|
This page is
devoted to my construction of the Zodiac
601 XL from Zenith Aircraft
Updates: August
26th 2006
Well, allot has happened in the last couple of
months. I finished the wings, installed the engine and the tail, and as
of today, my panel is installed. To show this, I've created a
brand new Electrical
System page.
Check it out!
Want some
of these pictures in higher quality? My server space is
limited, so I put fairly small pictures (450 X 300 pixels) on these
pages. But I have all of the originals in much higher resolution
(2160 X 1440). If there is a particular picture (or set pictures)
you'd like, let me know! - use the comments box at the bottom of
this page, and tell me which ones you'd like (use the caption to help me
identify it for you), and I'll get them to you.
Project Progress
Important Updates:
| 8/26/2006 |
|
| 5/28/2006 |
My Engine
is
installed! With the tail
installed, the moment of truth has arrived.
N714BH gets her engine. Check
out the Engine
Page
|
| 5/21/2006 |
With the wings done, I went back to work on the
tail. I had to rebuild my rudder due to some
damage the old one took in a hailstorm. It's
amazing how quickly and easily it went together
now that I have a little more skill than the last
time - I think it took me just one
afternoon. So now I'm ready to test fit the
tail . Check out the Tail
section |
| 5/6/2006 |
My wings are done!!!
Now that the temperatures are no longer WAYYYYY
below freezing, I've been able to spend a fair
amount of time out at the hangar, and as a result,
my wings are now DONE! There are lots and lots
of new pictures on the Wings
Page. |
| 3/19/2006 |
Moving Day
As I finished the first wing and started working
on the second one, it occurred to me that I was no
longer going to be able to continue working on my
plane in my garage. While I indeed had a
storage facility that I rented, and kept most of
my completed parts in, after the second wing was
completed I was going to have to install the
engine - which would add another 30+ inches to the
front of the fuselage assembly - which again would
make it very difficult to get it to fit in the
garage. Also living in a typical residential
area, I was concerned that my neighbors might not
appreciate the sound and noise level that an
aircraft engine produces when it came time to fire
it up. As much as it pained me to do it, it
was time to find my airplane a new permanent
home. In other words, I needed to find a
hangar. It took me a while to find available
hangar space that met my needs. First off,
I'm still building, so I will need power to run my
tools. Furthermore, I will need to assemble
my worktable, and take a great number of tools out
there, so it will have to be a hangar that I can
lock up at night. Finally, it's got to be
one where I can run my engine and do taxi-tests
when the time comes. I had to wait for such
a space to come available, but finally this last
week I signed a lease for one of the
"Executive Hangars" out at Meadowlake
Airport (00V), #507, and this last weekend I
moved in. |
| 1/22/2006 |
My Engine
has
Arrived!
After a long series of testing and adjustments by
WW and his crew, about two weeks ago, my engine
was crated up, and shipped to my home in Colorado,
and last week it arrived. I couldn't wait to
open the crate and take a look. I couldn't
have been more pleased with the way it came out.
In a word, that is one SHARP engine! I've
since taken it out of the crate, and taken a great
number of pictures and posted them on the site..
Check them out on the Engine
Page! |
| 10/23/2005 |
I finally made my way down
to place where my plane is stored to test fit the interior -- Man
it looks SHARP! See the Interior
Page for
details
|
| 10/20/2005 |
My Engine LIVES!!
Well, it took a while, but last week I got the
word that my brand new 218 pound, beige and black
colored baby took it's first breath. Read
about it in the Engine
Page for
details |
| 10/15/2005 |
The right wing is almost
done See the Wings
Page for
details
|
| 4/2/2005 |
The Engine work has begun. See the Engine
Page for
details
|
| 3/2/2005 |
The canopy is FINALLY
completed. See the Canopy
Page for
details
|
| 1/5/2005 |
The interior work has
begun. The carpet's been installed, and the side walls have
been insulated See the Interior
Page for
details
|
| 10/30/2004 |
AAAARRRRGGGGHHH! I was all
ready to final-assemble my canopy.... or so I thought. As I
was in the process of fitting the
bubble to the frame, I noticed that the holes no longer lined up.
