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Kicking off a new flying season, Quality Sport Planes hosted its annual Open House and West Coast Zenith Fly-In this past Saturday in Cloverdale, California. Sebastien Heintz and Roger Dubbert from the Zenith Aircraft Company traveled to northern California to meet with builders and owners, and for some great flying! (Click the image below to view a video clip of the sights and sounds from last Saturday's Zenith gathering:)
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Doug Dugger, owner of Quality Sport Planes and fly-in host, demonstrated the amazing STOL (short take-off and landing) capabilities of the STOL CH 701 (as pictured below). Quality Sport Planes provides sales, service and support to Zenith Aircraft builders and owners on the west coast, and provides onsite professional builders assistance in scenic Cloverdale, California.
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With form following function, the STOL (short take-off and landing) series of kit aircraft from Zenith
Aircraft Company look like the sport utility aircraft they are designed to be. Designed to be much more than just another 'pretty' aircraft, all three models in the line were developed to provide maximum short-field performance and utility, while being kit airplanes that are simple to build and maintain, and also durable and easy to operate.
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The high-wing Zenith STOL CH 750 light sport utility kitplane offers sport pilots with an exceptionally capable aircraft, available in a kit that is both simple and affordable to build and own. Now in "Edition 3," new features include a bigger and taller cabin with improved visibility. Designed to accommodate a wide range of engines (from 85 - 150 hp), builders to choose to install their engine of choice, including UL Power, Continental O-200, Rotax, Lycoming, Jabiru, Corvair, and more. Below is a video clip of the STOL CH 750 powered by an attractive Honda-based engine from Viking Aircraft Engines:
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Both the high-wing STOL CH 750 and the sleek low-wing Zenith CH 650 cruiser share the same firewall design, allowing them to use similar firewall-forward engine installations.
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The new Zenith CH 650-B is a second-generation light sport kit aircraft developed specifically for sport pilots, and this latest design from aeronautical engineer Chris Heintz is generating impressive media reviews:
Zippy Zodiac
On the cover of the May 2012 issue of Pilot magazine, Dave Unwin, the magazine's Flight Test Editor reports that: "The handling is good and the field-of-view superb. It can carry a decent payload a fair distance over a good range, while the cockpit features comfortable seats and good heating and ventilation..." And he concludes: "In fact, now that I think about it - I liked the CH650 a lot. Indeed it offers exceptional value for the money."
Simply Advanced The current issue of Kitplanes magazine (June 2012) also features the sleek Zenith CH 650 on its cover, titled "Simply Advanced!" The feature article includes a nine-page flight review of the Zenith CH 650-B cruiser . Writer Marc Cook visited the Zenith Aircraft factory in central Missouri where the kits are produced, and flew the factory demonstrator Zenith CH 650, powered by the 130-hp UL350iS engine (with FADEC) and equipped with dual Dynon SkyView screens on the panel.
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Out of Africa
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Fly-In To Summer Open Hangar Day & Builder Fly-In
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Gain Hands-on Experience at a Factory Workshop
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"Try Before You Buy" at the Zenith Aircraft FactoryWe invite you to spend a couple of days at the Zenith Aircraft factory to learn about building your own airplane and to gain valuable hands-on experience and skills. You'll also get the chance to tour the kit factory and to go up for a demo flight. Cost of the workshop is just $375 and includes the complete rudder tail kit. Bring a guest at no additional cost. Come learn what it's like to build your own kit plane by starting on the rudder tail section: No prior experience or skills are needed to attend ! " Workshops are great morale boosters and an
excellent way to test the water... We highly
recommend them." - KITPLANES magazine
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Zenair Floats for Light Aircraft
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Adding floats to your light aircraft opens up a whole new world of adventures and destinations. Zenair (Canada) offers a full line of all-metal floats for light aircraft, available in kit form in straight or amphibious (with wheels) versions. Zenair Floats are lightweight yet durable for great performance on water and in the air. The wheels used on the amphibious floats are extra large and tough, suitable for grass field operation.
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Flying On Your Own Wings
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Chris Heintz, the designer and engineer behind all of Zenith aircraft designs, has written a book subtitled "A complete guide to understanding light airplane design."
Some have said that if God had wanted us to fly, he would have given us wings. And yet, we were given the ability to dream, to think with our heads, to have courage in our hearts, and to build with our hands. Truly, we have been given everything we need to build and fly our very own aircraft!
In the 300 page book, Heintz shares his knowledge of and insights into the art and science of light aircraft design. Basic mathematics, essential aerodynamics and stress analysis are just a few of the chapters of this book, with fascinating personal anecdotes, history and photos throughout.
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"How To" DVD Series from HomebuiltHELP.com
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HomebuiltHelp.com offers a complete "how-to" video library to assist builders with constructing their Zenith kit. While these DVDs don't replace the blueprints and the step-by-step photo assembly guides, they are a very useful reference to Zenith builders while assembling their kit. Complete DVD series covers the STOL CH 750 or STOL CH 701 kit aircraft from start to finish, while additional titles cover popular topics such as instrument panel, engine installation and more.
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For more information from Zenith Aircraft Company
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Info Kit with DVD |
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We'd love to share with you more info about building & flying your own aircraft
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