In his spare time, Heintz began to design and build his own aircraft, which he named the ZENITH, anagram of Heintz. Being an engineer and not a craftsman, his all-metal homebuilt aircraft incorporated simple construction methods throughout. After a little more than a year’s work, the two-place low-wing Zenith was rolled out and successfully flown in 1969. Soon after, detailed blueprints and construction manuals of the aircraft were drawn up and offered to the growing number of interested builders and flyers.
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In 1973, Chris Heintz, his family and the Zenith moved to North America, where Heintz worked for de Havilland (in Toronto) as a stress engineer on the Dash 7 commuter. Chris decided to form his own aircraft company in 1974, and under the name of Zenair Limited. started to manufacture Zenith kits himself from his own two-car garage.
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In 1992, Heintz licensed kit manufacturing and marketing rights to Zenith Aircraft Company for the STOL CH 701 and the ZODIAC CH 601 designs. Zenith hasn't stopped building these aircraft since and with time, has greatly developed the quality of kits. Zenith now also builds the CH 650 & CH 750 series.
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"Pilots around the world owe a debt of gratitude to Chris Heintz whose creative engineering genius has produced the most affordable all metal production aircraft, with the largest cabin of any two seat FAA type certificated airplane on the market today. No other airplane in the world offers so much strength, stability, comfort, or operating economy. Chris Heintz has made a significant contribution towards preserving affordable airplane ownership while ensuring durable cost efficient flight training aircraft of the 21st century."
- Recreational Airplane Pilot, by Edwin Quinlan, Aviators Publishing, 1999. |
With a career-long dedication to aviation, Chris Heintz is a past recipient of the EAA’s coveted Dr. August Raspet Memorial Award "for outstanding contribution to the advancement of the design of light aircraft," and his designs have been honored with numerous awards around the world. In 1995 the Federation Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) awarded Zenair Ltd. the prestigious Honorary Group Diploma for "greatly contributing to the progress of aviation" and Chris Heintz was inducted into the EAA "Hall of Fame" in 1999.
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Chris Heintz does not only design, test and promote aircraft, he is also actively involved in all facets of general aviation as a long-time EAA member, frequently giving lectures and forums at chapter meetings and fly-ins. Heintz is also a sought-after light aircraft engineering consultant, consulting to governments, organizations, universities, and private individuals. A leading authority on light aircraft design and market direction, Heintz has worked closely with aviation authorities and organizations in developing new aircraft regulations and has been actively involved in promoting aviation (and industry) in developing countries.
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Designer Chris Heintz was awarded the LAMA (Light Aircraft Manufacturers' Assoc.) / KITPLANES magazine 2001 PRESIDENT'S AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING INDIVIDUAL at Oshkosh AirVenture on July 24, 2001. He was selected by his peers (aircraft designers and manufacturers) for this prestigious award from the Light Aircraft Manufacturer's Assoc. The award was presented to Chris Heintz by LAMA president Larry Burke and KITPLANES magazine editor Dave Martin.
Graphic: Chris Heintz design history
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