As I worked to adjust the frame.... SNAP!!! The bubble got a
huge crack which seemed to grow all the way across the top in a
matter of seconds. Needless to say, I'm now looking for a new
canopy bubble. See the Canopy
Page for
details
|
| 6/19/2004 |
The top skins have been installed. This effectively completes the
fuselage portion of the plans. See details in the
Fuselage
section
|
| 6/6/2004 |
The control cables have been installed. See details in the Controls
Page
|
| 3/28/2004 |
The control sticks have been installed. See details in the new Controls
Page
|
| 3/15/2004 |
The fuselage has been disassembled, the parts prepared and they
have been primed
|
| 3/3/2004 |
The Dual Stick finally
arrived - I can finally get started building again! I really
need to start putting my building focus onto controls. So, over
the course of the the next week, I will disassemble all of the
cockpit and upper fuselage parts, debure them and prepare them for
priming. Next weekend, I will set up a paint boot, and apply
Zinc Chromate and grey primer as appropriate.
|
| 1/12/2004 |
Dual Stick order on
hold....Well, I've hit a snag. I called Zenith Aircraft to
find out what's going on with my dual stick order. To make a
long conversation short, they weren't ready to deliver when they
said that their "dual stick option" was ready back in
August. Mine has been on back-order for more than four
months now, and I'm now running out of things I can do. I'm
gonna move onto the next couple of steps, but if I don't get my
order soon, I may be forced to stop building.
|
| 1/2/2004 |
The Baggage floor is
installed, and I decided to put in some improvements over the
plans. See the Fuselage
section for
details
|
| 12/7/2003 |
The forward fuselage is
FINALLY complete. I worked hard the last two weekends painting,
deburring and reassembling - but just aslled the Broncos were
completing their dismantling of Kansas City, I was completing my
reassembly of the forward fuselage - see below, or the Fuselage
section for
details
|
| 11/23/2003 |
Well, I'm again back to
making some decent progress. This weekend, I finally
finished all of the structural work necessary for the cabin.
Now that the cabin area is almost completed, I'm gonna have to
stop building new stuff soon, and take apart the cabin parts for
deburring, painting and reassembly and riveting.
|
| 10/19/2003 |
My crazy traveling schedule
is now complete, and I can get back to important stuff like
building airplanes. Since I got back on Tuesday, I've torn
that engine down completely, have finished the cabin floor (the
messed-up parts arrived while I was gone), I was able to finally
decide on my paint scheme (cream, dark metal-flake burgundy
accented with gold), and got my hands on a couple of quarts of the
lighter color (the cream) and painted both the firewall and the
cabin floor with it this weekend.
|
| 10/16/2003 |
Just got a letter back from
the FAA -the N-Number I requested for this plane has been
reserved. Henceforth, the Zodiac will be known as N714BH.
For those of you wondering the significance of the number, 7-14 is my birthday, and BH are my initials. For those
unfamiliar, an N-Number is the plane's registration number - akin
to a license plate number.
|
| 10/14/2003 |
Picked up the box containing
my wing spar today. While I'm not ready for the wing yet, I
need the center spar section to complete the fuselage.
|
| 9/14/2003 |
The firewall is done (see the Fuselage
section for
details)
|
| 9/11/2003 |
I got my hands on an
engine!! (see the Engine
Page for
details)
|
| 9/8/2003 |
I ordered the controls and
gear kits - I specifically waited to put in this order until they
finished the work on dual-stick option. I spoke to
Nick at Zenith, and asked if I can get a price-break by ordering
the dual-stick kit at the same time as the controls (I told them
they could keep all the Y-Stick hardware -- I obviously didn't
need it) So we'll see what kind of break I'm given. |
| 9/7/2003 |
the rear fuselage is done |
| 8/10/2003 |
the lower fuselage is done |
| 8/2/2003 |
Work on the fuselage has
begun |
| 8/1/2003 |
Elevator completed -- The
tail section is complete!! |
| 7/25/2003 |
Elevator skin completed |
| 7/14/2003 |
Stabilizer completed |
| 6/22/2003 |
Stabilizer
skeleton completed |
| 6/7/2003 |
Rudder complete |
| 5/31/2003 |
Rudder skeleton complete |
| 5/28/2003 |
The fuselage and tail section arrived today - beginning
inventory |
| 5/21/2003 |
Got a call from Zenith Air -
my fuselage and tail kits have finally left the factory - they
should be here next week
Roadway Tracking # 343 670
464 |
(click on the pictures for larger views)
Finished Panel
|
August 2006 -My
Panel is
installed! During the month of August, I worked
on my panel. It was a long tedious process, but I think it
came out pretty well.
