Zenith Upgrades (Part 1 of 2) 

The Patey brothers have done so much to improve aviation, they deserve an award!

The creative idea of fairings at critical locations is really good. I also appreciate the suggestion of a thicker windshield. Perhaps that is what Zenith include as "standard" equipment in the kit. The bearing and bell crank for the flaperons are simple and effective solutions.

I found it interesting that there are a number of modifications you did that I also did on my 801 during construction, I did not however have access to someone to make the additional bends in the landing gear. I also closed in the rear area and did a similar cover for the windscreen but used the original, I also added vg's under my tail. Probably the largest difference between the two is I used an 8 cylinder Jabiru (#5 off the assembly line) and had Craig Catto make a fixed pitch 3-blade prop to match the engine performance. Wow! what an airplane, I found it impossible to hold with the brakes at about half throttle and would drag the wheels so I let go of the brakes and put full right rudder in as soon as the nosewheel came off the ground in order to keep it going in a straight line! I fully believe I was going up at about 45-50% at takeoff and was accelerating, scared the pants off me the first time I took off, I believe the estimate was somewhere in the 800# of thrust with an airplane that weighed in at 1240#, with 60 gal of fuel and a single 280# pilot. I truly enjoyed building the CH-801 and am sorry that Zenith USA decided to sell it only out of Canada as it is a fantastic airplane with a valuable useful load! I like your paint job, I never did finish my paint scheme before I donated it to the Wisconsin Aviation Academy for the youth to fly. But they sold it to a fellow in Oklahoma. Sort of miss it, but at my age I am best to stay on the ground for now. Thanks and keep up the great builds! Hope to see Scrappy one day. Phil Owens SFC Ret

I know this is an old video, but here it goes! Your N# !!! Very clever . 801MP . Like a personalized license plate. I didn’t know you could do that.

wow!! amazing job on that plane, many of us have learned a lot from you.. I will be using a lot of your ideas. I am a fiberglass fabricator, and jeep builder.

I love the Aircraft upgrades you did.

Thanks for the suggestion, we have been inspecting the mod for the last 400 hours and have seen no cracks. So far, it has proven successfull.

Your video is intoxicating. You address all the necessary improvements that greatly improve the usefulness of this aircraft, I saved your improvements so that I can also improve my 801. Thank you very much.

Zenith is my favorite aircraft company and your plane is beautiful! I am happy to discover your channel today! Sean

Hi Mark, I am very impressed with all mods you made. Would you be interested to do all those mods on my Zenith 801 ?

Of all the vids on iTunes this is my most favorite

Also (as an engineer) I suggest the stainless bolted doubling plates over the gear may have weakened the overall structure, because of the bolt holes which will be creating stress risers in the much larger and stronger gear leg (depending on the design of the sprung gear leg). May I respectfully suggest you remove the plate every 100hr check and inspect for cracks. It may be absolutely fine but thought I had better mention it. Very nice airplane by the way!! :)

Very nice work. Thank you for this video. How can we get that thicker windshield and the fiberglass fairings for the tail and door? Who made them?

Hi i loved the work you've done, just by curiosity are interested to sale ,and how much I'm looking to buy a 801 ,if not interested, to sale how much cost all your upgrades, or better asking how much you charge to do all the modes you did , thanks

Great vid, but not the only turbo io360 801! I turbo'ed the one I built, added about 3 psi at sea level, or 25% more power. Water take off went from over 10 sec. to under 4 sec. I built the engine at superior with low compression pistons, standard heads. The waste gate was adjustable from the cockpit. Yours looks great.

Holy moley, what do you do for a living man? I saw at least two awesome planes AND a big ole RV. I might be somewhat jealous, haha.

We spent well over 100k on our plane, plus our time, however, that is not the norm. You can build them for much less. The beauty of experimental is you can build it with much cheaper engines, avionics, propeller, etc.

That's a rad airplane!

Mark Great mods you did. It has given me a ton of ideas. I would like to know more about the engine and specifically the turbo setup. What turbo are you using, It doesn't appear to be the standard TIO-360 from Lycoming. What kind of a ceiling do you estimate for it? The reason I am asking is I am not finding any good answers from Lycoming, my sales rep there said 10,000 feet max and that just doesn't make much sense to me. I will be mainly flying out of a small strip in Wyoming that is at roughly 8000 so on a hot summer day my density altitude might be 12000+ feet. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Mark do you still have this beauty? also do you know about the straight center wing design? this plane was co designed by Max Tedesco. the design data showed with the original straight center wing and windshield had much less air interruption. I have a copy of the engineering article. FYI. I'm sure you are aware of it.

