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Thread: EAA staff Zenith 750 project

  1. #1
    Chad Jensen's Avatar
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    EAA staff Zenith 750 project

    The EAA staff build of a Zenith 750 STOL kit is underway! This past Saturday, 15 staffers spent the day working on three different rudders as Sebastian and Roger from Zenith watched over our progress. They brought us three rudder kits to build as a part of the opening day kickoff of our project, and I'm happy to report that all three rudders were completed in a matter of hours!

    I have almost 40 people interested in helping build from the EAA staff, and a goal of Memorial Day weekend 2013 as a completion date. I'll use this thread as a "build log" as we work our way through an ELSA version of the 750.

    Special thanks to Sebastian and Zenith Aircraft for the generous donation of the 750 to EAA for us to build, and eventually put in to the EAA Employee flying club!

    Pics!

    The kit just after being unloaded-

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    Our workshop corner in the EAA Weeks hangar-

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    Looking down the workbench that will be used for major assemblies-

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    While we only need one, we built three!

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    Chad Jensen
    EAA #755575

  2. #2
    CarlOrton's Avatar
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    Thanks for posting, Chad; will be great to see this site used as the build log.

    Carl Orton
    Sonex #1170 / Zenith 750 Cruzer
    http://mykitlog.com/corton

  3. #3

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    Quote Originally Posted by CarlOrton View Post
    Thanks for posting, Chad; will be great to see this site used as the build log.
    A build log is nice but why not make this a story each month or every other month in sport aviation magazine? This is exactly the type of content people on here have been asking to see in the magazine.

    Keith

  4. #4
    CarlOrton's Avatar
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    Fully agree with Keith.

    Carl Orton
    Sonex #1170 / Zenith 750 Cruzer
    http://mykitlog.com/corton

  5. #5
    Chad Jensen's Avatar
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    Exactly what we intend to do guys. We will have photo and video covering build sessions and we will write about it for SA and Experimenter. I will also be doing a blog starting in a week or two. It will be much more than just this thread.
    Chad Jensen
    EAA #755575

  6. #6
    Eric Witherspoon's Avatar
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    But to keep this thread fresh, maybe a monthly pop here w/ link to the blog & other data that emerges (articles, etc.). Or if monthly doesn't show enough visible progress (I know it doesn't on my project - last 4 months the structure looks the same, but the clecoes are turning different colors as I drill it out...), maybe just pop in here when there's a "big difference" to show / write about. My interest is that I've been asked to TC for a CH750 project, but my experience is in a couple of other blind-riveted designs. So I'll be looking for CH750-specifics - how's it different... What do you have to look out for / do here that you didn't on the Sonex.

    Another random thought - lately I've considered that project documentation can be as much its own hobby as getting the work done. (Not to mention the other hobby-within-homebuilding - tool collecting...)
    Murphy's 13th: Every solution breeds new problems...

    http://www.spoonworld.com

  7. #7
    Green Goggles's Avatar
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    I was thrilled when I saw EAA staff would be building a CH 750. That airplane is at the top of my "to do" list. This is great! I will be anxiously awaiting each update, both here and in the magazines.

    One question:
    How/why did EAA decide which airplane to construct?
    I am curious how the selection process worked and what qualities made the CH 750 win-out over all others.

    Edit: Reviewing the first post, I see the aircraft was a donation. Cool, even better. Name:  cheers2.gif
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  8. #8
    Chad Jensen's Avatar
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    Hey Green,

    Beyond the donation of a kit, we were looking at building an ELSA to eliminate choices among a group of builders, but still get the full build experience. That left two choices, Zenith 750 and RV-12 as they have SLSA versions. While Van's made an attractive offer, the 750 was donated, and that's how we ended up with it. Both are fantastic airplanes, and the choice would have come down to a vote of preference between low and high wing I think if both offered donations.

    Thanks for checking in! We build again tonight!
    Chad Jensen
    EAA #755575

  9. #9

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    This is great. I will be following the progress.

  10. #10
    Chad Jensen's Avatar
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    We've had a few build sessions since the launch party, and the tail group is coming along nicely! I've had a few new faces at each session so the total count of staff involved is now well over 20. Last night we finished the initial drilling on the horizontal stabilizer, and worked on a few smaller pieces of the elevator.

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    Saturday we should be riveting the HS together!
    Chad Jensen
    EAA #755575

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