The Zenith CH 150 Acro Zenith is a Canadian single-engine, low wing, all-

aluminum Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It has ...

aircraft designed by Chris Heintz and produced by

Zenair Zenair Ltd is a Canadian kit aircraft producer founded by aeronautical engineer Chris Heintz and based in Midland, Ontario. History The company was founded in 1974 when Heintz started to manufacture Zenith kits from his two-car garage. ...

in kit form for amateur construction. The aircraft is intended for

aerobatic Aerobatics is the practice of flying maneuvers involving aircraft attitudes that are not used in conventional passenger-carrying flights. The term is a portmanteau of "aerial" and "acrobatics". Aerobatics are performed in aeroplanes and glid ...

use and was introduced at the Experimental Aircraft Association convention in 1980.

, ''Zenair pamphlet'', circa 1986. The CH 150 is one of only six amateur-built aircraft types specifically approved by

Transport Canada Transport Canada (french: Transports Canada) is the department within the Government of Canada responsible for developing regulations, policies and services of road, rail, marine and air transportation in Canada. It is part of the Transportati ...

for aerobatics, without other restrictions.

Development

After emigrating to Canada and setting up

to sell plans and kits for amateur construction of his

Zenith The zenith (, ) is an imaginary point directly "above" a particular location, on the celestial sphere. "Above" means in the vertical direction (plumb line) opposite to the gravity direction at that location (nadir). The zenith is the "highest" ...

two seat-light aircraft, the German aircraft designer Chris Heintz started design of a smaller, single seat development of the Zenith, the Zenair CH 100 Mono-Zenith. The first CH 100 made its maiden flight on 8 May 1975, powered by a 55 hp (41 kW)

Volkswagen air-cooled engine The Volkswagen air-cooled engine is an air-cooled, gasoline-fuelled, boxer engine with four horizontally opposed cast-iron cylinders, cast aluminum alloy cylinder heads and pistons, magnesium-alloy crankcase, and forged steel crankshaft and co ...

of 1600 cc. Heintz used the Mono-Zenith as a starting point to develop a single-seat aircraft for aerobatic training and competition flying, the resulting aircraft, the CH 150 Acro-Zenith making its maiden flight on 19 May 1980. It was designed to be powered by engines of between 100 and 180 hp (75–134 kW) and had a

tailwheel undercarriage Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynami ...

instead of the nosewheel undercarriage of the earlier aircraft. Zenair continued to produce kits until 1988.Chris Heintz:Light Aircraft Design History
. ''zenair-deutschland.de''. Retrieved 28 February 2010. In a 1983 advertisement Zenair described the design goals of the CH150:

Specifications Zenair CH-150

Notes

References

* Taylor, John W. R. ''Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1982-83''. London:Jane's Yearbooks, 1982. .

External links

{{Zenair 1980s Canadian sport aircraft Homebuilt aircraft CH 150 Single-engined tractor aircraft Low-wing aircraft Aerobatic aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1980

Development

Specifications Zenair CH-150

See also

Notes

References

External links