All Blog Posts (2,363)

Search Blog Posts

building a 701 wing in Ghana with Ghanaian girls learning about aviation

This has been a great week! Our trainee girls from Ghana are really geting into building planes BIG time.



Patricia has been with us nearly 2 years, Jennifer nearly 1 year and Sandra just a couple of months - but they really are a great team.



We have taught them about general engineering, tube and cloth construction and of course the wonderful world of Aluminium (British spelling to be correct)!!! All of them are learning to fly, and we really enjoy the workshop together.… Continue

Added by Jonathan Porter on April 23, 2009 at 4:00pm — 1 Comment

Marketplace Hysteria

I found this today on Trade-a-Plane:



2008 AMD ZODIAC CH601XL. Like new. 50-TTAE, Dyno dual glass panel. Garmin VHF, TXP, GPS-396, XM Weather, many other extras. Was $89,000, now $69,000.



Is this rational or is it fear? Without knowing anything about the owner's circumstances, I would have to say it is fear. Fear is not reality! There are rational fears that lead us to self preservation and irrational fears that cause us to limit ourselves in usually foolish ways. As… Continue

Added by JG Ginther on April 22, 2009 at 12:43pm — 7 Comments

A GOOD DEAL on HID lighting!!!

Hi Gang-------



For this week only, LoPresti Speed Merchants is offering a bunch of things at Sun N Fun show prices. You can get the deal in person at Sun N Fun or by calling them at (877) 565-1731 or (772) 562-4757 and mail order from the factory. I just ordered a pair of their SkyStruck HID lights (one for taxi, one for landing) for $375 for the pair. Normally, they are about $300 each. Single units are going for $199 this week, by the way.



This is the experimental only… Continue

Added by Bob Pustell on April 21, 2009 at 11:31am — 2 Comments

Corvair powered 601xl receives airworthiness certificate





My Fly-Corvair powered 601XL was deemed airworthy by the FAA today. After almost 4 and a half years of on and off building my airplane is ready to fly.



I own and built this plane w/ Vincent Olson. We are both ATP's and CFI's and fly for the airlines. Flight testing will commence asap. We're looking forward to quickly flying off the 40 hours and going on a midwest tour to include St.Louis, Chicago, Indianappolis and KY before the… Continue

Added by Louis Kantor on April 20, 2009 at 11:30pm — 3 Comments

Off to Sun-N-Fun

The 750 is on route to the paint shop and I am on route to Sun-N-Fun for the week, when I return we should have a painted plane.

Added by Mark Townsend on April 20, 2009 at 8:30pm — No Comments

6th Annual Alternative Engine Round-Up and Experimental Aircraft Fly-In

Inspired by the adventures and writings of famous pilot Stephen R. Smith as reported here and on Quality Sport Planes’ site, I decided to wave the flag for Corvairs, William Wynne, and Zenith at the “6th Annual Alternative Engine Round-Up and Experimental Aircraft Fly-in” hosted by Pat Panzera of Contact! Magazine in… Continue

Added by Woody Harris on April 20, 2009 at 8:20pm — 3 Comments

Are you ready for Sun 'n Fun??

For those interested in the UL260i, look for our CH650 at Sun'n Fun. I can discuss the installations for the 601/650 as well as the 750. See you there.

Added by Gus Warren on April 20, 2009 at 7:28pm — 5 Comments

Golden Zen

I flew my Zodiac XL from Potomac Airfield across the Chesapeake Bay to Cambridge Maryland. It was my first long flight in the airplane since purchasing it and the first flight since learning that the plane was recommended for grounding. It seemed I was carrying a lot of extra weight on the flight. The weight of some buyer's remorse, the weight of anxiety of learning and flying my very own airplane (my first) and the weight of dread over whether or not the wings were going to fall off or that… Continue

Added by JG Ginther on April 20, 2009 at 10:05am — 10 Comments

Cowing installation part 2

With the extended cowl i can now install it to fit the new engine location.

Added by Mark Townsend on April 19, 2009 at 8:30pm — No Comments

Stabilizer and Fin



With the Stabilizer installed we can add the fin an install the elevator cables.

