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Jims Web Site
Welcome to my web site. I hope to add construction details on a fairly regular basis. Since I am retired, I can probably devote more time to the project than if I were not. Hopefully, this will mean a fairly reasonable rate of progress. I noted somewhere that Zenith predicts a 450 hour airframe construction for an inexperienced builder. This will be my first kit, although I have some background with aircraft, holding an A&P and IA. It will be interesting to see how my time compares with their estimate. One thing is certain: when the airframe is done, there is still avionics to be installed, paint or trim, an engine overhaul (I have a runout O200) and installation, plus flight test. It's going to take at least 450 hours, and probably a lot more. Construction of this aircraft started in my head, perhaps as much as a year and a half ago (April, 2007). I finally talked myself into the project, and picked up the kit on November 14, 2008. Actual construction began four days later. While I will do a degree of personalization, I will likely stay reasonably close to the tried and proven. I do hope to do some weight reduction, perhaps by using trim rather than full paint, etc etc. ========================================================== Feb 19, 2010 It's a darned good thing I haven't been quoting a completion date. While I was out of town in early November, I learned that the FAA had mandated that Zenith make improvements to the design. Zenith had published some draft drawings showing the improvements. Since these impacted almost everything I had already done, it was clear there would be a lot of disassembly and rework. There was a very optimistic "we'll have the mods ready in about a week" statement. I looked at the draft drawings, and (based on past experience) figured we were looking at a month or more to check the mods on an existing small aircraft, and to finalize the drawings. The modification kit arrived in early February, and I'm head over heels involved in changing things. One of the reasons I bought this kit was that it didn't require bucked rivets. Guess what? The modification requires bucking rivets. I have only the loosest guess as to when I'll be back on track. We shall see.
Recent Activity
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