench ... Woodys Forever WWW.Skybench.com

I'm crushed!... Just Kidding!