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Canopy propping strut for 601 forward tilt canopy

There has been some discussion of devices to prop open the forward tilting canopy among the group lately so I decided to describe the one I made.





It is a strip of 6061-T6 aluminum 1/8" thick, one inch wide and about 15 inches long. It has been lightened and the last lightening hole is made a little larger than the rest. That one can slip over the canopy latch striker.





At the… Continue

Added by Dr. Edward M. Moody II on July 2, 2009 at 8:02pm — 1 Comment

Another 13.8 Hours And 1,254 Miles For The Log Book

Last Saturday morning about 11am my trusty Zodiac XL carried me away from my home base at Santa Rosa California (STS) looking for adventure. After stopping in Cloverdale (O60) for a load for fuel it took me out to the coast hoping for cooler air. She headed north along the Pacific Ocean past Shelter… Continue

Added by Stephen R. Smith on July 2, 2009 at 11:48am — 3 Comments

Testing larger "bushwheel" tires on the STOL CH 750

Those of you who have visited the Zenith factory lately have noticed the larger bald tires on our STOL CH 750 demonstrator. We've been testing these "off airport" tires this past month and are quite pleased with the results.



These affordable (non aviation) ATV tires are smooth and treadless (21x12-8) measuring about 21-inches tall. Mounted on an 8-inch Matco wheel, these larger tires raise the height… Continue

Added by Sebastien Heintz on July 1, 2009 at 8:30pm — 3 Comments

Fall River Mills Flyin

Qsp attended a flyin at Fall River Mills last sunday a pancake feed and did they feed us. Eggs cooked to order extra large ham slice great pancakes and a host of freindly flyers. We had two xl's there and our demo 701 stol. Brad Demeo and Steve Smith were the xl owners. The show was over at 2: oclock after departing Steve left to go find more airports that he has not landed at. This appears to be getting harder in CA for him Steve has been to almost all small strips in the state. Brad and I… Continue

Added by Doug Dugger on June 30, 2009 at 5:13pm — 1 Comment

CH601HD Bungee & Gear Leg Replacement

Well... Yesterday I started into job on the CH601HD that is very much like force feeding a Porcupine to a Grizzly Bear ! I used an ATV jack to lift The Zen, there is no weight the wings... its a "Plan B" thing. Grantley Este & Bob "Mr. GoodWrench" Braden pitched in to get me started on the job I have been putting off for a year now. Changing the out of date main gear bungee (5 yr replacement cycle), so far it has taken 3 guys the better part of a day to jack up the aircraft and get the gear… Continue

Added by Bob McDonald on June 26, 2009 at 7:44pm — 1 Comment

So long Gary. RIP

For all that are interested, this is the final report from the ATSB regarding the loss of Gary Sweetnam, the Aussie Zenith agent and his 601xl demo plane.



Regards
Phill Barnes



AE2008029.pdf

Added by Phill Barnes on June 26, 2009 at 7:27am — No Comments

"Roughed" out a few parts on the water jet...


Added by Travis Corbin on June 25, 2009 at 8:43pm — No Comments

Builders: Share Your Success Stories

As the following two magazine excerpts show, builders are urged to share their project completions. This is a great way to show the aviation world what you have accomplished, while giving you an opportunity to publicly thank those who helped you along the way.

(Above is from Kitplanes magazine; below is EAA's Sport Pilot magazine, both June 2009 issues).

Both magazines invite you to send in… Continue

Added by Zenith.Aero on June 23, 2009 at 9:50am — No Comments

Zenith "Spring into Summer" Open Hangar: Saturday, June 27, 2009

This Saturday is our second "Spring into Summer" Builder Fly-In Gathering and Open Hangar Day.

As opposed to our annual fall Open Hangar Day with scheduled workshops and forums, this June event is very informal and unstructured.



Join us for breakfast on Saturday morning:

Early Saturday morning, Glenn and Anita Riley are hosting their annual "Fly-In / Drive-In Breakfast… Continue

Added by Sebastien Heintz on June 22, 2009 at 10:19am — 4 Comments

Back to 801

The next two weeks have been dedicated to the 801 and the panel for the 750.

