Comment

Comment by Bob Pustell on January 26, 2013 at 4:44pm

The pictured plane is an early 601. I remember the factory messed around with them, called it a Sportster or some such name. It was basically a canopy frame with only the front of the canopy mounted on the frame, could be interchanged with the standard canopy. If I recall right (it was quite some time ago) they said it flew just the same but you had to close off the front of the cargo area behind the seats to avoid buffeting. It looks like the plane in the picture has the cargo area closed off. It also looks like the windshield is hard mounted, not on a removeable frame, but it is hard to tell for sure in the picture.

I do not know if anyone has done the open cockpit thing in a 601XL and/or a 650. I would be interested to learn if  it has been done, and how it worked. I am building an XL and have pondered a second canopy frame with an open cockpit setup -- if I break a conopy in the back area, I might give it a try.

Comment by Michael Herder on January 24, 2013 at 9:58pm

There it is...

http://www.zenithair.com/zodiac/pic2000/mvc-145s.jpg

Comment by Michael Herder on January 24, 2013 at 9:56pm

I saw a picture of one that had a the canopy cut into just a windshield...