Dennis Hutchinson

Male

Greenfield, IN

United States

Profile Information:

Aircraft Model
ZODIAC CH 601
Project Status
Flying
Building From
Plans-only
Engine installed (or plan to install)
Subaru
Building Experience
Have worked on airplanes before
Flying Experience
Private Pilot, Sport Pilot (or Ultralight)
Building and Flying Info / Your Profession / Other Background Info
Cad Technician for American Structurepoint, Bridge Plan Production
Grew up as a sailplane pilot, had a pilots license before I got my drivers license
Been scratch building a 601HD since 1997, working just one evening a week with my partner Leroy Wheeler, slow but very steady and consistent will get you there eventually.
Home Airport (ie. KMYJ)
KMQJ

Comment Wall:

  • Dave Gardea

    Hi Dennis,

    I thought you'd like to see the pic I took of you and Leroy the night I was visiting your project.

    Regards,

    Dave Gardea

    Mar 15, 2009

  • Steven Ward

    Dennis, wow, plansbuilt! Thats some serious dedication. You have built yourself a beautiful airplane there. That is an impressive cruise speed you have. I started plansbuilding the 750 in July 2009 and I have a long way to go! Sometimes the whole project seems overwhelming and that I will never get to that first flight, but they say little-by-little, one piece at a time will get one there slowly but surely.

    Jan 30, 2011

  • Bob McDonald

    Hey there guys.

    Good to see another CH601HD flyer. I see you have a partner, me too! My buddy Ray Nash wanted a CH601HD so I bought the other half of it. We were both flying Challengers at the time. He still has a Clipped Wing Special Challenger...and I now fly my CH750 more than the CH601HD.

    Bob

    Feb 28, 2011

  • David Gallagher

    Dennis,

     

    It was nice to meet you at Sporty's. Hope your flight back to Indiana was not too bumpy.

     

    Dave Gallagher

    Mar 26, 2011

  • Greg Wilson

    Dennis,

    G'day. I'm glad to hear you're getting plenty of airtime in your Zodiac.

    I spent around 20 hours dealing with overheating issues with my EA-81 and finally solved them by mounting the cabin heater on the top left of the engine (where you have yuor oil cooler) as an extra cooling radiatior.

    The plane ran well for another 20 hours after that until one of the carbies came loose on final putting me into a paddock with clumps of grass 3 ft high.

    This incident bent the front wheel back and damaged the firewall and under-skin as well as bending 2 ribs in the left inner wing section and damaging 2 prop blades. 

     

    The plane's been sitting under cover in my back yard for over year now. I have removed the engine and stripped the damaged wing section. I've been too broke too buy the parts to fix it. I'm 90% decided to convert the Zodiac to a tail wheel aircraft to give it a better rough field capability. I'm prepared to put up with the handling issues as I can see the firewall easily getting damaged again by the nose wheel.

    What's most annoying is that a friend had pointed out that I had no safety springs on the Bing carbies. I'd accepted the advice but hadn't gotten around to fitting them.

    Cheers,

     

    Greg.

    Apr 7, 2011