|
|
The
Engine is installed:
Here are some pictures of the engine being installed onto the
plane. Yes, that is a come-along. It is attached to the
Hangar's joist girders via cargo straps, then other straps are
cradling the engine itself.
The engine is hoisted out of the crate. |
The plane is wheeled in under the hoist, and the engine is
lowered onto the motor mounts. |
 A
view of the engine on the plane from the front quarter |
 A
view of the engine on the plane from the front |
|
|
The
Tail Section is installed:
Here are some pictures of the new hangar. They really don't
fit on one of the existing pages, so I'm showing them here on the
main page. A careful look behind the fuselage will reveal our
trailer which now also calls the hangar home.
The elevator is installed - note the fuselage saddle |
 A
view of the rudder and elevator assembly |
The rudder cable installation |
|
|
The new Digs:
Here are some pictures of the new hangar. They really don't
fit on one of the existing pages, so I'm showing them here on the
main page. A careful look behind the fuselage will reveal our
trailer which now also calls the hangar home.
The hangar door opening at hangar #507 at Meadowlake Airport 00V
(elev 6874) |
 A view
inside the hangar with the completed left wing and fuselage. |
The worktable re-assembled, leveled and immediately put back to
work |
The finished finished wings on horses in the hangar with the
fuselage |
|
Engine shown from front-right quadrant |
My Engine
has
Arrived!
Jan 22nd 2006
After a long series of testing and adjustments by
WW and his crew, about two weeks ago, my engine
was crated up, and shipped to my home in Colorado,
and last week it arrived. I couldn't wait to
open the crate and take a look. I couldn't
have been more pleased with the way it came out.
In a word, that is one SHARP engine! I've
since taken it out of the crate, and taken a great
number of pictures and posted them on the site..
Check them out on the Engine
Page! |
|
Oct 22-23rd 2005. I finally made my way down
to place where my plane is stored to test fit the interior -- Man it
looks SHARP! See the Interior
Page for
details
The finished interior fitted in-place. Looking rearward
into the cargo area |
The finished interior fitted in-place. Looking into the
plane from the side. |
The finished interior fitted in-place. Looking forward into
controls area |
|
My Engine on William Wynne's test stand |
My Engine LIVES!!
Oct 20th 2005
Well, it took a while, but last week I got the
word that my brand new 218 pound, beige and black
colored baby took it's first breath, and it runs
like a bat out of hell, turing an impressive 3165
RPM's -- SWEET!. Read about it in the Engine
Page for
details |
 Opening
the crate |
5/28/2003 Well the big
box finally arrived today, and I couldn't wait to open it up and
inventory the contents. The crate was huge. It was
almost 10 feet long, 4 feet wide and about 2 1/2 feet tall, and it
weighed in at nearly 300 pounds. I have to admit, I was pretty
impressed with the quality of the crate itself. All plywood
sides, 2X4 frame. I'm planning on hinging the top, and using
it to store parts that I'm not currently working on. |
|
Oct 15-16th 2005 - The right wing is almost
done See the Wings
Page for
details
The wing leading edge skin with the fiberglass tip |
The wing tank |
The wing with skins and wing tip installed |
|
 |
June 9-10th 2005 - The wing
work is finally underway. Over the weekend, I was able to do
the right flap. I was almost disappointed with how easy it
was. There was really nothing to it. It was all very
straightforward, and the instructions and drawings were easy to
understand. See the Wings
Page for
details.
|
The right flap in progress |
 |
April 1-11th 2005 - The engine
work is underway
With the canopy and most of
the fuselage work done, it's time I turned my attention to the
engine.
|
The engine ready for shipment |
 |
March 1st
2005: My canopy is FINALLY completed. It turned out to
be one of the more difficult sections to build, but now that it's
done, I'm genuinely happy with the results.
