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I assisted my father, Don Chapman, in building this aircraft from a kit. He's retired and did most of the metal-bashing and puzzling through the plans. I wasn't around to drive many rivets, so tended to handle the paperwork and purchasing. There was plenty of collaborative work in the later parts of the project where customization is normal -- such as for the engine compartment, instrumentation, and interior
The plane is a Zodiac CH 601 HDS, from the Zenith Aircraft Company (a.k.a. Zenair, the name of the original Canadian company).
The kit was delivered in November 1995, with first flight in August 1999. The initial 25+ test hours were completed by October 1999. Additional work on upgrades to the aircraft continued through the spring & summer of 2000, with the plane being painted at the end of June 2000. We took C-GZDC to Oshkosh AirVenture 2000 for four days. Since we camped with the aircraft, we weren't parked in the main display area, but were down south, past the ultralight area.
Photos for those who have a particular interest in Zenair 601's --
Page 1: General (After the plane first flew)
Page 2a: Construction & design related
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