Zenith Aircraft Update re Coronavirus Pandemic

Saturday, April 4, 2020 - Mexico, Missouri

Like everyone else, Zenith Aircraft Company has been impacted by the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. While the Zenith Aircraft kit factory is located in a fairly rural area and there have been no reported cases of the coronavirus in the immediate area, the response to this pandemic needs to be widespread and is affecting all of us. For the past few weeks we’ve been "social distancing" ourselves from one another to minimize the potential spread of the virus (and of course following additional sanitizing procedures for people and work area), and have been able to keep our factory open for production and aircraft kit and parts deliveries to our customers.


However, starting on Monday, April 6, we will be closing the factory (to regular business) in response to a statewide stay-at-home order for Missouri (effective 4/6 - 4/24). The safety of our employees, as well as our customers, is paramount, but we will continue to answer phone calls and make shipments as we are able to, though response times may be longer than usual. We have good parts inventory for existing Zenith Aircraft builders and owners, and rest assured that we will do what we can to continue to serve our customers as best we can during this difficult time. Since we manufacture most of the parts in-house (and do not rely on outsourced / imported kits), we will return to full production as soon as we safely can, and do not expect any major delays in kit deliveries. 

Rather than cancelling the previously scheduled hands-on workshop at the Zenith Aircraft kit factory later this month we are changing the workshop class to a LIVE ONLINE VIRTUAL WORKSHOP. So instead of having participants travel to the Zenith factory in Mexico, Missouri, to build their rudder in the workshop class we will be shipping rudder kits to them (ahead of time, with the needed rudder assembly tools), and be broadcasting live interactive video of the build class so that participants can go through the entire rudder build experience! 

We're excited to be hosting our first online aircraft build class and invite all of you to take advantage of this opportunity! Sign up now for the rudder class so we can ship the complete rudder kit to you (with any needed tools) next week, so you will have plenty of time for preparation before the actual live online class, scheduled for Thursday, April 23. Best of all, once you've finished the class you will have the completed rudder tail section for your aircraft! If you've already attended a Zenith workshop in the past this may be a good opportunity for you to build a rudder for the new STOL CH 750 Super Duty model (which is noticeably quicker and easier to build that to all parts being final hole size match drilled!). We hope to be able to broadcast this online to the public as well so stay tuned for details. [Read the KITPLANES story on the Zenith Online Workshop]

Finally, please note also that we are currently unable to accept visitors at our factory (except by special appointment), but remember that we remain available to answer your calls, emails, and take your orders. The preferred way to contact Zenith is to send us an email (see below) with your questions and requests, and your telephone information, so that we may best answer your request.

We thank you for your understanding and continued support during this time, and remember that your airplane project (whether building in your garage or shop, or in the air) is a great activity during this time of social distancing.

Be well,

Sebastien Heintz, president,

Zenith Aircraft Company
573-581-9000

Contact Information:

Roger Dubbert, tech support and sales: roger@zenithair.com

Joyce Fort, orders and sales: joyce@zenithair.com

Sebastien Heintz: s.heintz@zenithair.com

Contact Zenith Aircraft: http://www.zenithair.net/contact

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Comment by Jonathan Porter on April 5, 2020 at 4:50am

Keep safe over there... and know that we are thinking of you from over here....  Be safe and together we will come out the other side stronger than ever.

Comment by Greg Priest on April 5, 2020 at 2:36am

Sebastian and to all your staff at Zenith..... please stay safe and healthy as us Aussies don't want you guys dying on us because we might want some more parts in the future. After I complete my Cruzer I might want a Super Duty or that sea plane kit which you may have on the drawing board hidden away in your secrete squirrel shed. LOL

In all seriousness I wish you guys well and love your updates and your effort in reaching out to your customers all around the world.

Good luck & stay Safe Sebastian.

Regards Greg Priest Western Australia 

Builder # 11015 

Comment by Malcolm Belcher on April 4, 2020 at 8:22pm

When I desperatly need something to make.  My new Zenith kit made it halfway around the world, only to get locked down about 10 miles away. And we are not allowed to fly here in New Zealand.

Comment by Keith Thomas on April 4, 2020 at 7:29pm

I guess I better get on the phone and order my rivets, I wish their price list was still published, but it is down along with online ordering.

Comment by Frank Stutzman on April 4, 2020 at 6:19pm

Will this be something that will continue after the current virus crisis is over?

I'm two or three months away from getting started (gotta get the shop space in order), so I wouldn't be able to do the 4/23 session if I wanted to.  I would very much be interested in doing this virtually if for no other reason than saving travel and lodging expenses.

Comment by Bob Simmons on April 4, 2020 at 5:04pm

And don't forget to practice your 6,000 foot (MSL or AGL) distancing as often as possible. Great time to fly if you can get the fuel.

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