Experimenter is a magazine created by EAA for people who build airplanes. We will report on amateur-built aircraft as well as ultralights and other light aircraft.
Issue link: http://experimenter.epubxp.com/i/254584
12 Vol.3 No.2 / Februar y 2014 SPORT AVIATION PIRATES "IT'S NOT EVERY WOMAN whose husband will spend three years building her a plane," Sandy Gainza said. A commercial pilot, Sandy fell in love with her husband Craig, EAA 535956, more than three kids ago. Next, she fell in love with the American Legend Cub after riding in one in 2009. Craig watched her take her ride and observed, "She came out of the airplane grinning ear to ear." Next, Craig tried on the plane and was pleasantly surprised that he fi t—in the front and back seats. At 6-foot, 3-and-a-half inches tall, he was used to cabins being too small for him. When he had sat in an original Piper Cub, his knees had been pressed against the instrument panel. The Legend Cub that Sandy liked had a cabin that's 28.5 inches wide by 50 inches tall. Aside from Sandy's enthusiasm and Craig's roomy fi t, a few other considerations tipped the scale in favor of buying the kit version of the Legend Cub, called the Texas Sport. For one thing, the Gainzas' youngest daughter was of at college, so the couple would have more time to build and fl y. Plus, Craig and Sandy had built a Lancair and were looking for "the anti- Lancair," an airplane that would be completely dif erent. A periodontal dentist by trade, Craig has an unusual motivation for building airplanes after work: "I spend my whole day work- ing inside a 3-inch hole. I wanted to spend the rest of my time working on something bigger." So after a careful consideration of all the factors (but really justifi ed by making Sandy happy), Craig told her, "If you want this airplane, I'll buy it." Sandy said, "I could see he wanted to build one." It was settled. The Gainzas ordered a Texas Sport kit in 2010. Here's the way the purchase works. American Legend Air- craft Company builds factory-complete aircraft, including the Legend Cub. The Legend Cub airplane has been certifi cated as a special light-sport aircraft (S-LSA) and is used by a number of fl ight schools for tailwheel training, among other things. The American Legend Aircraft Company also sells kits. The kitted airplane is called the Texas Sport (sometimes called the Texas Sport Cub). When the company gets an order for a kit, they pull one of their uncompleted Legend Cub airplanes of the line. Since the Texas Sport that is to be assembled by the user Photography by Michael Steineke The Gainzas' Pirate Cub is the E-LSA version of the American Legend Aircraft Legend Cub. A big advantage of E-LSA is that any owner, including non-builders/second owners, can take a 16-hour repairman training course to become the repairman for that aircraft. The downside is the aircraft must be built exactly like the S-LSA version without modifi cations. Craig and Sandy Gainza E A A E X P _ F e b 1 4 . i n d d 1 2 EAAEXP_Feb14.indd 12 2 / 3 / 1 4 3 : 1 3 P M 2/3/14 3:13 PM