The fact that this airplane has a bubble canopy
was one of the strong incentives for me to build the 601XL.
After it was completed, I got inside, and closed the hatch, and
for the first time, I could really see what the final cockpit view
will look like - it's every bit as wonderful as I imagined it
would be. See the Canopy
Page for
details
|
The completed canopy |
The interior of the plane is well under way
|
Dec 26th - Jan 5th My
Father in law, Ray, came to our place for a visit. He is a
semi-retired upholsterer, and has graciously volunteered to help
me upholster my plane. So we spent the last week and a
half picking out fabrics, installing carpet, and insulating the
sidewalls. See the Interior
Page for
full details.
|
N714BH in front of the house
|
June 28th
2004. Today I hit a major milestone -N714BH is now on her
gear!!
Now that the gear is on the plane. and it was finally time to
give the first ride. My kids sat in the cockpit, and I
pushed them around the cul de sac. I needed to push the
plane out of the garage so I could have room to disassemble the
worktable. I will continue working on the plane - but for
the remainder of time, it will be on it's gear. This should
make it much easier as the plane is about 8 inches lower, and I no
longer will have to climb up onto the table to reach into the
plane.
After the fuselage is completely done -- i.e. with the
canopy installed, I will push the plane out of the garage, and
bring the table back in while I work on the wings.
|
Notice the work table has been disassembled and removed
|
With the aircraft on its gear - I was now ready to give the
first ride
|
The top fuselage parts
primed and ready for reassembly
|
June 12th-19th I spent the
past week installing the top skins to the fuselage. Because
these parts had previously been cut, drilled, deburred and
painted, it was simply a matter of riveting everything
together. I had to wait until the controls and control
cables were installed before I could do this step. Now that
these have been installed, the fuselage can now be closed in.
See the Fuselage
section for
full details.
|
|
|
June 5-6th 2004 - Over the
weekend, I installed the control cables and the electrical lines
that need go down the length of the fuselage. .
See
details in the Controls
Page
This was last of the series of
steps necessary before I permanently attached the top skins to the
fuselage which I will do over the next week
|
|
The
completed dual-stick controls |
Mar 28th 2004 - My airplane
now has a set of working control sticks. This has the feel
of a major milestone. It really only took me one good
weekend to get them in. You do have to machine a fair number
of parts such as the two control hinge plates, as well as the H.T.
Bellcrank which you essentially have to machine from raw blocks of
aluminum. You also have to machine the uprights as well as
the forward bearing, but at least those came pre-formed. See
details in the new Controls
Page
|
|
 Christmas
in March
|
Mar 24th 2004 - A
couple of weeks ago, I pulled the trigger on the long-awaited
engine parts order. This is the one part of the plane where
I vowed I was only going to get the best. No settling for
"good enough". So I've spent countless hours over
the last several months researching what parts I should purchase,
and today, the first of those parts arrived from UPS with the
parts that I will use for my engine conversion. See
the Engine
Page for
full details.
|
|
 The
top middle skin in progress
|
Feb 22nd 2004 - I worked
on the top-middle skin this weekend. So far, that has been
the most challenging piece to work on. Tying to get the skin
taught on the tube-frames, and then successfully working withe
them to get good rivet lines was a royal pain. To do it, I
had to put the skin on; cleco it down; take a measurement; mark a
location, then take all apart again, lay out the rivet line, then
drill;.... then repeat those steps. It was a constant
exercise of: put it on, take it off; put it on, take it off -- I
started to feel like a stripper. See the Fuselage
section for
full details.
|
|
 Attaching
the rear top skin with my son, Joseph
|
Feb 8th 2004 - I've
started working on the top skins while I wait for the control
sticks to arrive. In this photo, I'm back-drilling holes in
the forward bulkhead into the forward portion of the top-rear
skin. As I drilled each hole, Joseph put in a cleco. We
had to do them in succession to ensure the skin would be taut, so
I was on one side and Joseph on the other.
