Zenith Aircraft Company    

Scenes from
Zenith Aircraft Company's
OPEN HANGAR DAY and Fly-In Gathering
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Mexico Memorial Airport, Mexico, Missouri

Zenith Open Hangar Day: September 29, 2007

Zenith Aircraft Company's 16th annual OPEN HANGAR DAY and Fly-In Gathering held on Saturday, September 29, 2007, was a great success with dozens of aircraft flown in and hundreds of active participants!  Following is a photo recap from the day's activities.  Thanks to all who participated - see you next year!


Friday afternoon workshops
Zenith Open Hangar Day - Sept. 29, 2007 The workshops started on Friday afternoon in the Zenith Aircraft Company hangar bays (September 28, 2007)
Zenith Open Hangar Day - Sept. 29, 2007  
Mark Townsend's workshop on "Scratch-building basics for Zenith Aircraft designs" on Friday afternoon. 

Hosted by Mark of Can-Zac Aviation (Zenith Aircraft's Canadian representative), this workshop covered the skills, materials, tools and commitment required to accomplish the feat of plans-building your own aircraft, whether the STOL CH 701 or Zodiac XL, for less than $10,000 (not counting the engine).  Topics included: Reading and understanding the drawings and manuals, making rib form blocks, cutting the sheet metal rib blanks, deburring and polishing techniques, rib forming, tips, tricks and techniques, and more.  

Zenith Open Hangar Day - Sept. 29, 2007
Zenith Open Hangar Day - Sept. 29, 2007

Zenith Open Hangar Day - Sept. 29, 2007 Jabiru Engine Workshop

Hosted by Pete Krotje, owner and director of Jabiru USA, this informative workshop covered "everything you've always wanted to know about operating and maintaining the popular Jabiru 3300 engine". Pete explained  the engine installation using Jabiru USA's complete firewall-forward accessories package, including engine mount and engine positioning, fuel and oil lines (plumbing), filters and pumps, throttle, carb heat, and mixture controls, baffles, air hoses and boxes, mufflers and exhaust systems, electrical wiring, cowlings, propeller, etc.  

Pete and Mark also discuss maintenance and operation issues specific to the Jabiru engine.

Zenith Open Hangar Day - Sept. 29, 2007
Open Hangar Day
Zenith Open Hangar Day 2007 A rudder workshop concluded on the Friday prior to the Open Hangar Day

Zenith Open Hangar Day - Sept. 29, 2007 Three Zodiac aircraft, each a different model, in a single row with open canopies. 
Zenith Open Hangar Day - Sept. 29, 2007 Zenith owners shared information and details about building and flying their aircraft.
Zenith Open Hangar Day - Sept. 29, 2007 A geared VW powered STOL CH 701 impressed onlookers with its great short take-off and climb performance.
Video Clip: Flying the 701 at the 2007 Open Hangar Day YouTube video clip of a STOL CH 701 demo flight at the 2007 Open Hangar Day.
Zenith Open Hangar Day - Sept. 29, 2007 Watching the aircraft land and take-off...

In the factory:
Zenith Open Hangar Day 2007 The Zenith Aircraft kit production facilities were open for factory tours and Zenith's factory-demonstrator kit aircraft were on display.  
Zenith Open Hangar Day 2007 Company staff demonstrated kit production and fabrication techniques used in producing the all-metal kit aircraft parts made at the Zenith Aircraft factory.
Open Hangar Day
Zenith Open Hangar Day 2007 Both the standard kits (crated) and kits were on display. 
Zenith Open Hangar Day 2007 The CNC router was kept busy cutting the Zenith logo from flat sheet metal (used for the binder cover)
Zenith Open Hangar Day 2007 Visitors had the opportunity to build their own 3-hole binder made of sheet aluminum, supplied with the CNC-cut Zenith logo, and riveted together with Avex blind rivets!
Building the 3-hole aluminum binder.
Zenith Open Hangar Day 2007 Filing and deburring the parts
Zenith Open Hangar Day 2007 Assembly of the binder was a very popular activity for many
Zenith Open Hangar Day 2007  
Zenith Open Hangar Day 2007 Riveting the binder together
Open Hangar Day 2007 More than 100 binders were constructed on Saturday!
Zenith Open Hangar Day - Sept. 29, 2007 The completed 3-hole ring binder
Zenith Open Hangar Day - Sept. 29, 2007 The factory-demonstrator STOL CH 701 in front of the factory.

