The Zenair Zodiac CH 640 is a Canadian

light aircraft A light aircraft is an aircraft that has a Maximum Takeoff Weight, maximum gross takeoff weight of or less.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 308. Aviation Supplies & Academics, 1997. Light aircraft are use ...

that was designed by Chris Heintz 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. Zenith CH-640

Design and development

The CH 640 was developed from the two-seat

type certified A type certificate signifies the airworthiness of a particular category of aircraft, according to its manufacturing design (''type design''). Certification confirms that the aircraft of a new type intended for serial production is in compliance w ...

AMD Alarus The CH 2000 Trainer is a single-engine, fixed gear, low wing monoplane of all metal construction. It has two place side by side seating with dual flight controls, and a forty pound baggage capacity. The Alarus features Garmin avionics and a cab ...

, 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 The Zodiac is a family of Canada, Canadian all-metal, two-seat, fixed landing gear airplanes that first flew in 1984. The aircraft have been produced as kits and completed aircraft by Zenair in Canada and Zenith Aircraft Company in the US. ...

and the

Zenair CH 300 The Zenair Tri-Z CH 300 is a three-seat Canada, Canadian homebuilt light aircraft. A single-engined low-winged monoplane, the CH 300 first flew in 1977, with several hundred kits sold. Development and design The CH 300 is an enlarged three-sea ...

. 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 wings. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing config ...

touring aircraft with

tricycle landing gear Tricycle gear is a type of aircraft undercarriage, or ''landing gear'', that is arranged in a tricycle fashion. The tricycle arrangement has one or more nose wheels in a single front undercarriage and two or more main wheels slightly aft of th ...

and a single engine in

tractor configuration In aviation, a tractor configuration is a propeller-driven fixed-wing aircraft with its engine mounted with the propeller in front, so that the aircraft is "pulled" through the air. This is the usual configuration; the pusher configuration ...

. 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 , with the basic O-360 producing . The engine family has been installed in ...

of . The aircraft is made from 6061-T6

aluminum Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium 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 (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

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