All Blog Posts (2,411)

Final Assembly begins

I am almost tempted to add stripes to the rudder. Almost...I'm tired of painting.

As it sits, it weighs 524 lbs. I am pleased.

Made a tentative appt with the DAR for the week of Thanksgiving.

Added by Steven Winn on November 5, 2012 at 9:47pm — 3 Comments

Landings and Cooling

After several weeks of apprehension, read "scared to death," and one bent nose fork, I finally got some help from an airline pilot buddy and went flying at our farm strip.  I did 4 takeoffs and landings, while my friend watched from the ground with a radio and gave me some coaching.  That coaching and some great help from Bob McDonald, Jimmy Young, and John Austin gave me the confidence and the skills to finally feel comfortable with my landings.

I left the flaps alone and…

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Added by Dr. Edward L. Olds III on November 5, 2012 at 9:10pm — 3 Comments

Stripes Complete

That is the last of the paint for the fuselage. Now final assy…

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Added by Steven Winn on November 4, 2012 at 9:06pm — No Comments

Lightweight fuse/shunt cover

An A&P visited my project the other day and suggested a cover over the electrics since the installation is near the rudder pedal. This is a wet lay-up of 8 plys sandwiched in saran wrap, tucked around the fuses and shunt, and allowed to cure. It snaps right in.…

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Added by Steven Winn on November 1, 2012 at 8:27pm — No Comments

601XLB flying !

After 5 Years in garage spending i dont know how many hours i am on finish ... i am proud and happy :) THX for good project easy building for Zenith ! :) and Ted Taylor for painting scheme ! :) Andrzej

Added by Andrzej Kostkiewicz on November 1, 2012 at 4:02am — 3 Comments

its so nice to do your preflight

check your weather grab your wife or a friend get int the plane warm it up  just go fly    turn key and go even if it becomes that 35 dollar burger ja in ocala fl    Z701JN      afteralmost 4 years building and setbbacks it came together nicely     presently200 hour engine    190 airframe

Added by joseph aloof on October 31, 2012 at 11:12pm — No Comments

Bubble Door Latches

Latches for the rear corner of the doors. Made from 1/4" stainless hyd tubing. Silver soldered in a "bullet tip".

Door flanges are bowed, creating gaps. Haven't decided what to do about it (if anything).…

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Added by Steven Winn on October 29, 2012 at 9:31pm — No Comments

Windshield Secure

Seam sealing completed after this pic. Finished this up around 1:30 am last night.

Added by Steven Winn on October 28, 2012 at 8:49am — 1 Comment

Aluminum cutter 2.0

Aluminum cutter 2.0 - A dremel tool is probably the most useful tool tol help with your homebuilt project. When trying to use a cutoff wheel, however, you have to control depth, angle and path all at once. Dremel doesn't make a base for the tool like the base on a skilsaw, but that would really help!

 

Dremel does make an attachment that threads onto…

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Added by Larry Zepp on October 27, 2012 at 8:18pm — 1 Comment

Compass error fixed

Compass and Dynon both dead on West.  Yeah!

Made this de-Gaussing coil by wrapping a bunch of magnet wire around a coffee can. I didn't make enough wraps to plug straight into the wall, coil got hot. Had to use the variac. This thing will magnetize or…

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Added by Steven Winn on October 27, 2012 at 6:59pm — No Comments

700 Hours Plus

N200BE has been a good 601XL.  It is a better 601XL-B.  "Betty" has been safe, reliable & fun.  This a/c has been to Oshkosh, Mount Rushmore & more.  Four things I would change about the last five years of flying this Zodiac. 

First, tuning the Bing carby was very difficult.  After several experiments the best adjustment was to put a divider in the intake tube ahead of the carby.  The result of not tuning the carby sooner required me to put new rings on the odd side of the…

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Added by Mark Ertz on October 25, 2012 at 10:20pm — 3 Comments

Windscreen final install

Added by Steven Winn on October 25, 2012 at 7:42pm — No Comments

Almost finished painting

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Added by Steven Winn on October 24, 2012 at 7:52pm — 1 Comment

A Bit More Paint

Added by Steven Winn on October 23, 2012 at 8:56pm — 1 Comment

Alternator Whine

Installed Red Baron XP LED Strobe on vertical stabiliser. I feel much better about being seen with this strobe.

Maybe some of you have some suggestions on a problem. I did not build this aircraft, I bought it and am learning on the go. interesting but frustrating. There are no good groups close by to draw information from. Ive had a problem with radio whine from the very beginning.Especially on transmit. I installed a noise filter on the alternator but it didnt help much. Since I…

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Added by Tracy Trathen on October 23, 2012 at 11:50am — 5 Comments

Fuselage primed

Almost ready for final finish.…

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Added by Steven Winn on October 22, 2012 at 6:40pm — No Comments

Completed TIG class..

Completed EAA TIG class this weekend (refresher for 5 years ago). Have equipment and metal.  Ready to practice, practice, practice. then start building metal parts..

Added by Gaston Brawley on October 21, 2012 at 9:42pm — 2 Comments

Both Wings Painted

Painted the right hand wing today. Fuselage is etched and ready for prime.

Got my Biennial Flight Review last week.I am extremely inspired to complete this project.…

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Added by Steven Winn on October 21, 2012 at 7:47pm — No Comments

CH 750 Engine

I would love to hear a discussion as to engine choice for the CH 750. We will be operating mostly out of sea level fields in Florida with as many as 5 different pilots of all experience levels. Any advice is highly appreciated.

Added by Alex Haase on October 21, 2012 at 4:55pm — 1 Comment

Engine First-Then Build Plane

Spent last three days in Osseo MI with Roy Szarafinski assembling block and fifth bearing on WW Corvair Engine.  Plan on final assembly and running engine at CC#24 in Barnwell SC next month.  Once engine is finished I will begin building my CH750 from plans.

Added by Gaston Brawley on October 15, 2012 at 8:03am — 4 Comments

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