Saturday morning was a blur.  Nobody could remember their own names any more - let alone whether they were coming or going...  It was as if those 'patience pills' were affecting memory too!  Thankfully, between everybody, everything was being accounted for, but the team were visibly slowing down.  Caution was being applied, because everybody knew that it was better to miss the deadline than make a mistake that could jeopardise the long term benefits from…

Friday... less than two days to go... 

everybody finally realized that somebody had been lying to the team - that clock was not right.  This was not anything like a seven day challenge.  Seven days would have given the team until 08:00 on Monday morning... BUT the organizers had this hidden agenda... the plane would be INSPECTED on the SUNDAY by the FAA... and needed full FAA certification before 15:00 on that very Sunday... so that a public taxi test could take…

With all the 'smaller surfaces' completed, day four was a day of looking for jobs for the core team not involved in the fuselage or left wing - there was no shortage of tasks - event the clearing up and sorting out the tools that had managed to have a party and get muddled up! 

For those who had built Zenith Aircraft before, this seemed like an easy build - until they all realized that this was a CH750 Cruzer - so it was different.  With less than a handful of Cruzers flying…

Day three was always going to be the day when we got an idea of where it was all going.  Everybody was tired, already.  The sprint had been done, and the plane looked like a plane... well almost - but this was not the time to give up - we had to hit the wall and keep on building! 

Work started on the flaperons, but it did not go…

When the team arrived on day two they looked over the work from the day before... and noticed some mistakes.  That happens on EVERY build.  Every builder makes mistakes, so having some mistakes in One Week Wonder was to be expected... The mistakes were minor.  Not all the rivets had pulled well - it happens - and some had been pulled that shouldn't have been yet - that happens too!  So, as the volunteers for day two were lining up, the core team set about some minor fixes.  It should be…

It was a tense moment, all of these people who didn't know each other - about to start in five minutes - building a plane in less than a week.  They all stood awaiting the starters orders... and then they came, from Jack Pelton, the EAA Chairman.  Jack comes from the illustrious aircraft manufacturer Cessna, and is now the leader of the EAA pack in feeding the worlds aviation spirit at a grass roots level.

 …

Over the week over two thousands five hundred people were involved in the build - and signed the builders log - the worlds biggest builders log!  But it was down to a core team, and a lot of organization to make the week come together...

THE CORE TEAM:  This is the team that were practically full time in the Bull Pen - that place where the machine was being brought to life.  It should be noted that the core team had not met before the day... they…

We all know that any project of the magnitude of the One Week Wonder has to be planned.  This event started well in advance of the 28th July 2014 deadline - but not that many months in advance.  The team had to get all the parts for the project together, and a suitable space available to build the machine!  But that is no different, whatsoever, to any other aircraft project.

Clearly, all aircraft build projects require parts - quantity and type based on your project.  Once…

It all started in a dark, damp, fuel and oil perfumed hangar.  The dim moonlight seeped through a crack in the hangar doors, picking out, with an eerie glimmer, a shiny spinner.  A large brown and black spider could be made out as it crawled along the strut towards the pitot tube of another unsuspecting aircraft, as they waited for they next flight.   That hangar held within it the 'Spirit Of Building Aircraft', also know as the SOBA.  That spirit, the very source of creativity and…

A jig made bending and attaching the L brackets to the 75S1-1 ribs much easier and only took a few minutes to build.

Completed the last of the flaperons on July 29th.  Working on the slats now.

A BIT OF HISTORY,

The last of the ENOLA GAY crew has gone west. For years the surviving crew was the main attraction at WW11 weekend held at READING PA. They will be missed. It was in the nineteen forties when PAUL TIBBETS in a B17 transported (DUTCH) VANKIRK to his home at NORTHUMBERLAND PA.They landed on a grass strip located on PACKER ISLAND which is now SUNBURY  (71N). So it was fitting to honor  MR. VANKIRK with a flyover at the time of his interment with the movie B17 MEMPHIS…

Here is the most recent update on the Honda Fit conversion at - https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/HondaFitAircraftEngine-Owners/conversations/messages/110

"Honda Fit Aircraft Engine Owners and newbee's to this small slice of the pie in general aviation -

Just wanted to update folks who weren't able to attend one of our two Educational Forums on 'Converting the…

I have a question, probably easy, but no matter I thought I would ask. I installed my main wheels on the CH750 with the bleeding valve on top. Do I need to take off my wheels and set them on the bottom of the system so it would bleed the air out completely, or will it work pushing the air through the system from the top of the wheel?

I appreciate it!

Greg Pernoud

Zenith Banquet for 2014

One week to go! With the huge pre-sale response for the Zenith Banquet it looks like this will be a blockbuster! Just a quick recap. The Zenith Builders Banquet will be held on Friday, August 1st at the Oshkosh Elks Lodge. More information can be found on the attached brochure. If the brochure did not attach to this post, you can request one by sending an e-mail to backstagelive@gmail.com and I can E-mail you one.

It's easy to get…

Last Saturday was Zenair's 40th Anniversary Fly-in and Open House, with special guest Chris Heintz, Zenair founder and designer of the CH series of kit aircraft. View photos and details on the event! 

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This week marked the 4th anniversary of that first snip into the metal of the rudder kit. I now have 340 hours into the project, only managed 53 last year thanks to 10 weeks of airport resurfacing that robbed me of hangar access during the best months of the year. But what I lacked in hours I made up for in dollars, lol - the purchase of the Rotax 912ULS added quite a bit to the rolling total. I think it will be worth it though.

It really is starting to look like I am near the…