Hi all – Mirko here from Melbourne. Finally - completed all of the required upgrades on the 601XL and have also successfully completed its first flight on Sunday. Could not wait any longer to tell all my friends, Zodiac members/builders/pilots/new comers and who ever is reading this, that this will be a memorable occasion. Man o…

My brother Matt and I recently visited the island of Guadeloupe in the French West Indies part of the Caribbean. Like many of you, I've enjoyed watching Zenith STOL float flying videos on YouTube: There are dozens of great video clips from Greek islands, the Alaskan back…

The way things work.....went to shut down the engine after the airshow and it didn't want to stop! Had to pull the throttle all the way closed and pull the choke.

Investigations shows a malfunctioning ignition switch, very intermittent, sometime it will ground out both mags and sometimes only the left mag leaving the right one active. Pulled the switch and made some adjustments, seems to work ok for now but have ordered a new one and will install it as soon as it…

The May-June Issue of the Zenair Newsletter with DVD is now shipping to subscribers throughout the world. In this issue you will find stories on: Revamping of an older CH701, An excerpt from Chris Heintz's new book: Flying on Your Own Wings", Free Decal program for upgraded CH601XL aircraft, CH701 elevator Cable modification, an engine oil chip detector system with color…

Sorry Guys, I got so excited about finishing I forgot to tell you about the young man in the photos.

This young 4 year old is the son of a contractor who recently did some remodeling for my wife and I, his mom and dad brought him to AirFest 2010 because he is crazy about airplanes, and let me tell you he gets EXCITED!!!!

It has been a long time since I have seen a kid get so excited watching aerobatics and airplanes in general, while he was watching Skip Stewart flop…

Finally finished the long projest on Friday June 28th 2010! Put the prop on and wired it for the last time before flight testing, Not able to do any testing as the Airshow started on Friday also but we will be on display all weekend. Granted I am not as fast as the US Air Force Thunderbirds or the Canadian Snowbirds, I can't flop around the sky like Skip Stewart or make the graceful moves of the Big Red…

I built Zena Mae as an HDS speed wing. We now have over 350 hours as an HDS. Very nice, but as a taildragger with a a shallow angle of attack on the ground it requires that you land at a very fast rate of speed. So long as you are going asphalt to asphalt it is no problem. But coming on to rough dirt at 60mph is another matter.

I have wanted to convert to the HD for some time. Got all the parts last July, and spent November to March making the new wings. Added a couple…

Well, here it is Monday and we are finally putting on the finishing touches to the last item in the project, the cowl. Kent took two days while I was away and worked on the air intakes, today we put the finishing fiberglass on the openings. Now all we need is to let the resin harden and we can do the final install.]

Installed the bottom section today and ran the wires to the oil pan heater and the battery maintainer, put the holding…

It's Official, the STOL CH750 can now be registered as an AULA in Canada. CAN-ZAC has worked with Transport Canada to have the newest Zenith Kit added to the list. http://www.tc.gc.ca/civilaviation/general/ccarcs/advancedullist.htm

This means that you now have the choice in Canada of either an Amateur built or Advanced Ultralight registration for your STOL CH750.

At present…

After aprox. 70 hours and $600.00, we "Got-r-Done". Thanks to my friends and Brother Bo we are back in the air. We were short A5 rivets, too. Another Zodiac builder came up with rivets over the weekend to keep us popping w/o a break in the action. I bought the angle drill attachemnt this blog recommended and we installed new Sonex rubber bushings on the Jabiru engine mount. Got a local tow truck operator to haul for us this time.

As for the upgrade, our a/c had no signs of wear or…