By Michael Stephan
In March our Chapter members were privileged to get a tour of the American Legend Aircraft Company in Sulphur Springs. Greg Kochersperger organized our excursion that began with a lunch at the Red Barn restaurant that was a short walk across the road to the airport. Our group consisted of about 20 people, and we had about five airplanes and one Gyrocopter brave the high winds that day and fly in.
This was my third tour of the Legend factory in the last twenty years and each trip was memorable with something new to see. Originally it was a couple of buildings with much of the planes being handcrafted.
One thing that remains the same is the fuselages are welded in the original fixture that the first airplanes were. The second trip a few more buildings were added to make room for the greater demand. An assembly line was prevalent and more room for planes going together at the same time as well as space for maintenance work on existing customer planes. Today even more buildings were added as the technology of the machines has increased.
A single CNC router that I remember from the second visit that primarily cut instrument panels has been replaced by two very large ShopSabre CNC machines that now cut many parts including the carbon fiber floor panels. A large CNC mill produces multiple aluminum parts and fittings. A CNC laser cutting machine turns large sheets of aluminum into all sorts of panels with incredible precision, and the nesting of parts on the sheet reduces waste tremendously. But some of the work is still very much the same as the early days. The fuselages are still TIG welded by hand. All the little tabs and brackets are clamped in the fixture and welded. One improvement is all the Chromoly tubing is CNC laser cut yielding a precisely fitting joint that results in a strong welded joint.
The fabric is still a labor intensive job, as we have not created a machine yet that can cut and glue fabric on an airframe as well as stitch the wings and tail feathers. So there is still some “old school” craftsmanship that still is part of the of each Legend Cub.
The structure of the wing is new. The leading edges are all carbon fiber parts, including the nose ribs. The future center spar ribs will change from hand fabricated riveted together aluminum ribs to a single hydroformed piece. That machine is being installed and nearly ready to press ribs.
I was impressed with the varied models that are now being produced. Big 4 cylinder Lycoming engines as well as the latest turbocharged Rotax 916iS now power these cubs instead of the traditional Continental O-200. We even saw a new constant speed prop created by Catto that can achieve higher thrust at altitudes that the turbo Rotax can climb to. That prop was something else. Look for it in the Legend Booth at Sun-N-Fun and Airventure.
Another eye opener on this visit is the popularity and value put into “big tire back-country flying.” These machines are high end luxurious, which Zen Walters pointed out to me, that phrase seems like an oxymoron.
Aircraft Companies are a tenuous proposition as we have learned with the bankruptcy of Vans aircraft and more recently the closing of Sonex Aircraft. I am impressed with how American Legend Aircraft, who was one of the first two companies building Light Sport Aircraft is not only still around, but growing and thriving in a very competitive market. It makes a statement about the owners, the managers and the talented workers who have been there the past twenty years. Well done, and thank you for sharing your facility with us.
I also want to thank Greg for coordinating this trip to Sulphur Springs and also thank all the members who joined us for this weekday excursion.
