| Leonard Milholland at Oshkosh 2002 |
| As I heard it, Leonard got the itch to build an ultralight when he thought about possibly not passing the physical some day. The thought of not flying was just too much. Besides, an ultralight might be fun. Having built a couple of experimental aircraft and rebuilt a couple factory jobs, the had the experience and lots of spare parts. He wanted to use the aircraft building techniques and materials he had used and trusted (no flying lawn chairs). So, he started pulling 4130 steel tubing from the loft, lit the welding torch and the rest is history. Leonard was already selling plans for the "Better Half VW" engine and the prototype engine was available. So, it was a natural to build his ultralight to take advantage of his 4-cycle half VW. (No expensive 2-cycle engines or mixing oil with the gas.) Turned out to be a great match. When he finished his new ultralight, it was about 10 pounds less than the maximum legal weight... thus the name Legal Eagle. Now, it is with a sense of pride, and some amazement, that he is seeing his little Legal Eagle Ultralight being duplicated by builders all over the world. "Thanks Leonard for sharing your experience, handiwork, and dream of low cost ultralight flight with us." Paul |
| My Legal Eagle Ultralight |
| Photos and text by Paul L. Loghry. All rights reserved. Please e-mail a request if you would like a copy of a photo or other content. |
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| Note the worn grass all around the Legal Eagle. This was the last day of AirVenture 2002. There had been a lot of people around the Legal Eagle! |
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| Leonard's 80th Birthday at AirVenture 2004. He is so full of energy it's hard to think of him as an octogenarian! This year he brought both the Legal Eagle and Double Eagle to Oshkosh, was "working" his booth everyday, and he flew the Double Eagle from the ultralight field on his birthday. Way to go Leonard! Keep up the good work and enjoy your 80's! |