Zenith Aircraft Builders and Flyers

Build It! Fly It! The Companion Website to the Zenair Newsletter

All Blog Posts (445)

Russell Lepre' CH750 Quick Build Kit

Shipped another QBK, today!

Bon Voyage!

Continue

Added by Russell Lepre' on March 9, 2010 at 10:54am — 2 Comments

Albert E Lewallen 701 Taildragger

I am building a 701 taildragger. I looked at the plans and they are nov very clear. any info or photos on the tailwheel installation would be helpful. Continue

Added by Albert E Lewallen on March 8, 2010 at 1:38pm — 1 Comment

John Livsey CH601 HDS Wing Tanks

Hi All,

I came across this photograph several years ago. It is in the wing of either a CH601HD or HDS. I am trying to locate the builder as I'm interested in doing something similar myself.

Does anyone recognise the photo ???

Continue

Added by John Livsey on March 7, 2010 at 2:20am — 2 Comments

Mack P. Kreizenbeck Polish techneques

Greetings all,

Jake and I were talking the other day and came up with this question:

Has anyone out there used Scotch Brite pads to prepare the aircraft surface for polishing?

We were thinking of putting the Scotch Brite on a orbital sander pad and start working smoothing out

the grain, using red, brown, gray and finally white pads prior to using Nuvite.

I have the info published on matronics, Swift and Airstream and have started to polish with the t… Continue

Added by Mack P. Kreizenbeck on March 2, 2010 at 3:10pm — 3 Comments

Stephen R. Smith Two upgrades in 13 days at QSP

Would you pay this man to help you upgrade your airplane? We did and it worked out much better then the picture would suggest.


This blog is not a how-to. There have been plenty of well done how-to blogs. It’s just some pictures wit

Continue

Added by Stephen R. Smith on March 2, 2010 at 12:30am — 16 Comments

Mark Ertz Four Other Pages on Mass Balance, LAA (?)

http://www.zenairulm.com/News/pdfdocs/ZE-2009-06.pdf

While on the net, I found the complete LAA 5 page directive. There are 34 steps in their process to put mass balance (Counter balance) on our ailerons. Also there is a very good explaination on flutter in Kit Plane magazine, March 2010.

As I have been looking at this part of the upgrade, I wanted to understand it better. Given the designers reservations

Continue

Added by Mark Ertz on March 2, 2010 at 12:02am — No Comments

Jake Reyna Wing Lockers and additional wing stiffeners

I originally installed per the drawings, but I have 2 Dzus fasteners on either side to hold down the door. I wasn't happy with 2 L angles and talk at the time, 4 years ago, was to add at least one additional stiffener. And I didn't like the way the hinge protruded or that the door was in the way whe… Continue

Added by Jake Reyna on February 27, 2010 at 6:23am — 3 Comments

Doug Norman EAA News Article: A Closer Look ...FAA’s Zodiac 601/650 Aircraft Report

Below is a link to the EAA article just published.

http://www.eaa.org/news/2010/2010-02-25_zodiac.asp

Excerpts:

"The manufacturer successfully tested the modified wing structure to loads higher than determined in their revised analysis and the wing structure did not fail at the ultimate test loads.

Despite disagreeing with the FAA on several issues deemed "signific

Continue

Added by Doug Norman on February 25, 2010 at 7:13pm — 6 Comments

Doug Norman AMD Authorization for other than GE4509 landing/taxi lights

Attached is the authorization letter which other AMD SLSA owners can use to install landing/taxi lights other than GE4509s legally.

AMD Authorization for Replacement Bulbs.pdf

Continue

Added by Doug Norman on February 24, 2010 at 9:39am — 4 Comments

Zenith.Aero Clem Kramer’s Zenith CH 750: From first part to first flight in just a year

The following was first published on the GeneralAviationNews.com website on February 21, 2010:

Posted by Janice Wood · February 21, 2010

Continue

Added by Zenith.Aero on February 23, 2010 at 11:56am — 8 Comments

James Kendall Lengthening rudder cables

New to site. How can i add a couple of inches forward positioning of the rudder pedals for more comfort? Add turnbuckles on the pedal end and shorten nose wheel rods? Any suggestions without running new, longer cables? I will have the plane apart doing upgrades and thought this might be a good time to do so. Continue

