While setting the rivets for my spar jig I decided to take some infrared video of the rivet setting process to see

how the rivet heats up as it is compressed. Hopefully others find the results somewhat interesting.

The video can be seen at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5s0YRXXiuw…

I share this incident to express what I learned from a recent flight. I was attending a local fly-in event last week-end and  was preparing to depart for my home field. I was in too much in a hurry to demonstrate my CH701's STOL capability to a largely non-pilot crowd and strapped myself in without first retrieving my ignition key from my pocket. I found the key after first digging out my very bulky personal key ring and leaving it on the cockpit floor and proceeding to start the engine.…

Just a note to be clear. This jig is only needed if you are scratchbuilding. The 650 kits are predrilled and the spacing will already be set.

The wing jig is needed to ensure that there is correct spacing between the center spar and the rear channel attachment to the fuselage. This would seem to be a rather important item to have around when scratch building a 650.

For some reason the wing spar jig drawing is not included in the current 650B plans.There are a…

I just got back from about 25 hours of flight in 2 1/2 weeks. Did some local ADS-B and avionics check flights and rigging checks after the dual stick conversion. Then a long trip.

I am very disappointed with the dual stick kit that I paid $800 for. Installed per the instructions the stick hits the dash when forward well before all travel is achieved and when back it needed to be about 2 inches into my chest with the seat way back to get full up elevator.  I had to redesign the…

Thanks to all who visited and participated at the Zenith Aircraft Open Hangar Days and Fly-In!

Check out the many great photos of the two full days of activities: http://bit.ly/2hr5s1c…

Wondering if anyone else thinks Zenith should design an all new STOL that is a tail dragger???  Love the performance but I wish they had a tail dragger version.  Don't much like the looks of the conversions I've seen.....Just a thought..

Kay C

EAA AirVenture Oshkosh -- Here's a follow-up report of Zenith Aircraft at EAA Oshkosh AirVenture 2017. We had another fantastic year, and had a wonderful time meeting with new and existing Zenith builders and flyers, including a full house at the Zenith / Zenair Builders Banquet on Thursday evening!  Following are photos and videos of our week at…

The Cruzer really appeals to me with its easy to build and operate design. I fly from a grass 1000ft strip in Cornwall,UK and I'm sure the Cruzer would fit in well there. I watch all the excellent Zenith Utube videos.

I was at first thinking of using the Rotax 100 hp engine,but now I'm coming around to the idea of using the Viking 130 engine. The extra power would help get us off  grass quicker.

Following are a few videos of the Zenith STOL CH 750 "Super Duty" introduced at EAA Oshkosh AirVenture 2017:

First flight video: First flight of the STOL CH 750 Super Duty from Zenith Aircraft Company.  …

OK, getting frustrated waiting for i's to be dotted and t's to be crossed on various official forms so that my perfectly serviceable aircraft and I can go have fun. I know its a process but any suggestions gratefully received (funnier the better please - I need the laugh)

EAA AirVenture Oshkosh -- Zenith Aircraft Company will demonstrate kit airplane assembly during EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, WI July 24-30 2017.

Zenith staff and volunteers will assemble the rear fuselage assembly of the new Zenith CH 750 kits daily from 8:45 - 12:45 in the AeroPlane…

Scene from the film…

Has anyone out there upgraded their old canopy latch system with the newer 650 type system?  Pictures? Plans?

I'm posting this a little late, but here's a video recap of the May 2017 Quality Sport Planes OPEN HOUSE and West Coast Zenith Fly-In, hosted by Doug Dugger at his facility at the Cloverdale Municipal Airport in Cloverdale, California (about an hour north of San Francisco).

Below, flying in Doug's newly completed Zenith CH 750 Cruzer powered by a…

WHOOP WHOOP WARNING.

I installed the strut on the pilots door pictured aboove and soon after tried to pull it down from the front edge about a foot outboard like I always did with the suction cup...crack...split.  The door - original fiberglass and Plexiglas bubble door supplied by Zenith - broke at the fiberglass corner and radiated out down and aft in the Plexiglas.  Quite a bit of bending torque is applied to the corner...my bad. Stop drilled the crack, sealed it with "special…

We are scheduled to attend the factory workshop on June 15-16, 2017.  My wife (Sharlene) will be attending. We are excited about the event and are looking forward to the workshop!

   So here we are, a journey that began in 2004 with a quest to become a private pilot and in 2005 begin building an airplane. While becoming a pilot I decided on the Zenith CH601XL as the airframe because it flew nice and could be made from plans. Deciding on the Corvair as the engine was also decided around this time. Here I am 1000 pilot hours and 700…