Added by Mark Townsend on June 21, 2009 at 8:00pm — No Comments

Videos: Open Hangar Day / Builder Fly-In Gathering

Here are a few video clips from last year's Zenith Aircraft Open Hangar Day. This year's spring event is on June 27, 2009, and the fall 18th annual Zenith Aircraft Open Hangar Day is September 19, 2009.



Video clip from the fall 2008 Open Hangar Day: Inside the Zenith Aircraft factory. Additional activities included workshops and forums, as… Continue

Added by Sebastien Heintz on June 20, 2009 at 7:00am — No Comments

My REAL blog...

I have a complete blog about this project (and my other projects) at my personal web site.

http://www.hainesengineering.com/rhaines

Added by Robert Haines on June 19, 2009 at 8:00am — No Comments

A Week with my Son

It has been awhile since I have spent time with my son so I have dedicated the rest of the week to a camping

trip on an Island in Georgian Bay.

i have been assigned to a cabin with nine 11 year old boys, now I keep asking myself why did I leave the… Continue

Added by Mark Townsend on June 16, 2009 at 8:00pm — No Comments

N601LV First Flight!!! Corvair powered 601 XL

601firsttakeoff.wmvIt's getting kinda late down here but I wanted to put a quick post up letting the Zenith community know that our 601XL flew for the first time today. As posted before it has a standard William Wynne corvair engine w/ a Dan Weseman 5th bearing, Dynon efis/ems, and Garmin avionics stack. Updates to follow

Added by Louis Kantor on June 16, 2009 at 12:30am — 9 Comments

QSP & Golden west flyin

Golden west flyin has come and gone as most things do. Lori and I at QSP were able to host a number of builders and flyers that brought their planes in. Christopher Desmond had his STOL 801 on display for friday and saturday next to him was Woody Harris with his corvair powered 601xl. Bob Hathaway came down from Chico CA with his pearl white 601xl powered by a jab 3300. From Santa Rosa came Bob Archibald with his 601xl painted in military colors and a 125 hp lycoming o235 up front. WE also were… Continue

Added by Doug Dugger on June 15, 2009 at 11:26pm — No Comments

pitot location

I am working on my 601 wings presently and have placed the pitot as per Zenith plans and intend to install my AOA in a similar location on the opposite wing. I noticed that there was some blog activity noting some problems with airspeed indications. Does anyone have experience with pitot problems related to location? If so, what was your solution? Thanks

Added by Peter Shean on June 15, 2009 at 7:21pm — No Comments

More final assembly

Pulled out the airplane from the hanger to take a few baby pictures.

Added by Mark Townsend on June 15, 2009 at 7:30am — No Comments

Zenith Wheelbarrow

I had set off for a day of pattern practice in the hopes of smoothing out my take-offs and landings in the Zenith. The events of the day proved I needed the practice and I learned something about the Zenith 601 XL in the process.



It was my second trip around the pattern at Warrenton-Fauquier airport (HWY) in rural Virginia. It is the airport where I earned my wings in 2000 and seemed like a good place to practice in my new airplane. On this particular landing, I touched down OK but… Continue

Added by JG Ginther on June 12, 2009 at 10:51am — 3 Comments

elevator VG's

About three weeks ago I installed 30 vg's from Zenith Aircraft on the elevator of my 701,they were installed according to the information on a blog on Sebastien's page.They were installed with the front of the vg's on a line 120mm in front of the rivets in the elevator spar.They were installed with a 3M tape used to put emblems on vehicles,the backing is pulled off the tape and the vg is stuck to the tape.When you pull the vg up the adhesive stays on… Continue

Added by John M Brooker on June 12, 2009 at 8:25am — 2 Comments

Wings are back from paint shop

The wings have returned and are now installed.

Added by Mark Townsend on June 11, 2009 at 7:30am — No Comments

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