Added by James Kendall on February 22, 2010 at 9:56am — 4 Comments

Jay Parker Landing Lights on a Zenith STOL

Assuming I get a full Pilots License and wish to fly the LSA CH-750 as a regular plane after the sun sets, I’d like to know where those of you who have equal ambitions plan to install your landing/taxi lights on the CH-750? Do folks even fly STOLs after hours as I don’t recall seeing them on the Zenith website on any of the CH-801 photos. With the fixed leading edge wing slat on the Zenith STOLs, it w

Continue

Added by Jay Parker on February 19, 2010 at 9:41am — 5 Comments

Doug MacDonald Continuing Progress

Haven't updated here in a while so I figured I'd let everyone know what I've been up too. I'm in the proverbial 90% done 90% to go final phase of building. My seat cushions are out for upholstery, I'm fininshing up some minor body work on my used cowl. I managed to drill the rest of the holes in my windshield without doing any serious damage. I spent most of today tidying up my wiring harness. Things like that.

I have a two page punch list that I am working through and am think

Continue

Added by Doug MacDonald on February 15, 2010 at 5:52pm — 1 Comment

patrick nesbitt NOT SURE WHAT TO TITLE THIS POST - YOU DECIDE.!

Well not sure if I should title this Post IS MY WIFE PISSED OR WHAT, or DO I HAVE THE LARGEST FLEET OF 701'S? Last year while I was coming to the end of building my first 701, a fellow 701 owner had a taxi mishap in his, he decided that he would not repair it and parted it out. I purchased it minus the engine and instruments, hence my second 701 which currently sits in my shop. This last week I purchase a complete new fusela

Continue

Added by patrick nesbitt on February 14, 2010 at 11:59pm — 5 Comments

Travis Corbin More Progress...

Wing skeletons are complete and it we finished earlier than we thought... Oooo, SCAREY! Now to skin the wings and start on the fuel system. Continue

Added by Travis Corbin on February 12, 2010 at 9:23pm — No Comments

Jonathan Porter A tail in the workshop...

As we finalise the build of the MoM 701, one of the staff went to pick some parts and got a surprise...

She took hold of a lovely Royal Python... or did it take hold of her? Either way she exited the workshop and Matthew, our resident amateur Herpetologist, came in and carefully caught the snake and brought it out to the delight of the young ladies learning to build aircraft.

It disrupted build for a while - but as you can see it did provide some
Continue

Added by Jonathan Porter on February 12, 2010 at 2:35pm — No Comments

Sebastien Heintz Calibrating the Airspeed Indicator (ASI)

A sometimes overlooked part of the flight test program is calibration of the airspeed indicator (ASI). The airspeed indicator is (arguably) the single most important instrument we have on board our airplane, and it's important that owners/pilots make sure that the ASI has been calibrated (that it has been corrected for errors).

Indicated Airspeed (IAS) is the speed of the aircraft as shown on the airspeed indicator.

Continue

Added by Sebastien Heintz on February 12, 2010 at 12:00pm — 4 Comments

Wayne Silvan Dual sticks

Does Zenith make a dual stick conversion for the 701,Or do I have to make a conversion of my own? Continue

Added by Wayne Silvan on February 10, 2010 at 10:28pm — 3 Comments

Jock Struthers Painting – Why Can’t I do it Myself?

Having sent in a few photos recently of my first attempt at spray painting the tail sections of my 701, I have been invited to commence a blog on the subject. I’ve never done a blog before – nor built a plane for that matter, so here goes:

Continue

Added by Jock Struthers on February 10, 2010 at 2:00pm — 7 Comments

William Heath Bubble door gas struts

Thanks Michael, Jonathan, Phill, Bob, and everybody else who took the time to respond to my request.

You guys have been very helpful.

Michael, I think I will go to NAPA and try your solution since it seems to be working.

I originally purchased two struts from Aircraft Spruce, but I didn't realize they were really for raising a canopy.

They are short and very strong, will not work very well for the larger movement needed of swinging open a door. I envy you guys that

Continue

Added by William Heath on February 10, 2010 at 12:59pm — 6 Comments

Subcribe to Zenair News


Zenair News is the official newsletter for builders and owners of Zenith aircraft. Now in color, and FREE bonus DVD with every issue!

New from Zenith:

NEW super-bright LED lights for your Zenith:

These Zenair-branded 3-way wingtip-mounted LED lights from AeroLED are the brightest and highest quality LED lights available on the market today. Available at a great price exclusively for Zenith builders and owners.

The official Zenith Aircraft DVD has been updated with new footage and features, and now includes the STOL CH 750 and the ZODIAC CH 650.

© 2010   Created by Zenith.Aero

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Privacy  |  Terms of Service