This is "The Zen".

It is a 2005 kit built CH601HD that was built by Trevor Page, and sold to me & Ray Nash in 2007. At the time Ray & I had been flying Quad City Challengers on wheels / skis / amphibian floats. We wanted a faster go further adventure aircraft that was still in the Advanced Ultra Light Aircraft (AULA) category here in Canada. It was also the aircraft that introduced me to Zenair / Zenith kit planes, the Rotax 912 series of engines, and the hopeless addiction of…

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Check this YouTube channel out if you enjoy "Grass Roots"  flying videos. Mix of GA aircraft and the CH601HD / CH701 aircraft. CH601HD (both taildragger & tricycle gear) flying skis. They fly in Ontario, Canada.

I have not posted much in the last few years, preferring to lurk in the internet shadows and follow the adventures of others. I still answer questions quickly in PM sent through the web site. The 2005 CH601HD rests quietly in the hangar its systems "mothballed"..... ignored the past 2 years. Like an unfaithful boy friend my fancy had turned to another aircraft. A 1976 Citabria GCBC a friend with too many aircraft was generous enough to loan me. I learned to handle the evil "tail wheel" gear,…

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Bungee have a 5 years replacement life cycle based on the color code on the bungee. The CH601HD has a nose gear bungee, and 2 bungee / main gear. All bungee 1080HD. Other builders have asked me how I replace main gear bungee. Pictures are worth a thousand words... and I hate typing.…

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Does anyone have a set of the older style CH701 / CH601HD Zenith / CZAW floats?

I'm bored these days without a project, so I'm thinking my CH601HD would be cool to fly on floats. Anyone have a drawing for the front steerable nose gear. If I remember these were compressed air…

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Here is a real product to wake up your Rotax 912 80 hp engine.

Failure of the Supercharger simply means you have to fly on the original 80 hp.

http://youtu.be/EVqDhmlePXQ

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Here is a gently used Rotax 912 80 hp for sale.

http://upac.ca/classifieds/ads/rotax-912-ul-80hp/

I know the owner and aircraft history. Its good.

The Rotax 912 80 hp is great engine for the CH701 or CH601HD series aircraft. I have flown both models with the 80 hp Rotax and they fly great.

 

Bob

http://youtu.be/mQIy3HjALek

First flight of Mac McCullock's CH750 registered AULA in Canada. Rotax 912S engine. Mac did a days CH750 type training with me prior to 1st flight.

Since posting pictures on this site I have had lots of requests for information, and pictures of my 1450 Amphib. float build.

Zenair has an instructional web page set up just for this purpose.http://http://zenairfloatassembly.com/1450A/ . It is sort of hidden away unless you are looking for it. Go to this page and look over the instructions for both the "parts kit" and "pre-drilled kit". You will notice the…

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When you order Zenith amphibian floats you have to chose between operating your retractable wheels either by a hand pump or electric pump. Zenith does not price either pump differently...but if you want a hand pump to back up the electric version its an additional $1000. The hand pump must be mounted between the pilots legs so it can be operated by the pilot. The electric pump can be mounted in the rear and operated with a single switch. Both pumps weigh the same. Do any of the builders have… Continue

I think most builders have at least one slow leak tire on their aircraft. On mine its the nose gear tire, it leaks down over a couple weeks while the mains have never leaked. I was thinking about putting tubes in the tires, but that adds extra cost and weight (I assume that is why tubes are not included in the kit?). A fellow builder Bob Stuart (CH701 plans only) suggested removing the valve stem and injecting (syringe) 5 - 10 cc of anti-freeze then installing the stem and inflating the…

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My CH750 is powered by the Rotax 912S engine. To date I have 90 trouble free hours on the engine with no adjustments required other than tightening a radiator hose clamp. While flying the other day the engine oil pressure started to fluctuate and go full scale both directions on the D180. This really gets your attention! I selected a field for a forced landing, but after flying the approach with Rotax humming along happily (all oil temps & cylinder temps normal) I reasoned I was risking…

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A question for all the Zenith builder & fans out there..."What ever became of the Zodiac Gemini CH620?"

I have the factory information about the aircraft it. I stumbled across the literature while going through a stack of aircraft sales pitches I collected over the years. For those of you who have never heard of this aircraft it looked like a it was a version of the CH601HDS series, with retractable tri-gear and twin Rotax 912 80 hp engines on a low wing. It was a two seat…

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I have gas caps that leak when I go flying. This is evident by the fuel streaks down the top of wings from the filler necks after I land. I suspect this is from the position of the filler neck & fuel caps is steep turns. High wing tank leaks in a turn. I also noticed that the right fuel tank level was always higher than the left after going flying.

The tanks would start out level if left in the hangar over night. I went to dip the tanks after flying and heard a "whoosh" upon…

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Remember the CH750 kit owned by Angus Watt from Ottawa, the one I spent 8 days working on last month? Well, at the end of 4 weeks it looks like this... by the end of this day the wings and all flying surfaces are final fitted and it is once again dis-assembled and shipped to the paint shop today.
The CH801 (Yellow/Blue?White paint)in the back ground is a 4 seat model built for an outpost camp in Alberta.

I heard a rumour that Zenair was going to release plans / kits for wheel skis to fit the CH701 & CH750 model aircraft. I thought it would be a wonderful early Christmas present (project) for the model owners from Zenith (Chris Hientz).

O.K. I will admit to starting the rumour ! I saw a wonderful looking set on a CH701 owned by Rob Nelson on the completions section of the Zenair web site. Winter comes early here in Canada and wheel skis would be a ray of sunshine in my part of the… Continue

I was offered a chance to be part of a 3 man (sometimes 4) team conducting a CAN-ZAC Power Build program. The kit owner Angus Watt from Ottawa started with Mark Townsend building from a 6ft X 6ft X 12ft crate Friday, and I joined them on Monday afternoon. Neither Angus or myself had any previous kit building experience... but we were closely supervised by Mark Townsend of Can-Zac in his Kitchener hangar. The working day starts at 8AM (or earlier if you can't sleep) and generally goes hard until… Continue

Well... Yesterday I started into job on the CH601HD that is very much like force feeding a Porcupine to a Grizzly Bear ! I used an ATV jack to lift The Zen, there is no weight the wings... its a "Plan B" thing. Grantley Este & Bob "Mr. GoodWrench" Braden pitched in to get me started on the job I have been putting off for a year now. Changing the out of date main gear bungee (5 yr replacement cycle), so far it has taken 3 guys the better part of a day to jack up the aircraft and get the gear… Continue