A year and a half ago I volunteered to make some Google Maps from the Zenith.aero membership database but to my shame I have only just now gotten around to it. So, with the data from August 2011, I made three maps: one for members registered with a 701, one for those with a 750, and another for the 650 members.

Here's a screenshot of the 750 one.…

A journey that began in the middle of June ended yesterday when I received my ASEL endorsement on my LSA license.  I had been licensed for almost a year for PPC when I got the bug for fixed wing (always had the bug).  I began flight lessons in June, and purchased my Zenith CH701 in August. 

The lessons continued in the 701 with Mr. Ed Athey who was very patient with this "old guy".  He was encouraging at all times, even when I got discouraged.  Ed has over 30,000 hours of safe flying…

I finally ran out of things that needed done before first flight of my 601 XL B. The next thing to do was fly it.

Engine is a 2700 cc Aeromax Corvair

Engine installation is my own design except motor mount.

Rotec carb, homebrew intake and exhaust system.

Dual Ford EDIS-6 ignition using single Ford 6 cyl coil pack.

Warp drive 68" prop

Cowling is modified fiberglass Aeromax

No problems or difficulty on the first flight other than the…

Here is Bill doing a little Sky Jeep testing.

Flew with the doors off first time today. 2.5 more hours. Here is a pic of the annual Vol Fire Dept. annual auction in Trenton NC. What a madhouse, I was happy to be in my plane...

We are still trying to figure why exactly all the coolant came out. The best hypothesis is an airlock developed in the system and forced the coolant out.

That still leaves us wondering why the airlock started in the first place.

Once piece of the puzzle has been figured out, which sadly creates a new question. The bottle failed due to exhaust heat. We were seeing EGTs close to the yellow\warning zone before the failure. The portion of the bottle that melted was…

Some good news:

First the cylinder bodies were all fine. They measured in spec and had no scaring and no signs of warping.

The better news is the cylinder and heads all passed their hardness tests. The minimum hardness of the heads is 85HB and the Cylinders 90HB.

The heads measured between 102-134 and the cylinders 108-118. The lowest values were for #1 head and #2 cylinder.

As expected the bolts were all loose from the…

Today was the first day I have flown since November 30th.  I did my solo cross country that day.  Shortly after that I had to have emergency gall bladder removal, so I was out of commisison for a while.  Then cold, wet weather.  Today was beautiful, and perfect flying weather.  Flew a total of two hours and was ready for more.  Tomorrow is my check ride with CFI #2 who will endorse my logbook and I will be officially LSA ASEL and PPCL.

Several people have asked about the video cameras that I've been using.  I've posted a few videos that include views from inside the cockpit (with audio), and views from outside the cockpit. 



I have an NFlightCam GPS+ (about 1 year old), and a GoPro Hero2 (about 5 months old), generally using both cameras at the same time on my test flights. 

These small video cameras have been a big help in my Phase 1 testing.  It's helpful to be able to "go back and review what…

Sitting here in Idaho wishing it would warm up to at least flyable weather.  Been right around zero and even though I have an engine pre-heater I built and the newly installed Zenith cabin heat I can't force my self out to the airport. 

I finished off the second Condition Inspection in early December. No issues except that I found that the left radiator mount had broken at the front engine mounting bolt.  Seemed to have failed radially from the mounting hole under the washer.  Ordered…

40 hour fly off is going slow. 9.5 hours so far. Having a couple of small issues....fuel is transferring from left to right in flight, not sure why.

Been adjusting prop pitch flatter, at 12 degrees, getting max 5200 rpm full throttle, level flight. Going to reset to 11 deg in search of 5600 rpm static. Makes me wonder about actual horsepower.

Engine itself is running smooth, no issues, but I do experience an unusual vibration when throttling back for descents (from memory seems…

I need some Rotax advise as my plane is stranded at another airport.

The coolant overflow bottle failed in flight. The first sign was some red fluid in the cockpit a few minutes after take off. At first I thought it was brake fluid.

I noted the EGTs were high, but the CHTs were in range, and the oil temps were slightly high, but not in "the red zone"

A minute later I started smelling something in the cockpit and turned back to the field at reduced…

Has anybody scratch built there own metal floats? and if so what plans did you use?

Merry Christmas, to all the Zenith family everywhere, from the mountains of far west Texas!

My Zodiac 601 XL-B has moved past phase one flight testing and handles beautifully! The visibility and flight characteristics are better than I imagined and  I have just flown from the test area back to my own (rented) hangar in PGD! I expect to still have a few items that will need attention as I continue to do a pre-flight inspection like it is my first flight each time. Do not take anything for granted. I will be writing an article about the build as well as the expectations that were…

brake lines to the spring gear,  I ground the 5mm part off. used 3m car moulding tape, clamping  them for awhile for a good stick. The clips are tough plastic. clips and fastners .com part # A14321  box of 25 costs $6.97.  red brake line Truck Spring.com part #451030A  $.40pf

Has anyone tried the push rods where the

bell crank is mounted to the spar web,

and where can the writer get some

more info on this?