(Older posts for the Zeniths to Oshkosh planning by Joe Scheibinger)

 

It's already July and we're just weeks from the start of AirVenture (Oshkosh)! 

 
"Zeniths to Oshkosh" Update
It's only three weeks to EAA! For us lucky ones that live close to the Oshkosh airport, EAA for us is the entire months of July! It's fun to drive out and see hangars under construction, aircraft flying in early, and volunteers from all over the 

world working feverishly on the grounds. This year's convention has the promise of being one of the largest ever. Hotels filled up early this year due to the tremendous roster of exciting events. Special days of celebration for Burt Rutan, Bob Hoover, and of course our very special tribute to Chris Heintz.

On the opening day of AirVenture (Monday, July 25th), starting at 10:00 am, EAA will honor Chris Heintz with a special presentation in the ConocoPhillips Plaza (formerly the Aeroshell Square). One of each type of Chris Heintz's aircraft designs will be on hand for the ceremony and a special homebuilt review will follow.  I have a list of aircraft owners who have volunteered to place their airplane in the flight review, and we will select the aircraft to use next week. Aircraft will be chosen by type and pilot skills and experience.

The honorary banquet for Chris will be held on Wednesday, July 27, in the Nature Center on the grounds of EAA. Sponsors for the event are the EAA, Contact magazine, Aircraft Spruce & Specialty, Sporty's Pilot Shop, Flight Crafters, and David Clark Headsets. Both Paul Poberezny, the founder of EAA and son Tom Poberezny, Chairman of the Board at EAA, will be attending the banquet. Builders and enthusiasts are invited to attend!  For tickets, send a self addressed stamped envelope along with $20 per person to Joe Scheibinger, 2809 Scenic Drive, Oshkosh, WI 54904. For more information contact Joe at backstagelive@gmail.com.

We already have many early reservations but we still have space left!  If you'd like to attend  I suggest you order your tickets ahead of time by mail. Tickets will also be available at the Zenith Aircraft booth (in the North Aircraft Display, #640 and 641). These remaining tickets will go fast!  Lots of door prizes will be given away at the banquet (including a beautiful set of David Clark headsets, IFR pilot's course from Sporty's, and subscriptions to Contact magazine!)

Many of you already know one of our youngest Zenith builders, Sabrina, who at the age of 16 built a beautiful Zenith 601 and who has set her sights high on an aerospace engineering career. Sabrina will have the honor of being Paul Poberezny's escort for the banquet! When she first heard she was going to be Paul's wingman for the Zenith Banquet, she was at a loss for words. She had seen him many times around previous AirVentures but never had the opportunity to speak with him. "What an honor! Cool!," she said.

Corvair engine guru William Wynne has volunteered to be Tom Poberezny's escort at the banquet. Zenith Builders Mack Kreizenback, Ken Pavlou, and Larry Zepp will be volunteering their time in running the banquet. We still could use a volunteer photographer and someone with a video camera for the banquet and other events. If you would like to volunteer to help the Zeniths to Oshkosh campaign, contact Joe at 920-237-1450.

Banquet tickets will be sent out on Tuesday, July 5th, along with an information sheet showing transportation and parking. For our friends staying at he Gruenhagen dorms in Oshkosh, your information on transportation and parking will be sent to you by E-mail one week before the convention.

Russell Lepre of the Flight Crafters builder assist center in Florida has designed a great T-shirt and hat with the commemorative "Zeniths to Oshkosh" logo (see above). Russell is donating a shirt to every pilot who flies to Oshkosh with a Zenith aircraft! If you would like to purchase a T-shirt and hat for this year's convention, go the Flight Crafters website at www.flightcrafters.com.

Already, we have over 30 aircraft that will be parking in the Zenith showplane parking and about 20 that will be in the aircraft camping area. If you would like to reserve a spot in showplane parking, please e-mail Joe at backstagelive@gmail.com or call 920-237-1450.
I will put out more information one week before the convention with maps, parking instructions, and times of events.  See this blog post on Zenith.Aero for the latest updates.

