A while back Christopher Ward attended a Zenith Aircraft workshop, where he built a rudder. He then purchased a CH 750 Cruzer kit. He also talked the factory into hosting a workshop that would focus on building the horizontal stabilizer and elevator sections of his kit.
In a salute to the One Week Wonder (where a complete Zenith Kit was assembled in just seven days at AirVenture 2014) he brought some members of EAA Chapter 429 in Jefferson City, Mo., to help with the construction.
There were five people working on a Thursday and six on a Friday. Over the two days, the builders — some who were experienced, some who were pulling rivets for the first time — were able to complete the assembly of the elevator and stabilizer.
“In the end, all agreed that it was a beneficial and enlightening experience,” said Sebastien Heintz, president of Zenith Aircraft. “The work progressed smoothly and was completed with a level of craftsmanship that they could all be proud of. Importantly, they all had a lot of fun working on the airplane together.”
As a result of the successful experience at the factory, Heintz has decided to do it again, making it available to more builders.
Starting with the next two-day factory workshop, on Feb. 5-6, building a horizontal tail kit will be added to the list of activities.
For the past 20 years, the Zenith Aircraft Company has held two-day workshops at the factory that focused on assembling a rudder for the purpose of acquiring the skills needed to complete an all metal aircraft. Hundreds of people have attended those workshops and many have gone on to build a complete aircraft.