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Larry Winger's 601XL Project
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Date: 6-21-2006
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Number of Hours: 0.00
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Manual Reference:
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Brief Description: Demo Flight over the South Bay Area
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Picking an airplane to build has been a real challenge. I'm convinced most airplanes are engineered by 5'8" designers for 5'8" pilots. I happen to be 6'6" which presents problems at both extremes: headroom and legroom. My early choices for a homebuilt included a Cozy Mark IV (composite 4-seater), RV-8 and the Mustang II...but none fit me well at all. The Zenith website has diagrams showing the cabin room on the 601XL (http://www.zenithair.com/zodiac/xl/cabin-xl.html), but by this point I was sure I needed to fly in one to be sure. Lots of web surfing and list posting finally resulted in the name of a CFI in Torrance, CA who was a long-time Delta pilot named Jon Thornburgh. Turns out, Jon is well-known and highly regarded in the ultralight/light sport community. Jon also has access to the first SLSA IFR-equipped 601XL in the US. With Jon in the right seat, we spent nearly one hour flying around the South Bay area of Los Angeles. I was hooked. The views through the bubble canopy were incredible, the plane was responsive and fun to fly, and best of all...I fit. Headroom was no problem, and a small adjustment of the rudder pedals is all that will be needed to make the 601XL my first homebuilt. In addition to our time in the air, Jon easily spent another two hours answering questions and imparting his love of light sport aircraft. (Time: 4.0 hours)
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Jon Thornburgh (right)
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Zamperini Field - Torrance, CA
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