Built primarily of E glass and carbon fiber composites, the Legend’s airframe is designed for powerful engines and high speeds. The kit comes in a “fast build” form designed to reduce the build time by 600 hours and features many prefabricated components. Gray estimates it requires about 7,000 man-hours of labor to complete the project from start to first flight.
 
One look at the Legend reveals that it is a craft designed to turn fuel into speed. Its long nose houses a 724-hp Czech-manufactured Walter turbine engine, driving a very large prop from an Eastern European commuter airliner. This combination of smooth, powerful turboprop engine and sleek airframe endows the Legend with incredible performance. Turbine engines are wonderful things, having few moving parts, all rotating and producing vibration-free power. The Walter has been produced for years in the Czech Republic, and commuter airliners of Eastern Europe commonly fit the solid and reliable engine to their ubiquitous turboprops. Starting the Walter is a bit different from starting the usual aircraft piston engine. Engaging the starter produces the familiar turbine whine. Once the rpm level reaches the correct percentage, fuel is introduced. As the prop spins up, the sound inside the cockpit does not change, nor is there any vibration. The first indications that the engine has started come from the instruments that show increasing temperature and rpm, the characteristic turbine whine, and the intoxicating smell of burning jet fuel. Here, the term “turbine smooth” really means something.
Taxiing the aircraft is also different. The turbine runs at a constant speed, and the pilot uses the power lever to accelerate or slow down by changing prop pitch. By utilizing the “beta,” or reverse thrust capability (the prop may be controlled to the extent that the thrust may be diverted forward to slow or back up), the aircraft can be accelerated or slowed without braking. The nose wheel is a castering type, and differential braking is used to steer during taxi maneuvers. Ground handling is easy, and the power lever is precise at controlling taxi speed.

Once a turbine engine is running, no ground run-up check is required. Dan Gray and I went through a quick pre-takeoff checklist and positioned the Legend on the runway numbers. Advancing the throttle to 68 percent power pushed us back into our seats. With rotation at 60 knots, the ground run was probably less than 600 feet, with climb-out at 100 knots. With this much power available, a nearly vertical climb was possible, achieving over 5,000 feet per minute. This gave us an altitude of over 2,000 feet before the Legend cleared the end of the 2,500-foot runway. It makes one wonder what it would do if 100 percent of the available power were used.

Using a forward speed of about 180 knots, the Legend can climb at over 2,500 feet per minute while giving good visibility over the long nose. Level flight results in a speed of about 280 knots true.
 
The handling of the Legend is as good as its appearance suggests. Controls are light, and control harmony is just about spot-on, with a slight reduction in pitch force as speed increases. Rolls are quick and easy, requiring little rudder to accomplish. It is not a difficult aircraft to fly, in spite of its prodigious performance.
The turbine engine is easy to manage in flight. There are two parameters for its operation: torque, the measure of the engine’s power output, and the temperature of its power-producing turbine. On a hot day, the temperatures will determine the torque available to the pilot. On a cool day, the torque will be the limiting factor. “We run the engine at lower temperatures in the interest of longevity,” says Gray. Even on the hottest days, the Walter can put out 400 hp, more than enough to deliver exciting performance from the lithe Legend.

The return to the airport provided another surprise. We did the usual “high key” overhead approach procedure and maintained 2,000 feet agl, impossibly high for such a high-performance aircraft. Or so I thought. With full flaps, the nose pointed down at the runway, the turbine power brought back, and the big prop used as a brake, the aircraft made a steep approach—more appropriate to the Space Shuttle—at about 110 knots, putting the wheels on the numbers and employing beta to slow down and turn off at half the runway length.

Assuming a fuel capacity of 110 gallons of Jet A, Gray flightplans his Legend for 2.5 hours of endurance at a speed of 280 knots at an altitude of 18,000 to 21,000 feet. This provides a range of about 500 nautical miles with some reserves.
 
Pilots and hot-rodders have been on the same page for years. Both know that if you want something very special with real performance, you just have to build it yourself.
 
Dan Gray, Aviation F/X, dnlgry1@aol.com
Legend Aircraft Inc., www.turbinelegend.com