. See the Fuselage
section for
full details.
|
|
 Seating
supports and seatbelt attachment installed
|
Jan 17th 2004 - I got back
from my first ski trip of the season yesterday to get back to the
building task. I had to skip over section B-17 and jump to
section B-18 because of a problem getting parts from the Zenith
factory.
. See the Fuselage
section for
full details.
|
|
 Fuselage
on its side
|
Jan 4th 2004 - I'm finally
at the point where I need to finish the riveting on the underside
of the fuselage. With the baggage floor in place, the
fuselage is now sufficiently laterally stable so that I was able
to move it onto its side. See the Fuselage
section for
details.
|
|
 Baggage
Floor Complete
|
Jan 2nd 2004 - Over the
last three weeks, I've worked off and on to complete the baggage
floor. I cut the horizontal supports; the baggage floor
itself; deburred the holes; made the necessary cut-outs; applied
zinc chromate to everything; and then re-assembled everything with
rivets. I also took a number of pictures.
See the Fuselage
section for
details.
|
|
 Making
airplane noises
|
Dec 11th 2003 - Well after
more than seven months of building this airplane, I finally have
enough of the fuselage built that today that I was able to do the
one thing that all plane builders look forward to - the day that
we can climb into the fuselage; take hold of that imaginary stick;
put your feet on those pedals that don't actually do anything;
taxi to the end of you favorite runway, and with the help of some
guttural noises from the back of your throat - you take your baby
up into the air.
I've never run a cleaner pattern or made a smoother landing.
|
|
 The
forward fuselage assembly
|
Dec 7th 2003 - Look Ma -
no clecoes!! The forward fuselage is FINALLY done. I
have put on the sidewalls, the supports, the wingspar, cut out the
necessary holes, machined the parts as necessary, filed everything
down, primed all the parts with both zinc chromate and grey
primer, then riveted the entire assembly back together again.
God - that took allot of work! See the Fuselage
section for
details.
|
|
 An
interior view of the cabin assembly
|
Nov 24th 2003 -
The cabin area assembly is FINALLY completed. There must be
250 - 300 clecos being used to hold the entire assembly
together. Between the vertical support members for the wing spar,
the gear supports, the horizontal stiffeners, the longerons, the
wing spar, the rear channel, the wing jig, the cabin floor and on
and on and on, I didn't think I'd ever get it finished. The
good news is this: after all those different pieces were
assembled, the spar is level, the longerons are level, and the
center mark on the firewall is plumb over the fuselage center
line. And now that its all done, I'm gonna take it all apart
over the weekend, and paint it.
|
|
 The
fuselage with forward side skin and wing jig
|
Nov 2nd 2003 -
Over the last two weekends, I got the center section of the
wingspar installed, put in the bulkheads; fitted the forward side
skins, making cutouts for the wing spar insert and the gear
channel, and made my wing jig to fit inside the spar. The
wing jig was allot more work than I envisioned. It took me
most of the weekend to build them. In truth it took me most
of yesterday to fully understand how they needed to be built then,
was able to build them in just a few hours.
|
|
 The
firewall and cabin floor assembly attached to the fuselage
|
Oct 16th 2003 -
The cabin floor and firewall are now painted and complete. (see the Fuselage
section for
details) This is the unveiling of the planes base color
(cream) I wanted to paint the parts that comprise the inside
of the cockpit before assembly. Also note, the fuse is now
sporting its N-Number.
|
|
 The
rear of the firewall completed
|
Sep 14th 2003 -
The firewall is now complete. (see the Fuselage
section for
details) I was able to put in a decent amount of time this
week, and as a result, I was able to do the entire firewall from
start to finish in under a week.
|
|
 Yours
truly riveting the rear fuselage
|
Sep 7th 2003 -
The rear fuselage is now complete. (see the Fuselage
section for
details) I completely disassembled the entire thing; deburred
it; applied zinc chromate; and then reassembled it, and riveted
the whole thing together -- checking for level and plumb the whole
way.
|
|
 The
inner rear fuselage in progress
|
Aug 13th 2003 -
The fuselage progress continues. The sides are going
up. It's starting to look like an airplane!
