Building Zenith CH-650

[Bunkie]

After almost a year of doing the "spin-the-wheel-to-decide-on-a-kit" game (complete with two "missions" to Oshkosh to make up my mind), I ordered the plans, toolkit and rudder kit for a Zenith CH-650. The plans came yesterday, I'm expecting the tools and rudder kit today.

The journey begins...

[wyoranch]

Congratulations on getting started. Provide lots of details as I am about to do the same thing. I had been bouncing back and forth between buying a certified a/c and a kit and decided to go with the 650 as well
Rick

[Frank Giger]

Hurray!

Please, please show us your work as it goes!

Not only will it be an invaluable service to the building community, but it will help you by showing your work for comment. I saved myself a lot of trouble by having people tell me what I was doing wrong (and better ways of doing things).

[Bob H]

If you do not have aircraft building experience to know right from wrong, I would strongly suggest taking an EAA weekend workshop on metal aircraft structural assembly to gain sufficient knowledge to do the work correctly. i recently purchased a partially completed Zenith 701 project and spent several months correcting mistakes of the previous builder who did not have aircraft experience and made many minor errors like not deburring enough and leavng sharp cornered cutouts with rough edges and riveting e/d errors.

[CarlOrton]

I see you identify as living in the city. That covers 5 boroughs, so are you in an apartment or in a house with a garage, or building at an airport? Just curious because proximity to your kit has a big effect on your ability to stay "connected" to your project and progress.

[Bunkie]

Yes, I live in New York City. My wife and I share a studio apartment that is smaller than the average garage. But we have a house in Northeast Pennsylvania to which we escape on weekends and, that Is where my project is located.

I have a lot of experience building things, albeit not from sheet metal. I did several renovations on our house including the kitchen where I built the entire set of cabinets from scratch. I was also a Habitat for Humanity volunteer. I realize that this is, in many ways, different from working with sheet metal, but the experience taught me a lot about patience, analysis and attention to detail.

I did take the sheet metal workshop at Oshkosh last summer, so I did get my feet wet.

[Bunkie]

Construction of the rudder began yesterday. I ordered the complete tool kit from Zenith which includes an air drill. This necessitated the purchase of a more robust compressor as my little pancake unit just wasn't up to the task. So, on Saturday, it was off to Harbor Freight to get a more substantial unit. The nearest HF is about 50 miles from my house, and my wife and I had a "shopping day". She loves HF as she is an artist who is moving from traditional painting to more adventurous sculptures in interesting media. On Sunday, I finally had the time to get started. In four hours, I completed the assembly of the rib structure. I made only one mistake, positioning one of the ribs in the wrong location, but it was quickly rectified. The tool kit came with a pneumatic rivet puller and I could not be happier with its operation. It seats the rivets quickly and consistently.

I also downloaded KitLog Pro to document the build. At some point, I want to create a blog to share my progress.

[Bunkie]

Well, I had a bad moment. I'm currently building in the family room of our weekend house which is where we also have our laundry. My wife discovered some foreign, airplane-related debris in her clean laundry and read me the riot act: No more use of that space for my various construction hobbies. So, the aircraft is on hold while I embark on a project to build a workshop/garage. I'm going to try very hard to get this done before winter sets in.

Also, I created a blog for my build: www.mykitlog.com/bunkie (http://www.mykitlog.com/bunkie)

[bps]

Expect to start a 650 in the next few months after checking some things out in DeLand. Glad to hear others are starting 650's!

[SamP]

I've been looking at the 650 as well as the Sonex. Did you have the same thoughts? What made you go in this direction?

[Bunkie]

Hi Sam,

Yeah, I looked long and hard at the Sonex. The new B model addressed a lot of my concerns (mostly a bigger panel). In the end, it's almost too close to call. I think the deciding factor is that I wanted to use a Corvair for power and that road is well-travelled in the Zenith world. Another consideration is that if I decide I don't want a non-standard engine, the 650 supports both the O-200 and 0-235. I don't expect to make a final engine choice for a while and, frankly, it may have a lot to do with whatever comes my way.

Both aircraft are really great choices with strong support from both the factory and user communities.

I was at Oshkosh and was really smitten by the Sabrewing, a really beautiful airplane. I really wanted to build that one but as this is my first airplane, I was reluctant to be a pioneer.

[Bunkie]

I finally got started on the garage this weekend, by beginning the to lay out the foundation beams. I'm hoping to complete that and build the floor structure within the next couple of weekends, weather permitting.

[bps]

I had a change in plans and ended up buying a built 601xlb. Still might want to build another, probably a 750 Cruzer. Good luck with the 650 builds

[Bunkie]

Good luck with the 601xlb! I was, initially, looking at buying a built 601/650.

I can certainly understand. realistically, my airplane is three years from flying, which is a good-sized chunk of my remaining flying years. I love building, it's so much fun. But if I want to fly, well, I might end up buying an airplane as well...

[bps]

I still want to build another one. Now I can fly while I start a new build. Just have to save up some more for a kit...

[Scooper]

Welcome to the tribe. I bought a 601XL quick build kit in 2006, and after the structural mod kit came out I purchased it and the newer canopy mod kit, but lost my enthusiasm to build and decided to buy a gently used 2008 AMD 601XLi-B last year so I could get flying. These are really great airplanes; they're fun to fly and are probably the most carefully vetted LSA design out there. I recently went through the process of changing the certification from S-LSA to E-LSA and took the Rainbow Aviation LSA Repairman - Inspection course, and can now maintain my airplane and perform the annual condition inspections.

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d7/k4drd/Airplanes/N601KE/N601KE%20front%20left%20quarter%20sm_zpseesvnloq.j pg

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d7/k4drd/Airplanes/N601KE/N601KE%20Climbing%20Over%20Lake%20Berryessa_zpsklu lwmfu.jpg

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d7/k4drd/Airplanes/N601KE/Golden%20Gate%20Bridge%201k_zpsdnn5qchk.jpg

[Bunkie]

Very nice! What engine are you running?

[Scooper]

Very nice! What engine are you running?

Continental O-200-A. It's basically the same engine I had on my '66 C-150 back in the day.

[bps]

REALLY enjoying the 601 so far, and very happy to be currently flying. But I was out of flying for about 5 years, so I'd probably love anything that got me off the ground. Your AMD looks great, and I do wish I had an ELSA, as I've already taken the 16 hour course. I do have an A&P that's easy to work with on my inspection, though.

[Scooper]

REALLY enjoying the 601 so far, and very happy to be currently flying. But I was out of flying for about 5 years, so I'd probably love anything that got me off the ground. Your AMD looks great, and I do wish I had an ELSA, as I've already taken the 16 hour course. I do have an A&P that's easy to work with on my inspection, though.

I had Brian Carpenter, the A&P/IA and DAR at Rainbow perform the inspection and do the S-LSA to E-LSA certification change paperwork. It cost $475, but will easily be worth it in the long run as I can now do my own maintenance, and after the conversion I took the 16 hour class and got my repairman-inspection certificate so I can perform my own condition inspections. The S-LSA to E-LSA change was pretty painless, and it didn't affect my insurance premium at all.