Starter Kit

Introductory Starter Kit For The First-Time Builder

If you’ve always dreamed of building your own airplane, but aren’t sure that you have the required skills, Zenith Aircraft’s exclusive Rudder Starter Kit is for you. The Starter Kit includes the complete kit for the rudder tail section for the ZODIAC CH 601 (including the ZODIAC XL) or the new Zodiac CH 650, and comes with a detailed and illustrated step-by-step assembly manual – everything you need to get started

Start building your own kit aircraft for just $375!

Developed specifically for the first-time builder, the starter kit costs just $375.00, and includes everything you need to start building your own ZODIAC kit aircraft, including:

  • Complete Rudder Tail Kit
    • Pre-Formed Ribs, Spar, etc.
    • Rivets & Hardware Needed To Assemble The Rudder.
  • Detailed Rudder Assembly Manual
    • Step-By-Step Assembly Instructions
    • Photo Illustrations
    • Required Tools, And How To Use Them
    • Building Tips And Hints
    • Section On Understanding Blue-Prints
    • Detailed Drawings Of The Rudder Parts & Assembly

Building your own kit aircraft is probably on of the most challenging and rewarding things you’ll ever accomplish: imagine, you’ll be flying an aircraft that you’ve built yourself! Few people get the freedom and thrills of flying… even fewer are also rewarded by flying in an airplane that they’ve built themselves. Zenith Aircraft Company can help you realize your dream of building and flying your very own airplane like no other kit manufacturer can.

Assembling the rudder Starter Kit is just a weekend project, and will provide you with an excellent ‘hands-on’ introduction to building your own aircraft. Once you’ve completed the rudder kit, you’ll have the skills and tools to continue with the rest of the ZODIAC CH 601 kit – and you’ll also have part of your aircraft completed. We’ll even deduct the cost of the rudder kit off the price of the complete kit when you’re ready to continue.

Assembling the ZODIAC kit is simple – even for the novice builder. Working from the pre-formed parts supplied by the factory, you simply line up the parts, drill and rivet the parts together. Since this is an all-metal aircraft, there’s no messy doping, gluing or bonding involved.

Metalworking 101 with rudder workshop DVD

Metalworking 101 with rudder workshop is targeted to the novice kit builder. The DVD takes you through the actual construction of a rudder kit, from start to finish.  While it’s a great supplement to the construction manuals supplied with the rudder kit, it is actually intended to demonstrate to the beginning builder just what tasks and skills are required to build your own Zenith kit aircraft.

In addition to the rudder building demonstration,  general metal building procedures are also explained and demonstrated.  Watching the demonstrations and discussions of these topics in this video are clearly the next best thing to attending the actual factory workshop for obtaining this knowledge.

The DVD is over two hours long and provides an excellent introduction to getting started on your own kit.  It’s even produced by an actual STOL CH 701 builder and pilot! (The ZODIAC rudder is very similar to the STOL CH 701 rudder).

  • Click here for full details and to order your copy

You’ll need the following to assemble the Rudder Starter Kit:

"I bought a rudder kit from you guys at the end of May and I thought I might share some of my building experience with you. I was more than impressed with the people of Zenith when I visited the factory, especially the young gentleman who took me for a demo ride in the ZODIAC. "To start the building process, I read the assembly guide twice. Once on the way home from the factory, and once more while actually looking at the parts. I then read the "online rudder assembly manual" and made mental notes of the differences. Then I measured, a lot, cross referencing everything back to the drawings, then the assembly manual, then the drawings again. "Finally, with shaking hands and a lot of coaxing from the better half, the first hole was drilled. Wow, that wasn't so bad...then the next...this is kind-of neat...then the next... As more holes were drilled, the more I became infatuated with the process of building. I was looking forward for this and it was better than I had hoped for. As days passed, and hours ticked away, the rudder took shape. "It is a rudder. "It is JUST a rudder. "Without the whole of the aircraft, it is nothing. "Yet I find myself incredibly proud of its mostly straight rivet lines, its oily finger prints smudged onto its glistening skin, its slight imperfections that make it unique. "I have built a rudder. There is no other rudder in the world like it. I simultaneously stand in awe of my own accomplishment, and in humble gratitude to Zenith for making it possible."

ZODIAC builder Mark Thomas, Wichita, KS