Sebastien Heintz's Blog Posts Tagged 'kit' (23)

Search Blog Posts

"Oshkosh Week" 2020 at the Zenith Aircraft factory

Last week we hosted our first (and hopefully only!) "Oshkosh Week" at the Zenith aircraft kit factory in Mexico, Missouri. With the annual EAA AirVenture show canceled this year because of the COVID-19 global pandemic, we decided to open our factory to builders (and pilots) so that they could continue to "aviate" and work on their kit aircraft projects. We limited group sizes and activities…

Continue

Added by Sebastien Heintz on July 27, 2020 at 5:00pm — No Comments

Christopher Ward's Zenith CH 750 Cruzer project - Horizontal Tail

Earlier this month, we opened up our factory to Christopher Ward and members of EAA Chapter 429 of Jefferson City (MO) to give Chris and his helpers to get a chance on progressing on the construction of a Zenith CH 750 Cruzer.

Christopher attended our regular Zenith Workshop earlier in the year,…

Continue

Added by Sebastien Heintz on December 18, 2014 at 11:00am — 2 Comments

ONE WEEK WONDER project at Oshkosh 2014!

Continue

Added by Sebastien Heintz on October 3, 2013 at 3:00pm — 21 Comments

AOPA members prefer Experimentals

Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) membership prefers Experimental aircraft to factory-builts.

I was surprised to read today that, according to an …

Continue

Added by Sebastien Heintz on September 18, 2013 at 4:00pm — 8 Comments

From Point A to Zenith: EAA Employee STOL CH 750 project takes off

From Point A to Zenith: EAA Employee STOL CH 750 project takes off

The following was published on the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) website. Photos are courtesy of EAA:

October 4, 2012 - They say that every journey begins with a single…

Continue

Added by Sebastien Heintz on October 5, 2012 at 4:14pm — 3 Comments

Aerospace Engineering Students build a Zenith STOL in Malaysia

The …

Continue

Added by Sebastien Heintz on July 13, 2012 at 4:00am — 2 Comments

Iowa State University engineering students complete Zenith kit plane

The following is excerpted from Innovate Online, the online publication of the College of Engineering at Iowa State University (Ames,…

Continue

Added by Sebastien Heintz on June 15, 2012 at 11:00am — 2 Comments

Zenith CH 650 vs. Sonex: "Competitive Comparison"

The following is an unusual post because I don't normally comment negatively about competitors.  Competition is good for any industry, forcing us to be innovative and efficient, and there is a place and market for many different airplane designs (and the companies that manufacture them): The current issue of Kitplanes magazine (December 2011) contains the annual Buyer's Guide with 316 different kit aircraft listed (from nearly as many manufacturers)!

The letter that…

Continue

Added by Sebastien Heintz on November 8, 2011 at 7:30pm — 9 Comments

CH 650 Kit Evaluated by FAA

In a letter dated June 24, 2011, Terry Allen, manager of the FAA Production and Airworthiness Division, stated that the Evaluation Team determined that the kit will “allow an amateur builder to meet the major portion requirement of Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations part 21, Certification Procedures for Products and Parts, § 21.191(g),” known as the…

Continue

Added by Sebastien Heintz on June 28, 2011 at 5:03pm — 4 Comments

STOL CH 750: Dual Control Sticks

Frank Tompson recently installed the dual control stick option kit in his STOL CH 750:

We were a little concerned about cabin access (getting in and out of the airplane) with the dual sticks but it appears not to be a problem. Here's a schematic of the system:

The…
Continue

Added by Sebastien Heintz on August 7, 2010 at 8:00pm — 4 Comments

FAA's NKET visits the Zenith factory

Earlier this week we were treated by a two day visit by the FAA's newly created National Kit Evaluation Team (NKET) to evaluate and determine that the STOL CH 750 kit, as produced by Zenith, meets the intent of the "51% rule" and to allow an amateur-builder to register the plane as an "amateur-built - Experimental" aircraft (meeting the "major portion" requirement of Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations part 21, Certification Procedures for… Continue

Added by Sebastien Heintz on May 13, 2010 at 8:00pm — 3 Comments

Part 26: Installing the "Upgrade Package" to our Zodiac CH 601 XL: It flies!

It was a cold and windy day... but clear and sunny, so we flew our beloved Zodiac XL demonstrator airplane this morning.

Today's flight comes after the downtime of installing the Zodiac XL upgrades which we've been chronicling here over the past five or six weeks. All of you that have been following this series will agree that the upgrade package kit that we… Continue

Added by Sebastien Heintz on December 28, 2009 at 4:00pm — 8 Comments

Part 25: Installing the "Upgrade Package" to our Zodiac CH 601 XL: It's now all back together!

We've been finishing up the aircraft these past few days, continuing on where we last left the project.

We've re-installed the flaps and all the controls in the aircraft, as well as reconnected all the wiring and fuel lines.

