June 28, 2025

Finished cutting the air ram box.
Drilled a 1 in hole and riveted an air outlet.

June 12, 2025

Cutting the air ram box.
The box is built from a think aluminum. Tried shears, an angle grinder, a hack saw. The best is a jig saw. Clean and straight cut.

June 17, 2025

Built the fuel pump assembly.

Had to file the mounting plate to make the room for the pump and filter clamps.

It turned out later the pump assembly place does not match the hoses Zenith supplied.…

June 14, 2025

Attached the engine to the airframe.…

April 29, 2025

Painted the motor mount. Rust oleum engine paint aluminum. A small paint booth inside the garage.

April 28, 2025

Cleaned motor mount before painting. Initially by a grinder, sandpaper after.

April 25, 2025

Drilling holes in the motor mount.

December 23, 2025

Transported the wings and the empenage to the airport.…

December 14, 2024

Drilled the door internal gussets to the size.
Unclecoed and folded the forward top skin to make access to the pedals and stick.

December 11, 2024

Reassembled the door frames on clecoes to align before riveting.

December 10, 2024

Installed the front L angles.…

December 9, 2024

Drilled holes in the front top skin.

Used a strap duplicator to not enlarge the existing holes.…

December 8, 2024

Installed the instrument panel

December 7, 2024

Drilled left door frames holes to #21.

Riveted piano hinges to the door frames.

Drilled out the SS rivets on the left side.…

November 30, 2024

Drilling and clecoeng the forward to skin.

Questions to Zenith about the skin.

My instrument panel is wide. I cannot wrap the skin around the cabin frame like on the drawings. I suspect the drawings is for the SD only.

Should the top skin be over the side skin or under, like the drawings says.

The most difficult - what to do with the 9 SS A5 rivets in the cabin frame? Should I remove them and set again through the top skin or I can leave the…

November 29, 2024

Started installing the forward top skin.
Continued making the left door frame.

November 27, 2024

Clecoed #30 the external gussets to the frame bars.

It is not clear what size, what type and what pitch of rivets to use in different parts of the window. I will ask Zenith.

The areas to question are: size A4 or A5, pitch 100 or 60, material soft, regular, SS, countersink, countersink angle (100 or 120)

Gussets IB

Gussets OB

Bubble

Frame braces

Zenith's ansrwers:

The gusset rivets are all A5.

The bracket rivets are…

November 25, 2024

Mabe the top and back bars for the right door frame.

Put more rivets in the front bottom fuselage.

Some A6 rivets are diffilult to set. The room is too tight to use a regular riveter. Depending on the rivet position I might not have enough strength to use a hand riveter.

I used clamps.…

November 23, 2024

Squeezed the fuselage top skin between the firewall and the cabin frame. No need to cut anything.

Removed the sawhorses. Now the plane stands on its own wheels.…

November 23, 2024

The drawings shows the Forward Top Skim with an open hole for the cabin frame.

The actual part has a closed hole. With the firewall assembled and partially riveted to the fuselage it is not clear how to put the Forward Top Skin in place.

Zenith said - either try to push it through the gap between the firewall and the cabin frame or cut the skin and use 0.025 thick patch with A5 rivets pitch 40, like Super Duty has.…