Saturday seminars and activities:
Zenith Open Hangar Day 2007 Sport Pilot:

Zodiac builder and aviation writer Earl Downs presented "everything you've always wanted to know about the FAA's new Sport Pilot certificate" to a standing-room only crowd.

Earl Downs is a well-known aviation writer and publisher, and is one of the best resources available for Sport Pilot. Earl started flying more that 50 years ago and progressed to become an airline transport-rated pilot and served with the training department of a major airline for 23 years. He has logged thousands of hours flying and instructing in light airplanes and is a recognized aviation writer with EAA Sport Pilot and AOPA Flight Training magazines. In 2004 he co-wrote the popular book titled "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Sport Flying" and is the current publisher and owner of The Oklahoma Aviator.

Earl Downs
Zenith Open Hangar Day 2007

HomebuiltHelp.com Jon Croke's presentation on "Registering your Homebuilt Aircraft."

Jon, producer of the popular HomebuiltHelp.com series of instructional material on building your own Zenith airplane, walked participants through each step required to successfully license an experimental amateur homebuilt (kit) aircraft with the FAA. 


STOL Flying
Christopher Desmond

Christopher Desmond and Michael Heintz presented a seminar on "S.T.O.L. Flying" with Christopher on the microphone and Michael at the controls of the STOL CH 701.

 

Christopher lead informational 'how-to' seminar for builders and pilots and shared how he safely maximizes the performance and utility of his Zenith STOL kitplane.

 

Christopher Desmond has logged over 500 hours of flying time in his personal STOL CH 701 over the last two years. Michael Heintz, eldest son of designer Chris Heintz and owner of Quality Sport Planes of northern California, has been flying the STOL CH 701 since the prototype first flew in 1986. Both have been working on producing DVDs featuring the STOL CH 701 in back-country applications. In recent years, they have demonstrated the exceptional short take-off and landing capabilities of the STOL at the Oshkosh, Sun'n Fun, Arlington and Copperstate fly-ins.

 

Zenith Open Hangar Day 2007
Zenith Open Hangar Day 2007
Zenith Open Hangar Day 2007
Extreme STOL flying demonstration
Zenith Open Hangar Day 2007 At the afternoon "S.T.O.L. Flying" session, Christopher Desmond narrated while Michael Heintz amazed onlookers with a demonstration of the short take-off and landing capabilities of the factory demonstrator STOL CH 701, as  well as slow flight and maneuverability demonstrations.
Extreme STOL flying demonstration Demonstrating the awesome maneuverability of the STOL CH 701.
Zenith Open Hangar Day 2007
Open Hangar Day 2007

