Zenith Aircraft Builders and Flyers
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Moving from trial to real project
About a year ago, after spending time investigating a number of options for kit aircraft, I decided to get the rudder kit from Zenith via the UK (South) agent Gary Johnson. It took me a long time to build the rudder through being busy with work and other interests, and having to acquire tools along the way. Recently I got to the stage of having the rudder completed and primed except for riveting the skins on; I took it to Gary, in his capacity as Inspector for the Light Aircraft Association in the UK (equivalent to Tech Counsellor in EAA), who said I'd done a decent job of it, ok to rivet - great news!
So I ordered the plans set, and the tail kit and slats and flaperons kit. Unfortunately whilst purchasing the part-kits is a great way of spreading the costs, shipping over to the UK adds a huge cost to this way of building, so I've realised that when I get these sub-assemblies done, I would be well-advised to buy everything else in one go (except the engine), so I guess I'd better start saving!
Having received the plans now, with my official builder number as a CH750 STOL builder, it feels good to be official, and I now can't wait to get started on the tail as soon as it arrives.
Comment
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Comment by Lindsay Pennell on September 28, 2012 at 3:04am
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Hi Larry, thanks for your comment. I would have loved to do the rudder workshop at the factory. My LAA inspector (tech counsellor) told me that some builders get the rudder done in a couple of days, and I can see how that could be done if you already have a well set-up workshop etc, and I found it really frustrating the way I had to build. But like you, I'm now putting the effort into sorting out my workshop facilities, and while there will still be major compromises, the satisfaction quotient of every little bit of progress is that much greater. What I'm doing is that each component kit gets a very detailed MS Project schedule, with tasks broken down to the level of each being a couple of hours work. That way, I can tick off another task as completed in every session, even though there may be little visible progress. That probably sounds like computer-geek stuff, but since I'm a project manager, it works well for me!
Best of luck with your project fella, and thanks for dropping in.
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