Hi! It is really a nice engineering all these mods you did on your CH801. Congratulations! I wonder if you can sell drawings of some of these mods and detailed textual descriptions? I've looked at these two videos over a dozen of time, took notes and did some sketches but noting is better then the original. This is the reason I'm asking if you have something availlable? Very best regards from Northern France Sasha B.

Great work Mark! Are any of these mods going to be incorporated by Zenith? Will anyone be offering the fiberglass parts? I'm assuming you made molds for each part? or not? Windscreen source? Strut fairing source? I really enjoy seeing the craftsmanship that you and your brother produce. I'm considering building a Zenith. How much horsepower is the TIO-360 producing? Thank you for sharing this video

Great video. Definitely going for the 801. Whats your take off roll distance roughly and how much did the turbo cost. Very important for me as i will be landing in the bush a lot here in South Africa

--Yes, no constant speed prop because the plane is just too slow to need it. No point in adding the weight and complexity to the plane. However, for the backcountry airstrips we like to fly into the turbo was a must and has added a great deal of safety and satisfaction. --- No the tires are not 8.00x600, that's what comes on the plane stock. These are 8.50x600 they stand much taller and have really smoothed out the landings on river rock.

Very nice!

Looking at building one of these in the near future.

i really want a STOL, been admiring them since i was in High school

This may sound silly to ask this, but would it be possible to add a small turbo prop to this aircraft or no? I had the money this would be my airplane...my other question is what kind of range does this bird? thank you for the band with.

Nice job... Can we try a turbine Engine on this.. And which one would you suggest

I plan on doing all the same mods when I get an81

I’m re engining an 801 and would love to add the boots around the steering rods. Do you have any info on them? Thanks!

Very nice! Super nice!

What did your KIAS changed from and to after your mods combined? The factory says 106 mph stock cruise, but factory figures are worthless.

Did this aircraft come with everything pre-formed or there was some ribs and other stuff u had the make by hand

With all four seats occupied: hows much range can you realistically get? Any baggage compartment?

What did that windshield upgrade cost you?

The tires cost me 2 knots. We used the standard wheels and brakes supplied by Zenith.

Probably seen I a dozen times

Can you let me know more about what you used on your strats to cover them? Is it something I could buy in a hardware store?

How much does the least expensive kit cost ? Model ?

Hi,, i am interested in the 801,,,i live in Canada,, need to find out the cost-$ of the 801kits,, and is there a place in Canada thank you for your help,,, buds

Hi. Do you still have this plane? I saw you had it for sale a while back. If so how much?

This video damn sure bored me to death,...I just ordered a set of plans,.... :=))

How much year does it take and from your experience 1/10 how easy or hard

You hangar floor looks nicer than my kitchen floor...

I just bought a used 801. Where did you get the strut covers. I need some of those.

Absolutely Awesome !

Where did you get your boots for your nose gear control rods? (specific brand and model?)

Your explanations are lucid and your facility is....spotless. Ehhh.....I believe I want to have a baby with your plane.

Why no constant speed prop? Too slow? The "extra large" tires appear to be 8.00x600?

Excellent Can u help me build the same with dual controls please

How long does it take to be a air plain mechanical

what is the other plane in the background?

i am trying to get some one to help me put this together ,do you have any recommendations on who can build this aircraft

💞💖💗💓💜Zenith plane ! ✈

It's a pity Zenair does not finish its aircraft and this is necessary. The crappy Zenair windshield is unforgivable. I love the basic idea, though. I would want full IFR avionics, autopilot, a 200hp DIESEL motor, some frame and wing reinforcing and some bigger tundra tires.

And I will probably add a whole lane ara chute

whats normal cruise speed....i have a 172 e ..gets about 110 mph

You sound like Mark Patey. Are you Mark Patey?

What do u do for a living

Why switch from Zenith to Carbon Cub?

Remember Zenith T.Vs

Tires are worth it

So the flapperon should not flap ...got it ... 😜

No prices mentioned, disappointed.

sorry forgot to say my altitude is roughly 4478 feet

Small business owner

Mastercraft

*get

Mark, do you have any estimation of the speed impact from the big tires? What size/brand are they? Did you use the standard wheels/brakes supplied by Zenith?

She's beautiful! The A/C as well!:)

KOBLR, check out the PBS TP 100, it might work.