Christen Eagle

I took care of and flew a friend's Eagle for 10 years. The cockpit and canopy on the Eagle is great with great visibility compared to the Pitts. (I also flew a S2B a lot after he sold the Eagle). Good ground handling so you should be able to transition from the Citabria in just a few hours. Look closely at the lower longerons at the gear mount as it is a weak spot. Ask or look in the logs to see if it has the re enforcement mod done. Aerobatics will be effortless compared to the Citabria and it really has gentel stall characteristics. Great next step up from the Citabria. Don
 
Thanks Don, I'm looking forward to it. It has had the longerons inspected and I'll check if it's had the reinforcent done too.
 
What tailwheel does it have? The kit came with the crummy Lang. A Scott/Alaskan Bushwheel 3200 is the way to go. Maule compression springs with a slight amount of slack work great also. Don
 
Folks have had good and bad luck with all types of tailwheels in these airplanes. I had a Lang on my Pitts at first, which worked really well, with nice, light handling on the ground. But it wore out and started shimmying, and didn't want to spend the bucks on a new one, so bought a cheaper Maule. They'll shimmy when they wear out too. Pretty sure the new Pitts' still come with Langs. Lots of folks like the Lang just fine. The Maule has worked fine, but it's not as light and responsive on the ground as the Lang. Some have had the Lang shed its tire on landing...especially after putting a new tire on. Having that happen is not as adventurous on the landing roll as you might think. Haven't heard of too many folks running Scott 3200's on Eagles/Pitts', so don't know much about them other than they cost over a grand. The tailwheel that people seem to have the best luck with, and like the most is the Aviation Products tailwheel. #6131 w/ 6" tire for a Pitts or Eagle. Everyone says it's dirt simple, light, and works great. It's inexpensive too - under $300. I'll be getting one when my Maule starts giving me trouble. Some have even gotten field-approvals to run the API on their Pitts S-2's due to bad luck with expensive certified tailwheels. The Eagle is Experimental of course, so no problem. Don't sweat the tailwheel type as long as it's working fine. Reconsider when it develops a problem...they all will, eventually.
 
Last edited:
Seems the eagle looks so pretty because it's covered with ceconite and imron.
so now, I'm thinking I won't get it because of the imron cracking and delaminating with hard flying use.
Right now there are no cracks but it hasnt been flown much in acro either.

Darn.
 
That was how they were covered and painted according to the instruction manual. If it is hangared it shouldn't be a problem. How old and how many hours are on it? If it hasn't cracked by now it's probably good for quite a few more years. The one I flew was 9 years old with over 500hrs on it and there wasn't any cracks in the paint. Don
 
Oh, good. So if it does have cracks in it then depending on the extent and where they are should that be a no go?

I realize this is subjective and I'll take yalls opinions as opinions ....
 
Jeanie - how many hours on the airplane you're looking at? I understand lots of folks have had good luck using Imron (with flex agent) over Ceconite. It seems to be much less common these days on fabric airplanes. Understand that all of these Eagle/Pitts types will eventually show paint cracks. This is normal and unavoidable unless the airplane is a hangar queen. First area to crack is around the ribs on the inboard section of the lower wing. This area takes a propwash beating whether you're flying acro or not. It's cosmetic only, and typically not noticeable unless you look closely. But I'm no expert on the durability of all the different paint types and systems out there. You may want to join the acro exploder email list and post a question about Imron/Ceconite. Lots of experience there.
 
I went and googled imron, cracks, Christen eagle, and various combinations.

A couple of forums popped up where they were talking about how the imron is impossible to repair once it starts cracking. The only real remedy is a re-cover. I'm not saying it cannot be repaired, just that it's extremely difficult and not practical to do so from what I was reading. So I'm on the fence as to whether that would influence a purchase. It depends on the condition of the paint, how old, and what it looks like. If it is cracked bad, that means a re-cover. But if there are no cracks, it may last another ten years if you maintain it. :redface:

Just for my own information, anybody know what a re-cover job runs these days for let's say, a Pitts or a eagle? :)
 
