Zenith Aircraft Company is a designer, developer and manufacturer of

kit aircraft Homebuilt aircraft, also known as amateur-built aircraft or kit planes, are constructed by persons for whom this is not a professional activity. These aircraft may be constructed from "scratch", from plans, or from assembly kits.Armstrong, Kenn ...

History

The independent, privately owned company was formed in 1992 in

Mexico, Missouri Mexico, formerly known as New Mexico, is a city in and the county seat of Audrain County, Missouri, United States. It is home to the Missouri Military Academy and annually hosts the Miss Missouri Pageant. The city's population was 11,469 at the ...

, and is based in 20,000+ sq. ft. production facilities at Mexico Memorial Airport. Zenith Aircraft Company has acquired the rights to manufacture and market Zenair kit aircraft designs from designer Chris Heintz of Zenair Ltd. His son Sebastian is listed as the owner of Zenith Aircraft Company. Kit designs manufactured by the company include the original two-seat STOL CH 701, a high-wing all-metal short take-off and landing design, the larger STOL CH 801 four-place aircraft, the STOL CH 750 light sport utility kit airplane, and the two-seat CH 650, an all-metal low-wing cruiser. Other than the 801, these designs may be built to meet the FAA's

light-sport aircraft A light-sport aircraft (LSA), or light sport aircraft, is a category of small, lightweight aircraft that are simple to fly. LSAs tend to be heavier and more sophisticated than ultralight (aka "microlight") aircraft, but LSA restrictions on weigh ...

(LSA) definition for operation by Sport Pilots. In February 2014, the company announced that it had shipped 10,000 sets of plans to aircraft builders in over 50 countries. In January 2016, Zenith Aircraft announced that it had purchased the intellectual property including the Sam LS design previously produced by Sam Aircraft, and was planning to produce kits alongside the existing Chris Heintz designs.Zenith Aircraft Company
SAM Aircraft Acquired by Zenith / Zenair
retrieved 19 February 2016

Aircraft

* Zenith STOL CH701 * Zenith STOL CH 750

References

External links

* {{authority control Aircraft manufacturers of the United States 1992 establishments in Missouri American companies established in 1992 Manufacturing companies established in 1992 Manufacturing companies based in Missouri Mexico, Missouri