Have a safe and memorable trip to Oshkosh everyone.
Joe Scheibinger (CH 601 XL B builder in Oshkosh)

 

In addition to the above activities, the following additional educational forums are scheduled during the AirVenture week:

• Mon 7/25: 1:00 PM - 2:15 PM: Chris Heintz Design History: 40 years of light aircraft designs (Forum Pavilion 07 Mainstage)
• Tue 7/26: 1:00 PM - 2:15 PM: Designing and Building a Modern Light Aircraft, by Chris Heintz (in the Homebuilders Hangar - Homebuilts In Review)
• Wed 7/27: 10:00 AM - 11:15 AM: Light Sport STOL Aircraft (Forum Pavilion 09)
• Wed 7/27: 2:30 PM - 3:45 PM: Zenair Floats for Light Aircraft (Forum Pavilion 03)
• Fri 7/29: 11:30 AM - 12:45 PM: CH 650 aircraft (Forum Pavilion 11)
• Fri 7/29: 1:00 PM - 2:15 PM: Sheet Metal Construction (Forum Pavilion 04)

Come see the Zenith display and meet with the Zenith staff (as well as with Zenith builders and owners).  Zenith will be be in the North Aircraft Display area # 640 and #641 (the same location as past years).

 

/// The following is from the June 24, 2011 issue Aero-News.Net ///

Zenith Founder Chris Heintz To Be Honored At AirVenture (June 24, 2011)

On the first day of the upcoming EAA convention in Oshkosh, members will honor an accomplished aeronautical engineer and designer of many certified and homebuilt aircraft ... including the Zenith 650 XLB and the Zenith 750. July 25th has been designated “Chris Heintz Day” by the EAA, and will be celebrated with a homebuilt review and ceremony, along with a Zenith banquet honoring Chris on Wednesday, July 27th in the EAA Nature Center.

On Monday, July 25th, EAA will honor Chris Heintz with a special presentation in the ConocoPhillips Plaza, formerly known as Aeroshell Square. One of each kind of aircraft design will be on hand for the ceremony and a special homebuilt review will follow. Although the official time has not been set, it will be around 1300 CDT.
It all started as a grass roots movement of Zenith homebuilders under the direction of Zenith 601 builder Joe Scheibinger.  50 Zenith Aircraft from all over the country will be on display in a special location in Showplane Parking on the flightline. Gruenhagen Hall at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh has reserved an entire floor for accommodations for Zenith enthusiasts from all over the world. Builders from New Zeeland, Australia, and Africa will be there to honor Chris.
Chris Heintz is a graduate of the E.T.H. Institute in Switzerland. After serving in the Air Force, Heintz worked for Aerospatiale on the supersonic Concorde jetliner, and later became chief engineer at Avions Robin (France) where he designed several fully-certified two and four seat all-metal production aircraft. In his spare time, Heintz began to design and build his own aircraft, which he named the ZENITH, anagram of Heintz. Being an engineer and not a craftsman, his all-metal homebuilt aircraft incorporated simple construction methods throughout. After a little more than a year’s work, the two-place low-wing Zenith was rolled out and successfully flown in 1969.  Soon after, detailed blueprints and construction manuals of the aircraft were drawn up and offered to the growing number of interested builders and flyers.

 Read the rest of this article on Aero-News.Net

 

//// June 9 update from Joe Scheibinger /////

 

Hi Everyone, 

Things are going very well with the Zeniths to Oshkosh campaign. Almost too well! So I'm writing to give you some more information. So far, we have pre-sold about 60 tickets to the Zenith banquet honoring Chris. The reason I am writing is because in about a week, I will be putting a press release out to the media that will include information on the banquet. I want to make sure that each and every builder and enthusiast on this list that will be coming to Oshkosh has a ticket before they are sold out. We have room for a very comfortable 200, but we can stretch it to 250 if needed. The factory will have about 75 tickets to distribute for Monday's EAA, but I have a feeling those will go very fast! Please let me know if you would like tickets. You can send me a check for $20 per person and a self addressed envelope and I will be shipping out the tickets in about 2 weeks. We are up to 30 showplanes so far! Also,  For you folks flying in and would like to park in the Zenith Showplane Parking, I will have special instructions for you in about 3 weeks.