I saw the airplane and it is beautiful.... No cracks.
Pete Gneadinger is the guy who designed and built the Eagle for Frank Christensen. Sadly he passed away a couple of years ago :-(
Pete was the GURU on the Eagle and knew everything there was to know about them. He worked closely with Steve Wolf on Sean Tuckers biplanes and many other top end biplanes. He was the man! Pete built the first single place airshow Eagles so he has been around and knows these fabric biplanes inside and out!
He did a $110,000 restoration on Vicki Cruz's Eagle back in 2001 I believe. He used Imron and that airplane got flown hard when Vicki was in it. I saw the airplane about 9 months ago and it looked brand new. Not a crack one in the paint. I almost bought it but my 540 Eagle came along. The owner said everyone that he tried to sell the airplane to talked bad about Imron on a fabric airplane but it works. That's what the flex agent does. So the point to this is that if Pete used Imron its probably not a issue. He knew what he was doing.
Jeanie, Did Pete do the recover and mods on that plane when it was recovered in 95? I forgot who did it but I think the wing block mods and Longeron mods were done at that time. I looked through the logs but its been awhile.
MARK! I missed you at the airport today. I was sitting in my Eagle making engine noises doing pretend snap rolls wishing the motor was back on. Damn, you could have got up in there with me... LOL!
 
txflyer said:
I went and googled imron, cracks, Christen eagle, and various combinations.

A couple of forums popped up where they were talking about how the imron is impossible to repair once it starts cracking. The only real remedy is a re-cover. I'm not saying it cannot be repaired, just that it's extremely difficult and not practical to do so from what I was reading. So I'm on the fence as to whether that would influence a purchase. It depends on the condition of the paint, how old, and what it looks like. If it is cracked bad, that means a re-cover. But if there are no cracks, it may last another ten years if you maintain it. :redface:

Just for my own information, anybody know what a re-cover job runs these days for let's say, a Pitts or a eagle? :)
Click to expand...

Easy $40,000 for a recover. Mine was built in Late 2001 so it does not need recover anytime soon. Just your checkbook. HA! HA!
 
AcroGimp said:
$40K for a recover?? :eek:

Wow.
Click to expand...

It's a Christen Eagle. It has to have a stupid complex paint scheme - I think it's somewhere in the operating limitations. Of the two common schemes Mr. Pigen has the simpler paint scheme (IIRC - it's the red with gold eagle - right?) - and it ain't simple.
 
Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
It's a Christen Eagle. It has to have a stupid complex paint scheme - I think it's somewhere in the operating limitations. Of the two common schemes Mr. Pigen has the simpler paint scheme (IIRC - it's the red with gold eagle - right?) - and it ain't simple.
Click to expand...
Of course! I forgot the paint scheme, was just thinking of fabric, glue, tapes and pink - but that ain't done is it.

Thanks
 
pigpenracing said:
I saw the airplane and it is beautiful.... No cracks.
Pete Gneadinger is the guy who designed and built the Eagle for Frank Christensen. Sadly he passed away a couple of years ago :-(
Pete was the GURU on the Eagle and knew everything there was to know about them. He worked closely with Steve Wolf on Sean Tuckers biplanes and many other top end biplanes. He was the man! Pete built the first single place airshow Eagles so he has been around and knows these fabric biplanes inside and out!
He did a $110,000 restoration on Vicki Cruz's Eagle back in 2001 I believe. He used Imron and that airplane got flown hard when Vicki was in it. I saw the airplane about 9 months ago and it looked brand new. Not a crack one in the paint. I almost bought it but my 540 Eagle came along. The owner said everyone that he tried to sell the airplane to talked bad about Imron on a fabric airplane but it works. That's what the flex agent does. So the point to this is that if Pete used Imron its probably not a issue. He knew what he was doing.
Jeanie, Did Pete do the recover and mods on that plane when it was recovered in 95? I forgot who did it but I think the wing block mods and Longeron mods were done at that time. I looked through the logs but its been awhile.
MARK! I missed you at the airport today. I was sitting in my Eagle making engine noises doing pretend snap rolls wishing the motor was back on. Damn, you could have got up in there with me... LOL!
Click to expand...



Sorry I missed you at the field. I'm hung up in the office with bankers and lawyers on the e-mail and phone telling me how much $ we don't have .... ;)

I have to get this off my chest somewhere, and I'll probably delete it later, but I just wrote the IRS a check for $2.4million, and that may not be the end of it. So I have PTSD at the moment.

Foregoing paragraph aside, we should be alright, and I should be able to continue to buy airplanes and fly them if Obama & Company will get their ****ing hands out of my pockets.... I want your eagle. It just has to all work out. You know how it is. :redface:
 
AcroGimp said:
$40K for a recover?? :eek:
Click to expand...

Or $5K-7K if you can get them to knock off the 500 hrs of labor. :) Eagle would probably be about the same as a S-2 Pitts. It'll be over $40K for factory Pitts recover. $35K is probably the minimum you can get for a quality job if you're paying someone to do everything. And Eagles come with factory masking patterns for the paint job. You'd go nuts trying to hand tape that paint scheme.
 
