By Robbie Culver, EAA 674064

This piece originally ran in the February 2024 issue of EAA Sport Aviation magazine.

Les Homan’s father was a glider mechanic in World War II and used to tell Les about his experiences. However, it was a Piper Cub landing in the meadow across from the family farm in Kansas that “planted a seed that is still growing.” Les, EAA 1063924, was about 6 years old at the time and has wanted to fly ever since.

When he was working for an engineering company in upstate New York on per diem, he realized that if he ate one meal every other day, he could use the per diem to pay for flying lessons. So, Les learned to fly in 1973 at a little dirt strip in Mahopac Falls, New York. The strip was 1,200 feet long.

Visits to Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome sparked an interest in a biplane, so at his wife’s urging he purchased the plans for a Starduster Too and built his first airplane. He made the first flight in 1983 and then flew it 3,500 hours all over America and into Mexico, with multiple trips to Oshkosh from the central valley region of California.

He also built the first customer-built Super Starduster plansbuilt single-seat biplane and raced it at Reno for three years, as well as at Fox field near Palmdale, California. Additional trips to Oshkosh followed. In 2003, his wife was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, and he gave up flying to spend time with her. Following her passing in 2010, Les got back into aviation but wanted “something a little bit different.”

After looking at a lot of different options, he chose and built a Legal Eagle and got to know Leonard Milholland, EAA 72307, the designer. Les found the characteristics of the aircraft different than his previous experience, as this was his first time flying an ultralight.

This led to conversations with other pilots and builders, as well as experiments flying the Legal Eagle. The different characteristics Les found required keeping the nose down more than expected in order to climb. The airfoil used requires adding power and pitching the nose down to climb. Full power requires the nose to be pushed over significantly to avoid climbing.

Les added that one other characteristic he had to get used to was that ultralights have less mass so when the power is reduced, the aircraft “tends to stop.” This requires flying it to the ground and then pulling the power off once the wheels are on the ground.

Les said what drew him to the Legal Eagle is that it “flies, handles, and is built like any airplane” using the same construction techniques and flying characteristics as any other slow aircraft. Part 103 limits the weight and speed, but Les loves the simplicity. It is a “very easy to fly airplane,” he said.

Les has even flown the Legal Eagle ORV cross-country with baggage secured to the airframe behind his seat, and while the weight difference was noticeable, the aircraft handled the same and exhibited no bad characteristics. Part 103 limits fuel to 5 gallons, but with the Verner three-cylinder radial Les installed, at 2300 rpm he uses about 2.1 gallons an hour.

Les said the Verner three-cylinder engine was originally out of his price range, but a friend purchased a group of 10 Verner engines with Les’ assistance. In exchange, Les helped with the research and development to create a suitable engine mount for the Legal Eagle. Les was a mechanical engineer by trade and was involved in HVAC design.

This left him with an opportunity to use the engine on his aircraft. Les now has two Legal Eagles with Verner engines on the front — each aircraft is configured differently to experiment with different flight characteristics and design modifications. One has a wing that is 13 inches shorter on each side.

Les said that pilots interested in ultralight flying and the Legal Eagle should know that the characteristics are not that much different than many other light taildraggers, provided you remember the weight difference and to fly it to the ground.

“Don’t try pulling the power off and getting it to the ground, just fly it to the ground,” he said. “One of the neat things about the Legal Eagle is you can go to full power, take off, stay at full power all the way around the runway, come downhill on final, and put it on the ground still at full power, then pull the power back. Very easy to fly.”

Adjusting to the tail wheel is also easy even for those pilots with minimal tail wheel experience due to the light weight and low power. Takeoff performance is typically about 150 feet, and landing is about 200 feet. Both takeoff and landing are nonevents with the tail wheel. Rollout on landing after the tail comes down is often less than 35 feet. Crosswinds are also easy. It handles strong crosswinds well due to the open fuselage design.

Les said ultralight flying is “a lot of fun.” A pilot should get training, especially for those with minimal or no experience. No one should attempt it without training and a thorough understanding of the rules and regulations.

The Legal Eagle is a basic tube and fabric design with a wooden spar and wood wing ribs. The instruments are also basic — an oil pressure gauge, altimeter, and basic airspeed indicator are all optional. There is no legal requirement for instrumentation in Part 103.

“One of the neat things about a Legal Eagle is that you buy a set of plans and you build them one piece at a time,” Les said. “The airplane is designed in such a way that there is no one piece that is a high-stress critical area in terms of woodworking or welding, or in the aluminum tail feathers in the back.”

Another alternative is to purchase a flying aircraft. The materials that are used are steel tubing, so this provides a great opportunity to learn how to weld. Les shared a story of one builder from Australia who spent a week in Oshkosh with every spare moment dedicated to being at the welding seminars to learn everything about the subject. By the time he returned to Australia after the show, he had the skills and knowledge required to build his aircraft.

“There is absolutely nothing in the woodworking part of this that can’t be done with a cheap table saw and some other hand tools,” Les said.

And there are multiple videos available showing how to do it. The fabric work is also basic. Les’ is covered with 1.7-ounce Dacron and painted with latex house paint from a big box store.

For pilots looking for affordable aviation, the Legal Eagle specifically and ultralight flying in general offer opportunities to achieve the dream of personal flying without investing the cost of a house. True to EAA’s core mission, building a Legal Eagle provides the experience and skill set that are the basis of many aircraft projects.

Les said the experience of flying the Legal Eagle is like “riding a motorcycle in the air.” Typical airspeeds are 40 mph to 50 mph. Cross-country experiences require more planning than in aircraft that carry more fuel.

Les has a YouTube channel and a blog to share his experiences. Find the links at EAA.org/Extras. Information on the Legal Eagle XL can be found at LegalEagleAirplane.com.

Robbie Culver, EAA 674064 and Vintage 715673, is a private pilot with an instrument rating who built and is currently flying a Sonex taildragger. He also flies his family’s 1945 Aeronca 7AC Champ from Aero Estates airpark (T25) in Frankston, Texas, where he is a member of EAA Chapter 972.