Very pleased to see this episode, I had owned a 1995 one for 7 years and despite what many people might say, I loved it so much. Very simple, easy to maintain except maybe for the avionics bay and battery location (At least in the earlier models) access was very tight and not very pleasing for the mechanic and avionics guys! Very short and responsive controls and those split flaps can allow you to drop like a rock and lose altitude very fast if needed and also help a lot on very short runways and could pretty much drop the flaps at 100kts. Also, rudder is big and very responsive as well. 25 knots max demonstrated crosswind. Fuel was around 5.7 gal/hr, cruising between 2400-2600 rpm gives 95 -105 knots . The Iraqi army bought them from JAI - Jordan Aerospace Industries in Jordan Amman which is located at Queen Alia's International Airport just outside of Amman. The factory has manufacturing rights from Zenair but they call their variant which is the same airplane (SAMA - CH2000). Sama in Arabic translates into "Sky". The Iraqi army had acquired a lot of the modified variant for patrolling the borders and the oil pipelines due to the very slow speeds the plane could fly at and low operating costs. That variant was equipped with high resolution cameras and sensing equipment. First 2 civilian variant SAMA's from JAI were acquired by the "Mideast Aviation Academy at Marka Airport-Amman" back in 2004 for flight training purposes. They had planned to buy more and replace the Piper Archer 3's they had, cost was attractive but the students didn't really like the plane due to the short and sensitive controls and also due to performance issues. Jordan is extremely hot specially in the summer months and all airplanes struggled with performance as Amman Marka airport is already at 2550 feet elevation!
Great video! Looks familiar to another little 2 seater I saw ads for years back, it had a full FADEC O-235 that had 125 HP, that one, I forget the make/model, but it was stout as well, not much useful load and was expensive I thought at the time, probably because of the FADEC and I usually saw them with (2) Garmin 430s... Ah, the plane I was thinking of was a Liberty Aerospace XL2!
Every day is still a school day. Lovely robust little 'plane. The fuselage to the rear and the cockpit rear reminds me of a Jodel. Looks like if that undercart did get any issues, as long as not too severe, it can be swapped out easily too🤔🤔
These are great planes, very much a certified zenith 601 series plane. It has a 46” wide cabin so it’s 6.5” wider than a Cessna 152. It’s arguably simpler and parts are cheaper since they come from Zenair Canada. I believe they are still made new in South America and mostly used in flight schools down there.
Hey Mark! Great video on an unknown to me aircraft! Can you do videos on the Cessna 404 you have and the P210? Super cool aircraft! Thanks for the best aviation content on RU-vid!!!!
Hello friend, i am using a translator, so i apologize if i do not understand what i write. I have a question, which model was manufactured first? This model or the Piper pa 38?
Maybe 15 years ago there were a couple Alarus (Alari?) at a flight school at Castle Airport. They had Rotax engines which sounded like toys. I'd take a Lycoming or O-200 - or Corvair over a Rotax, personally. This version would be much better.
Placerville, California! How many times I drove right through this town, (in 1970/1980) and the airport, without ever realizing what I was passing by. Thanks Mark!
Thanks! I thought it was a neat effect for this plane. And, you are right. Zeniths won't be voted prettiest girl at the prom, but they are pretty darned capable! - Don the Camera Guy.
I used a technique called tilt shift and then sped up the video. That is the actual plane being taxied, but when the effect is applied, it makes it look like a toy. - Don the Camera Guy.
