Hi all, I'm presently building a CH 300 tri z . I picked up this complete kit that was never completed. Now I want to finish it, I would like to know if there is a ch 300 tri z in construction some where. Chances are pretty slim. anyway I would like to know.
Added by Roger Latour on December 8, 2009 at 8:22am —
3 Comments
After having
positioned, drilled, and clecoed the upgrades to the center wing spar assembly, we now rivet the parts back together and bolt the two halves of the center spar assembly back together to reinstall it into the fuselage.

Here we begin to rivet the center wing spar assemblies back together using the "conventional" bucked rivets:…
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Added by Sebastien Heintz on December 5, 2009 at 5:00pm —
4 Comments
We already
disassembled the center spar section (a while back).
Now, we'll get to the task of installing the upgrades and reassembling the the center spar. We have posted the latest
Upgrade Drawings as they have been updated (albeit still in draft):

We position and backdrill the…
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Added by Sebastien Heintz on December 4, 2009 at 6:15pm —
7 Comments
The procedure I use to remove the AD-6 rivets from the spar for the upgrade is to first drill through the head with a 5/32 drill, shear the head off with a chisel, and then drill about 1/4" into the rivet with a 1/8" drill. I then use a 1/8" punch with an air hammer and push the rivet out.
The last thing I do is inspect the rivet to make sure that the drilling operation didn't go beyond the circumference of the rivet resulting in an enlarged hole in the spar. I'm happy to report that…
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Added by Dale Medendorp on December 4, 2009 at 1:59pm —
5 Comments
Continuing where we left off yesterday, now we install the mass balance to the ailerons. Since this was mandated by the
UK LAA earlier this year for Zodiac XL owners there, we used their drawings (which was engineered and tested by the LAA), as specified in the
AMD Safety Alert.
The aileron mass balance consists of an 18-inch arm…
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Added by Sebastien Heintz on December 3, 2009 at 5:30pm —
7 Comments


From left to right is Ben, Fred, and Pat.......
Pat's Plane in the background and is painted Grabber orange and it looks sharp.
Ben's Plane is white and Sports some nice looking simple decals.
Both Planes have Corvairs in them that I built and both planes have well over 400 combined hours on…
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Added by Jeff Garrett on December 3, 2009 at 3:00am —
11 Comments
With the main wings done, we now focus on the aileron upgrades.

The aileron upgrades consist of three separate items: Aileron gussets (65W2-5 and 65W2-6) on the aileron ribs, L-angle stiffeners for the aileron trim servo, and finally, aileron mass balance. Above, the right aileron is shown. Below is the left aileron.
Our demonstrator Zodiac CH 601 XL airplane has the original "hingeless" aileron system - many customers have the hinged…
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Added by Sebastien Heintz on December 2, 2009 at 5:00pm —
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Today I uploaded some pictures of the drilling Jig that I have made. This tool should allow safe accurate removal of the AD5/6 solid rivets as required to incorporate the structural updates on the 601XL/650.
Added by Greg P Couttie on December 2, 2009 at 12:00pm —
3 Comments
Now we're working on finishing the second (left) wing.

We debur and rivet the aileron bellcrank support channel and stiffeners, and the rear channel doubler...

And we bolt in the wing root doubler 6-ZU-1-2 and rivet the nose rib angles (6-ZU-1-3 and 6-ZU-1-5) in place...

...and we cleco and rivet the nose ribs in place. Note that in the photo we are…
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Added by Sebastien Heintz on December 1, 2009 at 11:30am —
4 Comments
Now that we've installed all the upgrades to the first wing, we still need to finish a couple of items to the wing. With the wing skins clecoed back in place, we measure and mark off the 20 mm. hole placement for additional rivets into the inboard main wing spar (top & bottom):

We drill a hole between the existing holes...

Basically, we're doubling the number of rivets from the front and rear…
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Added by Sebastien Heintz on November 30, 2009 at 8:30pm —
2 Comments
We are wrapping up final touches on the Nov/Dec issue of the Zenair Newsletter.
The DVD included with this issue will feature videos from the Zenith factory demonstrating installation of the Upgrade Package on the 601XL demonstrator.
It is never too late to subscribe to the newsletter - each issue includes a DVD !
For information on subscribing, visit:
subscribe online"…
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Added by Zenair News on November 30, 2009 at 8:26pm —
3 Comments
I am in the process of registering my CH 701 as a advance ultralight here in Canada. I heard back from Transport Canada today regarding my gross weight. I am trying to increase my gross weight from 960lbs to 1100lbs. Transport Canada will not allow this. I am aware that this has been done in the past. I have a letter from Chris Heintz dated Oct. 3, 1995 that the STOL CH701 may be operated at an increased gross weight. On Transport Canada's list of eligible ultralights allowed the CH 701 with…
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Added by Debra and Patrick Nesbitt on November 30, 2009 at 7:39pm —
1 Comment
We've made excellent progress over the past holiday weekend finalizing the drawings and verifying the parts. The wings are done and the center spar section is being verified.
As mentioned earlier, Gus Warren of
FlyWithGus.net has announced that he will be hosting a Zodiac CH 601 XL "
Upgrade Workshop" at his facility in Edgewater, Florida the second weekend in…
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Added by Sebastien Heintz on November 30, 2009 at 4:30pm —
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Well since I'm in the same boat as every else, waiting on parts, I went back to the final touches on wiring my panel
Here's my LED Caution and Warning system

And here's a close up. The Lexan cover is just taped into place to verify alignment of the legend

You can see a 3 side by side module on the wide shot over the Dynon. I designed and made a PCB to mount the…
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Added by Larry Whitlow on November 29, 2009 at 6:50pm —
3 Comments
After some tweaking and twitching we have finished the strut fairings and the covers around the atachment points. Came out looking pretty good considering we didn't have a clue when we started. It did appear as though the factory bend on one of the fairings was slightly off and we needed to tweak it into place. Now if only I can get the cowling guy to get in gear and finish it!
We have had some great weather lately and I am missing it!
Added by Phillip Owens on November 28, 2009 at 9:27pm —
2 Comments
so far i have stripped wing with ease the only problem was removing dual tanks due to plumbing. when installing, is there a specific order of assembly? to prevent additional do-overs your blogs and videos are EXCELLANT i would have more trepidation without them 4 1/2 hours to strip all but solid rivets
Added by Larry Webber on November 28, 2009 at 12:03pm —
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As we've installed the "Upgrade Package" to our Zodiac CH 601 XL we've been using the same
sheet-metal hand tools that are used in building and assembling an aircraft from a standard kit. One needed new tool is a
right angle drill or drill attachment. We have used this extensively with the upgrade package to drill out rivets and to drill in the new parts.

While a…
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Added by Sebastien Heintz on November 27, 2009 at 3:58pm —
7 Comments
What are you getting for short field take off and sod short field take off length of run?
Added by Frederick on November 27, 2009 at 8:13am —
2 Comments
Looking at 6-ZU-3, I am a bit uncertain how far out to double rivets on the front and rear spars. Additionally, would it be a good idea to drill those new rivet holes prior to removing the skin so there would be better positioning and better clean up. Any thoughts?
Added by Karl Polifka on November 26, 2009 at 11:26am —
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Gus Warren of
FlyWithGus.net has announced that he will be hosting a Zodiac CH 601 XL "
Upgrade Workshop" at his facility in Edgewater, Florida the second weekend in December. This is an excellent opportunity for East Coast Zodiac XL builders, owners, and pilots to learn about the new upgrades, and how to…
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Added by Zenith.Aero on November 25, 2009 at 5:30pm —
1 Comment