With the wings done and the struts set we can add the Jury struts.…

Continue

Added by Mark Townsend on April 18, 2009 at 8:00pm — No Comments

Wing attach

IT is nice to have help in the shop during the wing installation. Here we see Ryan using his head and after some whining we installed some foam cut offs from the seats on his head.

Wing installation is quite simple, install main spars to cabin frame so that they are centered and equal on both sides, then drill with a 1/8 th drill bit. Leave drill bit in place an repeat for other main spar, once again leave drill bit in place, this locks the spars… Continue

Added by Mark Townsend on April 18, 2009 at 8:00pm — No Comments

wing differences

I have a 601hds and I was wondering if there are major differences in wing structure between it and an xl model. I hope I will not have to deal with this type of issues also.I also noticed when I looked on avweb for their article, the feds seem to read these blogs and include opinions of posters in the information they post Thanks Dennis

Added by Dennis M Hettrick on April 17, 2009 at 8:17pm — 6 Comments

Got my cleco order from Aircraft Spruce today...


Ordered clecos from Aircraft Spruce on Monday & they arrived Friday but... Do you think I may have lost any along the way? (Shipped via Purolator)

Added by Travis Corbin on April 17, 2009 at 8:00pm — 5 Comments

Cowling and mounting the Rotax 912

As you can see below the cowling had to also be extended, in order to expedite the process Zenair installed a metal strip and added the fiberglass to that. They are working on extending the mold now so that future cowling's will not have the metal strip.

With the motor attached to the mount we can re-install it back onto the fuselage. Though you can actually lift the engine by hand the cherry picker… Continue

Added by Mark Townsend on April 17, 2009 at 7:30pm — No Comments

New Motor Mount

Well we now have a new motor mount the final adjustment was to move the Rotax 912ULS a total of 6 inches forward. The will make this will make the STOL 750 look a little longer in the nose. As a bonus the attachment for the upper attachment point looks more robust.…



Continue

Added by Mark Townsend on April 17, 2009 at 7:30pm — No Comments

video of first engine start

Movie.wmv
Just a video of the first start of my Corvair powered 601xl. Dam that thing sounds good!!!!

Added by Louis Kantor on April 16, 2009 at 9:00am — 1 Comment

Corvair powered XL is finally ready to fly





I just wanted to post that our corvair powered 601 xl is ready to fly. We are currently conducting taxi tests and waiting for our DAR inspection on monday. The airplane is equipped with a dynon efis d-100 and engine monitor d-120, gps 496, etc. (see pics) It has a standard William Wynne 2700 corvair engine with a Weseman 5th bearing and an MA3-spa carb. We are running a 60 amp rear alternator to… Continue

Added by Louis Kantor on April 15, 2009 at 11:32pm — 5 Comments

First real result of the NTSB report

I was scheduled for a CFI-SP checkride tomorrow. I'm all ready for it. I've been boning up on all the stuff for the oral exam, which is reported to be a bear.



The DPE who I'd scheduled the ride with told me she wasn't comfortable flying in a Zodiac, and postponed the ride until the issue is better understood at minimum, and ideally resolved.



I understand and respect her decision.



I'm still annoyed, not at her, but at the whole situation. I've spent 6 months… Continue

Added by Jay Maynard on April 15, 2009 at 6:30pm — 4 Comments

AUTOPILOT

HAS ANYONE PUT A TWO AXIS AUTOPILOT IN THERE 701

Added by dennis gemmell on April 14, 2009 at 6:53pm — 1 Comment

NTSB recommends grounding US 601XLs

According to an NTSB press release:



Washington, DC - The National Transportation Safety Board today issued an urgent safety recommendation to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in which it asked the agency to prohibit further flight of a type of a small airplane that has been involved in six in-flight structural breakups since 2006. The recommendations apply to the Zodiac CH-601XL, a low-wing, fixed-gear,…
Continue

Added by Jay Maynard on April 14, 2009 at 5:42pm — 12 Comments

Featured Blog Posts

View All

Latest Blog Posts

Most Popular Blog Posts

Monthly Archives

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

1999

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