Above, Steve and Roger finished riveting the last rivets back in...…

Continue

Added by Sebastien Heintz on December 24, 2009 at 2:30pm — 6 Comments

Part 23: Installing the "Upgrade Package" to our Zodiac CH 601 XL: Re-Installing the Center Spar in the Fuselage

Continuing on where we last finished, now we re-install the "upgraded" wing center spar section into the fuselage and position additional fuselage doublers:



First we installed the beefed-up Front Wing Uprights (6-ZU-2-6). This replaces the original Wing Uprights (6B13-1) with the heavy duty .125-inch Front Wing Uprights. We are forced to drill a new row of holes parallel to the original row for the new… Continue

Added by Sebastien Heintz on December 14, 2009 at 4:00pm — 8 Comments

Installing the "Upgrade Package" to our Zodiac CH 601 XL: Riveting and Re-Assembling the Center Spar

I've now added the photos for the last post on riveting and re-assembling the center wing spar section. Below is the upgraded center spar section, ready to return to the fuselage:



As previously mentioned, Roger Dubbert from the Zenith factory will be attending Gus Warren's Zodiac CH 601 XL… Continue

Added by Sebastien Heintz on December 9, 2009 at 3:49pm — 3 Comments

Part 20: Installing the "Upgrade Package" to our Zodiac CH 601 XL: Aileron Mass Balance

Continuing where we left off yesterday, now we install the mass balance to the ailerons. Since this was mandated by the UK LAA earlier this year for Zodiac XL owners there, we used their drawings (which was engineered and tested by the LAA), as specified in the AMD Safety Alert.



The aileron mass balance consists of an 18-inch arm… Continue

Added by Sebastien Heintz on December 3, 2009 at 5:30pm — 7 Comments

Part 19: Installing the "Upgrade Package" to our Zodiac CH 601 XL: Working on the Ailerons

With the main wings done, we now focus on the aileron upgrades.

The aileron upgrades consist of three separate items: Aileron gussets (65W2-5 and 65W2-6) on the aileron ribs, L-angle stiffeners for the aileron trim servo, and finally, aileron mass balance. Above, the right aileron is shown. Below is the left aileron.

Our demonstrator Zodiac CH 601 XL airplane has the original "hingeless" aileron system - many customers have the hinged… Continue

Added by Sebastien Heintz on December 2, 2009 at 5:00pm — No Comments

Part 18: Installing the "Upgrade Package" to our Zodiac CH 601 XL: Working on the Second Wing

Now we're working on finishing the second (left) wing.

We debur and rivet the aileron bellcrank support channel and stiffeners, and the rear channel doubler...

And we bolt in the wing root doubler 6-ZU-1-2 and rivet the nose rib angles (6-ZU-1-3 and 6-ZU-1-5) in place...

...and we cleco and rivet the nose ribs in place. Note that in the photo we are… Continue

Added by Sebastien Heintz on December 1, 2009 at 11:30am — 4 Comments

Part 12: Installing the L-angle stiffeners to the rear bottom wing skins

Now we install L-angle stiffeners to the rear bottom wing skins:

This is an easy job with the top rear skin removed. We trim the L-angle piece to length, pre-drill it, and then drill and cleco it into the bottom rear skin:

We'll share the position measurements and exact details with the final drawings. The Upgrade drawings are nearly finalized (which will allow us to then release and… Continue

Added by Sebastien Heintz on November 20, 2009 at 4:30pm — 10 Comments

Part 11: Installing 3-position LED lights (and replacing the AeroFlash / Whelan strobes)

Since we have full access to the insides of our wings we decided that this was the perfect time to upgrade to new LED (light emiting diodes) lights. Note that this is not part of the Upgrade Package prescribed in AMD's Safety Alert and the FAA's SAIB - this is just an opportune time to install them (and also allows us to save a few pounds in the process).



This is the original Aeroflash-Signal anti-collision/position light assembly (nav/strobe light) on the left wingtip:…

Continue

Added by Sebastien Heintz on November 19, 2009 at 4:30pm — 4 Comments

Latest Blog Posts

Most Popular Blog Posts

Monthly Archives

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

New from Zenith:

Zenith Planes For Sale 
  

Classified listing for buying or selling your Zenith building or flying related stuff...

Custom Instrument Panels
for your Zenith:

Custom instrument panels are now available directly from Zenith Aircraft Company exclusively for Zenith builders and owners. Pre-cut panel, Dynon and Garmin avionics, and more.

Zenith Homecoming Tee:

Zenair Floats

Flying On Your Own Wings:
 A Complete Guide to Understanding Light Airplane Design, by Chris Heintz

Builder & Pilot Supplies:

Aircraft Insurance:

 
 

West Coast USA:

 
Pro Builder Assistance:

 

Transition training:

Lavion Aero

K&S Aviation Services

Aircraft Spruce & Specialty for all your building and pilot supplies!

How to videos from HomebuiltHELP.com

Developed specifically for Zenith builders (by a builder) these videos on DVD are a great help in building your own kit plane by providing practical hands-on construction information. Visit HomebuiltHelp.com for the latest DVD titles.

© 2024   Created by Zenith.Aero.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service