Modified Legacy.

I have the new Legacy kit built up to just about ready to assemble. Everything fits where it's supposed to. Everything needed for the final put together is built. I will build a turtle deck instead of carving the big balsa block and use a Gypsy canopy instead of the one provided in the kit. I have a box of unused parts from the kit that I either didn't use or made others from lighter wood. The fin/rudder is 1/8 instead of 1/4 and shaped differently. An electric conversion kit replaced a lot of the plywood parts and 1/64 ply replaced the 1/16 doublers. I had some pre made wing skins so I used them for the wing center section and left over sheets for the leading edges. As it site now the frame weighs 28.5 ounces Ad in the motor and battery and it's up to 50 ounces. I weighed the left over wood pieces and they are 29.0 ounces. I squared off the wing tips and stab tips because of the amount of carving involved and weight. Doing that increases the area of both. I also widened the elevators 1/2 inch. The rear push rod exits the fuselage so I can adjust it easier. I also don't like to cut the fuselage at all to install the wing. With the clevis and 4-40 adapter removed from the wire the wing will slide through the opening nicely. I also made lines on the fuselage on the wing chord line so I can get the flaps set to zero on the bench. The plans call for wing mounted gear so I used aluminum fuselage mounted gear. More weight savings. I didn't use any of the cap strips from the kit. I cut them from the wing rib sheets, after removing the ribs of course. I added the turtle deck this morning. The wing is glued in and the push rods are soldered and ready for action. The bellcrank post is back to the steel rod. I have a Legacy I built for gas power and then converted it to electric. It weighs 56.7 ounces without the battery in flying condition. Ad in 12 ounces for the battery and it's almost 70 ounces. I used everything in the kit for that one. Except the decal. And the wing mounted gear pieces.

Mods for all.

About 18 months ago I was flying my scratch built from plans Pathfinder electric at a contest. On the first maneuver the wing folded. I landed the plane without any more damage. I ordered a new wing kit for it and re built the plane. Since then it just didn't fly like it did before the crash. After making the stab/elev larger on several other planes with great results I began looking at the Pathfinder's tail. I bought and built a second Pathfinder from a kit and made the tail 2 inches longer and it flys very well. With that in mind and after several attempts to make it fly better through trimming and adjustments I started cutting. I had the pieces needed to extend the tail sitting on the bench for a couple weeks now. Yesterday I trimmed the stab and elev. ends, glued the extension pieces on and covered them with Monokote. The weather forecast is not good for several days so I knew I had to get out early to test the changes. Shortly after 0700 I pulled into the park and it started to mist. I got the plane ready and took off as the mist got heavier. The changes worked very well. I put a second battery in for another short flight and the mist turned to light rain but I flew anyway. It still flew very well. I was getting wet and packed up and headed home to dry the plane. I know I made the kit Pathfinder tail 2 inches longer and I ended up making the old one 3 inches longer. The Legacy got it's tail made larger with good results and I ordered another kit to be made electric instead of gas powered. I'll build the tail longer so I don't have to cut it up later on. And building for electric power should make it a bit lighter right off. Now to start on a color scheme.