I would like
to report the successful first flight of our Lancair Legacy. After an enjoyable 5 years of building,
L2K-327 soared into the air from KTRK Runway 11 on December 10th,
2013 with Scott Alair in Race #77 flying chase. Leslie and I had been preparing for this
day since we left Lancair’s facility in late September 2008 with the Legacy
shoehorned into a Ryder Truck for the trip home. I elected to fly the first flight and
began preparing years before with many hours on my flight simulator, the
required complex/high performance endorsements and more than 10 hours flying
Race #77 with Scott. The Legacy is
everything I imagined and then some.
With every
flight I get more comfortable and proficient piloting this “rocket ship”,
presently constrained to within 100nm radius of KTRK during Phase I. On my first low altitude flight to
break-in the new engine, I strained my eyes to find Oakdale airport hidden in
the clutter of California’s San Joaquin Valley. My focus returned to the small ASI
located just under the glare shield; it was pegged! Subsequent analysis of calibrated EFIS
data revealed that I was cruising at 254kts TAS on 90% power, level at 4500ft
ASL. The Teledyne Continental
Motors representative had recommended that “I fly it like I stole it” – roger
wilco.
While
building, I watched the LML for any data about a completed Legacy to compare
with our projected numbers. Our
configuration is:
IO
550N/Hartzell 3 blade/dual alternator/single battery/glass panel/two axis
autopilot/oxygen/spoilers
Here is how it
finally came out:
Empty weight
of 1971lbs (8 qts of oil, and 1 gal of unusable fuel, no paint or interior
yet)
Empty CG at
84.7in
Only a few
significant squawks to report after the first flight: low max fuel flow (25gph)
and low max rpm (2670rpm) were adjusted to 29gph, 2700rpm. Garmin GNS430W would not hold satellite
lock until I added a small aluminum ground plane (5x7 inches) to the antenna
located under the glare-shield. I
observed two small witness marks indicating slight contact between the oil sump
and nose gear over-center linkage when gear was retraced in flight. This was solved with a hammer (not as
brutal as it sounds). The roll trim
tab needed to be adjusted for hands off flight in the solo pilot
configuration. I also cleared a few
hard contact points between the baffling and the cowling which significantly
reduced vibration in the cockpit.
Of particular interest was the performance of the canopy seal. I attached the passive seal included in
the kit, to the canopy instead of the fuselage with the “V” up and it does not
leak anywhere.
Our local
Lancair community provided encouragement and answers to many of our questions
during construction and initial flight testing. We would like thank Bucky Whittier,
Steve Richard, Dennis Johnson, Jim Coelho, Steve and Claudette Colwell
and especially Scott Alair who was extremely generous with his time, experience
and beautiful aircraft, Obsession Race #77.
Tailwinds,
Mark &
Leslie Summers
Experimental
N447E
6.7 hours
total time