Zenith Open Hangar Day: September 29, 2007

Zenith Open Hangar Day 2007 Smile for the group photo!
Open Hangar Day 2007 Airplanes and builders grouped in front of the Zenith Aircraft factory.
Zenith Open Hangar Day: September 29, 2007
Group Photo
Open Hangar Day 2007
Zenith Open Hangar Day 2007 Some of the Zeniths flown in...
Zenith Open Hangar Day - Sept. 29, 2007 Zenith owners enjoyed sharing information and details about building and flying their aircraft.
Zenith Open Hangar Day - Sept. 29, 2007 Al Beyers' beautifully built and finished Zodiac CH 601 HDS, flown in from Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
Zenith Open Hangar Day - Sept. 29, 2007 Another beautifully finished Zodiac: Mike Canion's Lycoming-powered Zodiac XL (Pleasanton, Texas).  Click here for more photos. 
Zenith Open Hangar Day - Sept. 29, 2007 Another Zodiac XL (flown in from Arkansas) powered with a Jabiru 3300 engine.
Zenith Open Hangar Day 2007
Zenith Open Hangar Day 2007 The Ribordys flew in their Zodiac XL from Illinois.
Zenith Open Hangar Day - Sept. 29, 2007
Zenith Open Hangar Day 2007 Larry Landucci's STOL CH 801
Zenith Open Hangar Day 2007 Zodiac XL
Open Hangar Day 2007 Representatives from Flight Crafters / Zenith Distributing (Zephyrhills, Florida), Quality Sport Planes (northern California), Silver Sky Aviation (Chandler, Arizona) and Jerrich Aircraft Company (Dallas, Texas) were on hand to discuss the professional builder assistance services they offer as well as kits for both the Zodiac XL and the STOL CH 701.  
Zenith Open Hangar Day 2007
Zenith Open Hangar Day 2007
Zenith Open Hangar Day 2007
Zenith Open Hangar Day 2007 STOL CH 701 
Zenith Open Hangar Day 2007 Lycoming powered Zodiac XL
Zenith Open Hangar Day 2007
Zenith Open Hangar Day 2007
Zenith Open Hangar Day 2007 Great weather and lots of planes... What more could one ask for?
Zenith Open Hangar Day 2007 Food and refreshments were provided by local EAA chapter 1225.
Zenith Open Hangar Day 2007
Zenith Open Hangar Day 2007 Local EAA chapter 1225 provided a complimentary hot lunch at noon on Saturday, sponsored by Zenith Aircraft Company.
Zenith Open Hangar Day 2007 STOL CH 701 owners sharing information and details about building and flying their aircraft.
Zenith Open Hangar Day - Sept. 29, 2007
Zenith Open Hangar Day 2007 Saturday was a busy day for demo flights.
Zenith Open Hangar Day 2007 Zodiac XL take-off
Zenith CH300 Tri-Z Tim Hickey and his Zenith CH-300 flew in from Iowa.  The homebuilt aircraft has more than 1,700 hours total airframe time.

The CH 300 model is one of Chris Heintz' earlier designs (from the 1970s). 

Zenith Open Hangar Day 2007
Open Hangar Day
Zenith Open Hangar Day 2007 Yellow Zodiacs
Open Hangar Day
Zodiac XL Zenith owners enjoyed sharing information and details about building and flying their aircraft, and discussed building, finishing (paint, upholstery, avionics, alternative engines, etc.) and flying their aircraft creations.
Zodiac XL
Zenith Open Hangar Day 2007 Youth hard at work designing the aircraft of the future...
Open Hangar Day 2007 Zenith Aircraft builders and owners enjoyed sharing information and details about building and flying their aircraft.
Zenith Open Hangar Day 2007 Pete and Mark of Jabiru USA were on hand Saturday to show why the Jabiru 3300 engine is the powerplant of choice for most Zodiac XL builders, and answered engine installation, operation, and maintenance questions.
Zenith Open Hangar Day - Sept. 29, 2007
Zenith Open Hangar Day 2007 Discussing the high lift design features of the STOL aircraft.
STOL CH 801 Larry's four-seat STOL CH 801 sport utility kit plane, flown in from Wisconsin.
STOL CH 801
Crate Pick Up at the Open Hangar Day Picking up a complete kit at the Open Hangar Day
Zenith Open Hangar Day 2007 The Gemini CH 620 project
VW powered STOL CH 701 Craig Pittman's STOL CH 701 from Kansas City, powered by a geared VW engine (supplied by Valley Engineering)  with a large diameter Culver Prop
VW powered STOL CH 701
Zenith Open Hangar Day 2007 Homeward bound...
Zenith Open Hangar Day 2007
Zenith Open Hangar Day 2007 Mark Townsend of Can-Zac Aviation (Canada).  
Thanks for supplying most of these photos!

Quality Sport Planes - Fall 2007 Open House Two weeks following the Zenith Open Hangar Day, Quality Sport Planes of northern California held its own Fall 2007 Open House on Saturday, October 13 for west coast enthusiasts.  Michael Heintz of Quality Sport Planes reported that the event was a great success with an excellent turnout of both planes and people!
Quality Sport Planes - Fall 2007 Open House
  • Click here for more great photos of the California event

Zenith Open Hangar Day 2007: September 29, 2007

Hundreds of builders and enthusiasts attended the Open Hangar Day in Mexico, Missouri, and the gathering was an excellent opportunity for owners and builders of Zenith Aircraft kits to meet each other and to tour the Zenith Aircraft facilities. 


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Zenith Aircraft Company
Mexico Memorial Airport, PO Box 650
Mexico, Missouri, 65265-0650 USA.
Tel: 573-581-9000 (Mon - Fri, 8-5 Central),
Fax: 573-581-0011
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