Trying to squeeze another room out of Gruenhagen is impossible. I have a feeling this will be one of the biggest EAA's Oshkosh ever. I have attended every EAA since Oshkosh began and I have never seen hotels sell out this fast! The Oshkosh Visitors Bureau has put together an EAA Housing Hotline. You can go to www.visitoshkosh.com and hit the EAA Housing tab at the far right. They can set you up with accomodations in a private home at a very fair price. If you have a bunch of people as a group, you may want to rent an entire home! A lot of people in Oshkosh plan vacations during Oshkosh and rent their homes for the week!

To send for your banquet ticket, and to register your plane for Zenith show plane parking, contact:

Joe Scheibinger 
2809 Scenic Drive 
Oshkosh, WI 54904 
920-237-1450 
backstagelive@gmail.com

 

//// April Update Below /////

Here is an update on the festivities for the “Zeniths to Oshkosh” get together for the EAA AirVenture Convention. 

The Banquet
This year's Zenith banquet will be one to remember. We will be honoring designer Chris Heintz for his amazing accomplishments in aviation. The banquet will be held on the grounds of EAA at the Nature Center on Wednesday, July 27th, with cocktails at 6:30 and dinner following at 7:30. Door prizes will follow the banquet. Attending the banquet will be past president and Chairman of the Board of EAA, Tom Poberezny. I will send another newsletter closer to the convention with transportation and parking information. The catering will be performed by Robbins in Oshkosh, with a bar provided by Fratello’s. Tickets for the event will be $20 each. The maximum seating will be 250 and you will be able to purchase your tickets by mail with the information at the end of the newsletter. 

EAA Zenith Showplane Parking
EAA has confirmed the Zenith showplane parking will be just north of the Homebuilders center on the flight line! So far, we have 30 Zeniths that have confirmed showplane parking, and 10 Zeniths that will be parking in aircraft camping. We have spaces for another 20 Zenith aircraft available. To reserve a spot see the information listed at the end of the newsletter. I will also be providing all the arrival information you will need by E-mail and in future newsletters. 

Accommodations
We have sold out an entire floor at Gruenhagen Hall at the University in Oshkosh! We have Zenith builders from all over the world staying in 34 rooms. If you are coming to Oshkosh and need a place to stay, please get hold of me by E-mail or phone and I will find a place for you. Many of my neighbors have asked if they can help by providing rooms during EAA. Even if you can’t find a hotel room, I can take care of your accommodations. 

What’s Needed?
We could use some volunteers for the event. We will need 4 volunteers to come to the banquet early and help make sure everything is working smoothly, and to work the registration table. If possible, I would like to have a volunteer who is knowledgeable with the Zenith Company to escort Tom Poberezny during the banquet. Also invited to the banquet will be Paul Poberezny and Adam Smith. Is there anyone who would like to volunteer to work as a photographer for the event, and for Monday’s 11:00 AM EAA presentation to Chris Heintz by EAA on the Aerosqare? If you would like to volunteer, see the information at the end of the newsletter.We would also like a catchy name for the banquet before we print up the invitations! Do you have any ideas what to call the banquet before I send out our first official press release next week? 

Group Arrival by Air
I received a nice letter from Andy Elliot I would like to pass along. If you would like to work with Andy, please contact him at this address listed below. 

“I am looking for a few other experienced formation pilots who might like to join me in showing the Bonanza, RV and warbird folks that they are not the only ones who can do it!  I'd like to put together a 4-ship for the homebuilt review flights on Monday (and perhaps for an arrival flight on Sunday).

I am putting out a call to any interested pilots with prior military, FFI or FAST training only because there will be minimum time for organization and practice.  What would be required is a briefing and at least one practice session away from Oshkosh, perhaps at Dodge County (KUNU), beforehand, most likely Sunday morning.  For those of you planning earlier arrivals, it *is* possible to get out of Oshkosh in the morning and back in the same day, especially since we will have reserved :) parking spots.

