All Blog Posts (2,393)

New Builder

Just getting started on this Ch750 project. Have the rudder kit and have built a few wing spar parts.  Looking forward to talking with others about their project

Terry in Huber Heights Ohio

 

Added by Terry Lambert on December 20, 2010 at 5:18pm — 2 Comments

STOL Flying In Brazil

I've just returned from a short trip to Brazil to visit the Zenith Aircraft dealer AVIAÇÃO Brasileira Ltda.

One of the highlights of my trip was the opportunity to fly Waldomiro's recently completed …

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Added by Sebastien Heintz on December 16, 2010 at 1:30pm — 8 Comments

Tail Kit and Slats/Flaperons Kit Arrives

Phase 2 of the build began this weekend with the arrival of the next two kits: the Horizontal Tail kit, and the Slats and Flaperons kit. Even though I knew how big the parts were I hadn't really been prepared for the size of the crate; that thing was huge! I can't begin to immagine the wings or fuselage crates.

I pushed the crate into the dog run for storage and it wasn't until a…

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Added by Paul Sanders on December 15, 2010 at 10:20pm — 3 Comments

Received cowling and MM

I received my cowling and motor mount for my Corvair powered 601XL-B. I bought them from Aeromax. I liked the shape of the cowling and decided to get this one. The shape is similar to the Jabiru cowling. It is made from lightweight glass over a honeycomb core. No excess resin. It weighs 12 lbs and that without the cutout for the prop hub. The motor mount fits perfectly and the welds look good. It came with all the mounting hardware for the cowling, piano hinge for the top/bottom half, nut…

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Added by Louis W. Ott on December 10, 2010 at 5:30pm — No Comments

A little preventitive Maintenance on my plane

One of the fun things about owning and building a plane is that it is an on going maintence project. Some planes are famous for the amount of ground hour to flight hours. For example the F15 eagle and other fighters had a 4 to5 to 1 ratio! Meaning 4 to 5 hours of maintenance to 1 hour of combat flight time. With our trusty Zodiacs, I find it to be the inverse 4 to 10 hours of flight hours to 1 hour of ground required maintenance. Now that is value! Now ground…

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Added by Juan Vega on December 10, 2010 at 2:00pm — 3 Comments

Greetings

Dear friends and fellow builders,

The summer flying is over, the lawn mowing is done, the garden veggies are in the freezer and the leaves are raked and hauled away. Winter is setting in once more in Pennsylvania so its time to tuck my 701 safely away.

Its been two years since…

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Added by ulis temos on December 9, 2010 at 9:00am — 9 Comments

Started on the stabilizer

Cut out the 0.025 stab rear spar & the elevator spar (the Olfa knife certainly makes it easier!)


I then came across a problem - my home made bending brake is only about 1300mm long, and the spar is 2220. However, by taking it slowly and bending a few degrees at a time along the length, I got both edges done.


Looking forward to forming the stabilizer ribs and putting it all together.


Oh, received my riveter heads…
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Added by Marty de la Motte on December 9, 2010 at 4:45am — No Comments

New On-line Parts Catalogs

In Europe where most owners of a Zenair design acquired their aircraft "ready-to-fly", pilots and mechanics seldom have access to the original drawings for maintenance and repairs. Not having exact part-numbers can often cause confusion and frustrations when attempting to order replacement parts.…

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Added by Michael Heintz on December 7, 2010 at 5:30pm — No Comments

Holiday Down Time



Tried to pace my 701 to have some "free time" around birthday and Christmas. Evidently I overdid it. Here is my latest build. The jig for my slats which are on order, but won't ship till the 13th ;-(

Not good at waiting, but bet I am not the only one who folded to family pressure and reduced 701 activity for…

Added by David Abbott on December 6, 2010 at 6:17pm — 1 Comment

Lycoming IO233

Have ordered an IO233 for $23K due in 60 days. Is anyone out there also going with this engine? Would like to share in the design of this installation.

Added by Ron Belknap on December 1, 2010 at 10:19pm — 18 Comments

Fuel tank Installation

It appears the fuel tank is sitting on the lower skin, cushioned only by cork strips. Am I missing something here??? Thanks for any replies.

Added by Reggie Seaman on December 1, 2010 at 3:00pm — 3 Comments

Gettin there

Finished up outboard flaperons today, gonna do the inboards after the fuse. I'm finished with wings, elev. & stab., rudder, & slats. Gonna have a big shop cleaning tomorrow, then dig all the rear fuse parts an skins out of the big box and finally get started on the fuse. Happy Day!

Added by Mason Bullard on November 27, 2010 at 9:33pm — No Comments

New Builder Completions

The following is from the Kitplanes magazine website:

Philip Smith’s Zenith CH 701

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Added by Sebastien Heintz on November 27, 2010 at 8:00pm — 2 Comments

Zero ground run for takeoff?

Does anyone have a reference for a video of a CH 701 taking off with very strong headwind and zero ground run?

Added by David Abbott on November 25, 2010 at 6:26pm — 5 Comments

Rudder skeleton

I bought Jon Croke's excellent DVD on scratch building, which gave me heaps of ideas and methods that I probably wouldn't have thought of myself.

Made a bending brake just out of a hinged piece of Tas Oak on the side of the workbench (with another piece on the top which has an aluminium strip screwed to the edge with a 3mm routed edge for bending). At the moment I just screw this to the workbench when bending something, but have just bought a very stiff length of square section extrusion… Continue

Added by Marty de la Motte on November 24, 2010 at 4:52am — No Comments

Winter Preheating: Best ideas, strategies, methods, etc.

This would be an ideal time of year to hear from the Zenith forums & bloggers about their tried and true ways to preheat their aircraft. Please posts your ideas and share how you get her warmed up for Winter flight.

On my 500 hour 601XL-B, I use an electric automotive oil pan heat pad (45 mins.) and I also use the electric small milkhouse heater (45 mins.) (the one posted on the Jabiru site). I put a flexible metal tube on the heater and…

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Added by Mark Ertz on November 23, 2010 at 6:02pm — 6 Comments

short flight after modifications to plug wires & oil cooler

On Monday rolled out the 801 with the cowling off, warmed up the engine and reset the idle to 800 RPM warm, put the cowl back on and added some fuel then rolled to Rwy 22 for another test flight. Plane came off the ground after only a short roll and was climbing at 80 MPH, cylinder temps remained within the limits and noted the oil temp had dropped to 220-240 F and held there, EGT s remained balanced throughout the flight. Flight was very bumpy as a storm was brewing just south of the airport… Continue

Added by Phillip Owens on November 23, 2010 at 4:24pm — No Comments

Assemblies

I have finished the rudder and the firewall. Rudder took some time, allot of hole to drill, enlarge, debur, cleco, and then rivet.Feels good to have a few assemblies done. On to the next one, I think it is going to be the Elevator.

Added by Paul on November 23, 2010 at 11:33am — 2 Comments

Newsletter #181 (November-December) Mailing now!

If you are a Zenith builder and not a subscriber, send me an email (jon@zenair.org) and I can send you a back issue sample of the newsletter and DVD. To renew, or subscribe, click here.…

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Added by Zenair News on November 21, 2010 at 5:00pm — No Comments

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