Last edited:
txflyer said:
Sorry I missed you at the field. I'm hung up in the office with bankers and lawyers on the e-mail and phone telling me how much $ we don't have .... ;)

I have to get this off my chest somewhere, and I'll probably delete it later, but I just wrote the IRS a check for $2.4million, and that may not be the end of it. So I have PTSD at the moment.

Foregoing paragraph aside, we should be alright, and I should be able to continue to buy airplanes and fly them if Obama & Company will get their ****ing hands out of my pockets.... I want your eagle. It just has to all work out. You know how it is. :redface:
Click to expand...

You can write me a check for half that and it will make me very happy. LOL! I could get a really bad ass hangar house then :)
 
pigpenracing said:
You can write me a check for half that and it will make me very happy. LOL! I could get a really bad ass hangar house then :)
Click to expand...


What I would do is maybe get some land around here and build a barndominium/hangar for myself if the city won't go your way.

Get some land out nearby in the countryside, enough to claim an ag exemption, and then the taxes aren't bad. I wouldn't think a barndominium would add improvement taxes to it too much, unless the county deem's it a residential home and places a big value on it.

Barndominium's are the way to go when you buy raw land, and it's the first thing I would build. You can't go wrong with one even if you have to sell, because everyone wants a barn. Then later, if everything works out, you can build your mansion and still have your barn/guest house/hangar. :)
 
Last edited:
$40,000 for a quality recover and paint is probably minimum. But with the Eagle manual you can do it yourself for about $5000 in materials. I re covered the left lower wing on my friend's Eagle after he ground looped it when the tailwheel tire came off. Ceconite and dope is pretty easy to do and with the factory paint masks the paint job is not that bad to do. Don
 
Easy come, easy go. :p

txflyer said:
Sorry I missed you at the field. I'm hung up in the office with bankers and lawyers on the e-mail and phone telling me how much $ we don't have .... ;)

I have to get this off my chest somewhere, and I'll probably delete it later, but I just wrote the IRS a check for $2.4million, and that may not be the end of it. So I have PTSD at the moment.

Foregoing paragraph aside, we should be alright, and I should be able to continue to buy airplanes and fly them if Obama & Company will get their ****ing hands out of my pockets.... I want your eagle. It just has to all work out. You know how it is. :redface:
Click to expand...
 
yakdriver said:
I re covered the left lower wing on my friend's Eagle after he ground looped it when the tailwheel tire came off.
Click to expand...

Was it a Lang? Happened to me on touchdown once. Landing roll was pretty normal, just noisy.
 
whifferdill said:
Was it a Lang? Happened to me on touchdown once. Landing roll was pretty normal, just noisy.
Click to expand...

Ha Ha...
I had a Lang on my Skybolt. Had a noisy landing like something was dragging. My buddy in the front screamed what in the hell is going on.... I looked out and the tailwheel passed me up.
For real :)
 
whifferdill said:
Was it a Lang? Happened to me on touchdown once. Landing roll was pretty normal, just noisy.
Click to expand...

Yep, a Lang. The owner always tried to land too fast and was behind on the rudder and it finally bit him. He listened to me after that and he got pretty good at landing. Don
 
Sounds like you want to steer clear of the Lang's. Or slow down and know how to land one.

I know the Scott tail wheel on my 180 takes a beating. I put a 6 ply on it instead of the 4 ply, and it hasn't let me down yet.
 
Made the deal with the eagle owner. So, I will be a new eagle pilot soonish :D

Wheeee.
 
Congrats, You will really like the airplane. Sooooo much easier to do acro campared to the Citabria. Don
 
GREAT!
You got a very nice airplane. I am happy you and Geary made a deal. Fly it out to Brenham and have lunch. I will take you for a ride in my 540 Eagle :)
 
Love that video on page 1...the human g-meter.

Reminds me of a flight where we were doing some steep turns at low altitude over open water. My passenger was doing the hook manuever over in the back. We were pulling MAYBE 2.5g. I laughed and told him this wasn't the Blue Angels, he could relax a little. My wife was showing early signs of labor back at home, I told him he didn't need to breathe like she would be doing later that day :)

Yes, I went flying that day....figured it was the last chance I'd have for quite some time!
 
Jeanie, there's no cure for this disease you know. You're in stage 2. :D Congrats on the Eagle! Keep us posted.
 
Congrats! Now we are going to see that plane competing at Hammerfest next year right?:)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top