Anyway, if any of you on the list are qualified and interested, please get back to me off-list.  If we get a sufficient response, I'll work the coordination, scheduling and logistics.” 

Andy Elliott
N601GE/Z601XL/TD/Corvair
298 hrs since 11/08
a.s.elliott@cox.net
mobile: 480-695-9568 

Contact Information
To reserve a Zenith showplane parking spot, volunteer your services, reserve accommodations, or send your ideas for the party, please contact Joe Scheibinger at 920-237-1450, or E-mail at backstagelive@Gmail.com

To reserve your banquet tickets, please send a check for $20 per person to
Joe Scheibinger, 2809 Scenic Drive, Oshkosh, WI, 54904.

///  end ///

Below is the original post on "Zeniths to Oshkosh" for 2/11:

I just came back from a meeting at EAA with Tom Poberezny, and Adam Smith, Museum Director. What an incredible meeting! I hope you are all sitting down! 

We changed the name of the event from "Year of the Zenith" to "Zeniths to Oshkosh."

Thursday is Burt Rutan Day, Wednesday is Navy Aviation day, Tuesday is Bob Hoover Day, and Monday will be designated as “Chris Heintz” day! Monday will be one of the biggest days because of the Ford Motor Company bringing in REO Speedwagon!

EAA will be giving us parking for 50 airplanes (5 rows of 10). Tom says if we go over 50, not to worry, EAA will try to get us a little more space. We are looking at 2 spots on the field, and as soon as I have more information from EAA, I will post a map of the field with our location.

On Monday, July 25th late in the morning, somewhere around 11:00 AM, EAA would like one of each of Chris's designs to come to the Aeroshell Square for a group photo and a presentation to Chris from Tom Poberezny. After the celebration, Tom would like to have planes fly the circuit on runway 18/36 for a flight display with someone from Zenith as a spokesperson at the announcers stand! Then after the Zenith parade, the aircraft can go back to their original parking area.

There have been many members volunteering to be in the homebuilders showcase. Zenith will interview each volunteer and set pilot requirement. We may have to use some sort of lottery system!

EAA wants to do a feature article on Chris for the EAA Newspaper and for Sport Aviation. EAA would like Chris to give a speech at the Homebuilders Hangar sometime during the week.

EAA will be working on some kind of a jacket patch to honor Zenith pilots that flew their airplanes in. They are doing that for the Rutan planes too.

EAA discourages private companies giving awards for best of anything. However, they encourage participation awards. Maybe we can work up some kind of plaque with the pictures of your plane on it. They did that for me when I had my Ercoupe. This is something we can think of a few months down the road.

We will be putting up a central page on the Zenith website we can all go and get more information on the Oshkosh event.

There are two very large indoor places that will hold 300+ people for meetings, dinner parties, etc, right on the grounds of EAA. The nice part is Robbins Restaurant is licensed to cater on the grounds of EAA. So if it looks like we might outgrow our builder’s dinner, we might be able to have it at EAA and keep the same restaurant! More on this in a couple of weeks.

VERY IMPORTANT
WE HAVE 10 ROOMS LEFT AT GRUENHAGEN HALL! Gruenhagen Hall is the college dorm at UWO. These rooms are nice, they have 2 beds, and they are only $55 per day! The nice part is the transportation. Busses run all day long and will pick you up at the university and drop you off right at Oshkosh tower! I reserved 30 rooms a while back for Zenith builders and enthusiasts. There are 30 rooms to a floor so we can all be together. Here is the bad news. They want all reservations turned in by Friday! They have over 100 EAA members on a waiting list!

Here is what I need form you. If you would like a room at Gruenhagen, you can call me at 920-237-1450, or E-mail me your name, phone, address, and credit card number.

If you want to park your plane in the Zenith Showcase, send me your name, address, N number, phone number. We have 15 airplanes confirmed so far.

If you are a Zenith builder or enthusiast not bringing your airplane to Oshkosh, but would like to keep up with activities, send me your E-mail address to backstagelive@gmail.com.

5 months to go!

Joe Scheibinger
920-237-1450
backstagelive@gmail.com