This is a shot of the inside of the fuselage in
progress. (see the Fuselage
section for
details)
|
|
The
inner rear fuselage in progress
|
Aug 13th 2003 -
The fuselage progress continues. The sides are going
up. It's starting to look like an airplane!
This is a shot of the inside of the fuselage in
progress. (see the Fuselage
section for
details)
|
|
 The
lower fuselage complete
|
Aug 10th 2003 -
The fuselage progress continues. The lower fuselage is
now done. I dissassembled the whole thing, deburred the
holes, applied Zinc Chromate, and have rivetted the whole thing
back together. (see the Fuselage
section for
details)
Next: the sides!
|
|
 The
lower fuselage
|
Aug 5th 2003 -
The fuselage is now in progress. So far I have shaped
the lower fuselage skin, have installed the longerons, the lower
stiffeners, the horizontal tail ribs, and the lower rudder
bearings (see the Fuselage
section for
details) |
|
The elevator complete
|
Aug 1st 2003 -
The elevator is done. This effectively completes the
tail section (see the Tail
section for
details) This part had a number of different cutouts for the
rudder, the trim tab, and the controls. Of these, the most
controversial was the one for the rudder. The plans
originally called for leaving the cut-out unfilled; but after
consulting with a number of people on the Zenith builder threads,
I decided to make some filler ribs. These can be seen in
this photo. Also notice that the trim tab has been
completed, and it has been raised to it's 30-degree upward
deflection. |
|
The elevator in progress
|
July 25th 2003 -
The elevator is essentially done (see the Tail
section for
details) Due to the relative simplicity of this particular part --
the skin provides much of the structural support, it has taken me
little time getting to this stage |
|
The stabilizer completed
|
July 14th 2003 -
(otherwise known as my 40th birthday) - The stabilizer is finally
completed. (see the Tail
section for
details) It took me a bit longer than I anticipated. I had a
number of other projects that kept me out of my workroom.
Plus I just got back from a 10-day vacation up in the high
country. But I was able to get back to it with a vengeance
this weekend, and made some real progress. A sharp eye will
notice that the elevator hinge has been installed, and that the
beginning stages of the elevator are in the background -- Ok, I
admit it, I forgot to take the "completed" picture
before I began work on the elevator. |
|
The stabilizer
skeleton
completed
|
June 22nd 2003 -
The stabilizer skeleton is now completed. (see the Tail
section for
details) Zinc Chromate has been applied to all the parts, and the
entire assembly has bee riveted together. I wanted a little
more strength here than the original plans called for, so I used
all A5 rivets for this assembly as opposed to a mixture of A4s and
A5s |
The completed rudder
|
June 7th 2003 - The work
on the rudder was completed today. (see the Tail
section for
details) I had to adjust the
forward skin to remove a small twist, plus I also cleaned off the
exterior with Methyl Ethyl Ketone (MEK) solvent - Boy does that
stuff work well!! It cleaned off the excess zinc chromate
and sharpie markings like they were nothing. Just don't breath in
the fumes! |
The moment of truth -- making that first cut |
5/31/2003 Well I'm
finally making progress. Today I finished the rudder
skeleton (see the Tail
section for
details) Plus I was so impressed with the construction of
the shipping crate that I put some hinges and hasps on the top,
put some casters on the bottom and then painted and weather-sealed
it. I'm going to use it to store parts that I'm not
currently working on. |
|
Opening
the crate |
5/28/2003 Well the big
box finally arrived today, and I couldn't wait to open it up and
inventory the contents. The crate was huge. It was
almost 10 feet long, 4 feet wide and about 2 1/2 feet tall, and it
weighed in at nearly 300 pounds. I have to admit, I was pretty
impressed with the quality of the crate itself. All plywood
sides, 2X4 frame. I'm planning on hinging the top, and using
it to store parts that I'm not currently working on. |
My Work Bench |
OK - I'll admit it, it may not look like
much, but you don't understand. Anyone who knows me will no-doubt
stare in amazement at how well organized and clean my workbench and
tools appear. |
My Work Table |
So far, I've ordered my plans - these
arrived a few weeks ago, and now I'm just waiting for the fuselage and
tail kits to arrive..... I've past some time by building my work
table. My wife seized the opportunity, and is using it to paint furniture. |
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