On October 12th, 2012, I decided to go flying.

10 knots winds gusting to 21 knots.OAT 36F.

I still had to fix the slight turn to the right problem and then I would take the little bird to the sky for a spin.

I unscrewed 1 turn on the left aileron; problem fixed !

Got on board for a test flight. A Cessna C-150 (instructor/student) was doing circuit work so I asked them how the winds were....TRES SPORT, I was told. 

Lined up the runway, went to full throttle…

I keep my plane outside and was worried about my wooden prop and the weather here in Western Washington.  Sensenich is able to completely refinish and rebalance their wooden prop for $200 plus about $35 for shipping and handling.  The prop looks brand new, and is a lovely golden brown.  It took 3 weeks turn around time and well worth the money.

The weather seal option makes it simple to stiffen the front edge of the door. The photo is of the forward lower edge of the pax door. This also gives a nice deep seal to keep the front edge of the door from 'catching air'

The photo shows the ruddder rods with a great set of boots.

I am currently building a 650 B with the fuselage about 90% done and the wings probably 30-40% done.  I purchased a used Lycoming 0-235 engine which is currently at a shop being overhauled and I am looking for a propeller.  My question is, especially for those who have an 0-235, what propeller do you have or are planning to use?  Any details on your experience would be appreciated. 

Thanks, Tom Johnson

Time to paint fuselage and final install windscreen. The aircraft really fills up the shop when assembled. It's nice to walk around without ducking under the wings.

Flaperons, slats, and struts primed.…

Some of the tools I have used to build the 701

Grob 24" I converted to single phase(replaced motor and added gbox). Very useful for airplane building.

South Bend Heavy 10 tool room lathe with taper attachment. Knobs are painted with wife's old…

 The last few months have been hectic and seemingly slow going. In reality the construction of my 601 has been steadily moving  forward.Working with Flight Crafters out of Zephyr Hills, Florida, has been educational and fun. The guys there are very knowledgeable and seem able to handle any situation. The suggestions the make for upgrading engine performance on the Jabiru 3300 have been heeded and this week should be ready for first engine start! Last week we did the weight  and balance and…

Hi again,

After I started looking at RPMs from our planes, I wanted to see if we were using their propellers efficiently.

Now, the most efficient range for any given propeller is when the TIP of the propeller turns below 82% sound barrier - but the closer the better.

Between 88% to 92% time the sound barrier speed being the redline and over being noisy and inefficient.

Since I…

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…

My local municipal airport had an open house last Saturday and the FBO manager begged me to display my 750. Of course, that didn't take much arm-twisting! HA!

I was determined, however, to not let the plane out of my sight while on display as I have heard horror stories of little kids swinging form various parts of planes that were never intended to bear any abuse, parents plopping kids in the pilots seats and getting spills and/or the products of various kid's orifices on your seat…

Well today i started drawing out my form blocks for my 750. Need to find out how much i need to order for metal (.016-.020-.025-.040-.063.090) any help wouid be great.

 Just a quick reminder we are 2 days away from our fall fly-in so get your Zeniths ready to go and come be a part of the builder and flyers that are coming into Cloverdale this Saturday for a lot of visiting and gabbing about the impossible things that they did this summer. Will have a BBQ lunch put on by the Cloverdale Lions  club so bring a couple of bucks or so. We will be giving a few prearranged demo rides for those of you that are seriously thinking of building a Zenith aircraft. check…

This is what started it all off for me--the Zenith info pkg.  Well worth getting.…

Hello everyone, this is Samantha AKA “The Viking Girl”. I just wanted to say what a great deal of fun I had at the Zenith Fly- In 20^th Anniversary. I would like to give thanks to all my demo ride guys: Gary, Creston, Clyt, Jerry S., Don L., Jeff, Lynn, Roger, Dale, Otis, Kevin, Don D., David G., Elmer, Charlotte, Gabriel, Chris, Jerry Si., Brad, Fred, Thomas, Rick, Steve, Devin, Zachary, Bob, Jerry W., Ron and Jonathan.

Again thank you all so much, I had an absolute…

Today I was finally able to begin disassembly of my exhaust system to investigte the damage done to my engine mount.  The right side cyl. tubes are too close to the lower tube of the engine mount and have rubbed a hole in the lower engine mount tube.

As can be seen in the photo, there is very little clearance between the right side exhaust…

flew into 10th hour with viking eng. purrs like a kitten. the n,w, is smoky with all the fires. still able to fly.  living the dream

Flaperon bellcranks installed to ribs with solid flush rivets to keep gap to fuselage small. Used countersunk Cherry rivets in the two spar end brackets. These end ribs are thicker that the other ribs (.025). I had used the original thicker ribs elsewhere in the flaperons and had to reorder these.

So far , I have not made any mistakes I couldn't overcome with…