Milholland Legal Eagle

The Milholland Legal Eagle is an American high wing, strut-braced, single engine, tractor configuration, conventional landing gear-equipped ultralight aircraft that is available as plans from Better Half VW of Brookshire, Texas, and is intended for amateur construction.Cliche, Andre: Ultralight Aircraft Shopper's Guide 8th Edition, page B-37. Cybair Limited Publishing, 2001. Buchanan, Sam: "Legal Eagle XL: An RV-6 owner discovers the simple pleasures of building and flying an airplane that rewards low and slow," November 16, 2012, Kitplanes retrieved April 17, 2020Vandermeullen, Richard: 2012 Kit Aircraft Buyer's Guide, Kitplanes, Volume 28, Number 12, December 2011, page 46. Belvoir Publications. ISSN 0891-1851Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; et al: World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2011-12, page 33. WDLA UK, Lancaster UK, 2011. ISSN 1368-485X

The Legal Eagle is so named because it is capable of being built in compliance with the United States FAR 103 Ultralight Vehicles regulations, even when equipped with a four-stroke engine.Tacke, Willi; Marino Boric; et al: World Directory of Light Aviation 2015-16, page 35. Flying Pages Europe SARL, 2015.

Design and development The Legal Eagle features an open cockpit and is powered by a Half VW engine. As of 2023, the Legal Eagle and Legal Eagle XL can alternatively be powered by a Briggs and Stratton Vanguard engine.

The design features a fuselage of welded 4130 steel tubing, mated to an all-wood wing made from spruce (and derived from the Mini-MAX). The struts and tail surfaces are made from 6061 T6 aluminium tubing. The flying surfaces are covered with doped aircraft fabric. The rear fuselage is normally left as an open truss structure to save weight and to ensure that the aircraft does not exceed the FAR 103 maximum speed of 55 knots (102 km/h; 63 mph). Like the fuselage, the taildragger landing gear is sprung steel. Additional plans were released that would allow Legal Eagle and Legal Eagle XL planes to be modified to allow wing-folding within 30 minutes.

The aircraft has been developed into several variants of the basic design including the XL version for larger pilots and a two-seat ultralight trainer and light-sport aircraft.

Variants

Legal Eagle Basic model with a empty weight, powered by a Half VW engine or Briggs and Stratton Vanguard engine. Downey, Julia: 2008 Kit Aircraft Directory, Kitplanes, Volume 24, Number 12, December 2007, page 44. Primedia Publications. ISSN 0891-1851 Legal Eagle XL Model for larger pilots with a wider and taller seat, greater wing area and longer tail. empty weight Double Eagle Model with two seats in side-by-side configuration with a empty weight and a gross weight. Designed as an ultralight trainer and Light Sport Aircraft. Powered by a Volkswagen air-cooled engine giving a cruise speed.

Specifications (Legal Eagle)

Milholland Legal Eagle

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