December 2009 Blog Posts (34)

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Zenair Newsletter #175 (November/December) now shipping!

The Zenair Newsletter and DVD has now been mailed - please allow an extra day for delivery due to the holiday crunch at the post office!

This issue features the pertinent issues regarding the Ch 601XL upgrade including a guest memo from Chris Heintz on the topic. The DVD features the first installment of the videos from the Zenith upgrade on the demonstrator CH 601XL. Also, builder/pilot interviews from the recent Fly-in at the factory in Mexico are featured on the DVD. Dont miss it!

Added by Zenair News on December 12, 2009 at 12:00am — No Comments

CH 650 main gear legs

I am kit building a CH 650. While waiting for the wing mods, I have decided to work on the main gear (easily set aside when I get the mods). The 650 plans call for the main gear legs to be installed with the "flat" side toward the front. However, the Zenith demo plane and the HomeBuiltHELP demo plane show the gear legs installed in reverse. Is there a reason for this? Is this an old design? Are others doing this for some reason, or should I just follow the plans?

Added by Jim Snyder on December 10, 2009 at 11:04am — 4 Comments

Installing the "Upgrade Package" to our Zodiac CH 601 XL: Riveting and Re-Assembling the Center Spar

I've now added the photos for the last post on riveting and re-assembling the center wing spar section. Below is the upgraded center spar section, ready to return to the fuselage:



As previously mentioned, Roger Dubbert from the Zenith factory will be attending Gus Warren's Zodiac CH 601 XL… Continue

Added by Sebastien Heintz on December 9, 2009 at 3:49pm — 3 Comments

engine mount

Hi all , I have an 0-300 D continental engine to put in my ch 300 tri z , Would any cessena 172 mount fit? Or any mount for that engine fit , or adapt to the fire wall of the Ch 300???? I have no clue what to get , can someone help me . Best regards, Roger

Added by Roger Latour on December 9, 2009 at 9:13am — No Comments

CH 300 tri z

Hi Glenn. Yes, it would be nice to have all this wonderfull knowlege at my finger tips. As a first time builder I'm sure I will be able to use the help I can get. I would be more than happy to enter in contact with your friend . Best regards Roger

Added by Roger Latour on December 9, 2009 at 7:00am — 1 Comment

Ch300 tri z

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

Part 22: Installing the "Upgrade Package" to our Zodiac CH 601 XL: Riveting and Re-Assembling the Center Spar

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:…

Continue

Added by Sebastien Heintz on December 5, 2009 at 5:00pm — 4 Comments

Part 21: Installing the "Upgrade Package" to our Zodiac CH 601 XL: Installing the Upgrades to the Center Spar

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… Continue

Added by Sebastien Heintz on December 4, 2009 at 6:15pm — 7 Comments

Inspect removed rivets

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… Continue

Added by Dale Medendorp on December 4, 2009 at 1:59pm — 5 Comments

Part 20: Installing the "Upgrade Package" to our Zodiac CH 601 XL: Aileron Mass Balance

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… Continue

Added by Sebastien Heintz on December 3, 2009 at 5:30pm — 7 Comments

Jeff Garrett's Blog

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… Continue

Added by Jeff Garrett on December 3, 2009 at 3:00am — 11 Comments

Part 19: Installing the "Upgrade Package" to our Zodiac CH 601 XL: Working on the Ailerons

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… Continue

Added by Sebastien Heintz on December 2, 2009 at 5:00pm — No Comments

Drilling Jig .

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

Part 18: Installing the "Upgrade Package" to our Zodiac CH 601 XL: Working on the Second Wing

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… Continue

Added by Sebastien Heintz on December 1, 2009 at 11:30am — 4 Comments

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