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The Zenair Zodiac CH 640 is a Canadian 
light aircraft
A light aircraft is an aircraft that has a maximum gross takeoff weight of or less.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 308. Aviation Supplies & Academics, 1997.
Light aircraft are used as utility aircraft c ...
that was designed by Chris Heintz Chris Heintz may refer to:
* Chris Heintz (baseball)
* Chris Heintz (aeronautical engineer)
Chris Heintz (21 November 1938 – 30 April 2021) was a French people, French and Canada, Canadian aeronautical engineer, known for his kit aircraft de ...
and is 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 the form of a kit for amateur construction.Vandermeullen, Richard: ''2011 Kit Aircraft Buyer's Guide'', Kitplanes, Volume 28, Number 12, December 2011, page 77. Belvoir Publications.
Design and development
The CH 640 was developed from the two-seattype certified
A type certificate signifies the airworthiness of a particular category of aircraft, according to its manufacturing design (''type design''). It confirms that the aircraft of a new type intended for serial production, is in compliance with applica ...
AMD Alarus
The AMD Alarus CH2000 is a two-seat, fixed tricycle gear general aviation airplane, used primarily for flight training, that was designed by Chris Heintz. It is manufactured by Aircraft Manufacturing and Design Co. in Eastman, Georgia. It is a l ...
, also called the Zenair CH 2000, by increasing the span of the wings and stabilator, to accommodate the larger engine and increase in gross weight. The design was also influenced by the Zenith CH 601 and the Zenair CH 300. The design goals were to produce a simple four-seat aircraft capable of flying cross country flights with full seats.
The CH 640 is a four-seat, low-wing
A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes.
A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...
touring aircraft with tricycle landing gear
Tricycle gear is a type of aircraft undercarriage, or ''landing gear'', arranged in a tricycle fashion. The tricycle arrangement has a single nose wheel in the front, and two or more main wheels slightly aft of the center of gravity. Tricycle g ...
and a single engine in tractor configuration
In aviation, the term tractor configuration refers to an aircraft constructed in the standard configuration with its engine mounted with the propeller in front of it so that the aircraft is "pulled" through the air. Oppositely, the pusher c ...
. It has a standard empty weight of , a gross weight of and an acceptable engine power range of . The recommended engine is the Lycoming O-360
The Lycoming O-360 is a family of four-cylinder, direct-drive, horizontally opposed, air-cooled, piston aircraft engines. Engines in the O-360 series produce between 145 and 225 horsepower (109 to 168 kW), with the basic O-360 produc ...
of .
The aircraft is made from 6061-T6 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 ...
. Its span wing is a cantilever structure and is equipped with flaps. The wide cabin is accessed via two gull-winged doors. The construction time from the factory-supplied standard kit is estimated at 1250 hours to complete and the quick-build kit at 750 hours. In 2011 the kit cost US$
The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
28,995, while finishing a completed aircraft was estimated to cost between US$45,000 to $99,000, depending on options, engine and avionics installed. In December 2011 there were 50 completed and flying.
Operational history
In evaluating the CH 640 AeroNews Network said, "It's a tremendously stable little airplane and a fair amount faster than what you might think."Specifications (CH 640)
References
External links
* {{Zenair Homebuilt aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Low-wing aircraft Zenair aircraft