Zenith’s Sebastian Heintz and Roger Dubbert Head to Canada to fly the SAM Aircraft

When the Zenith and Zenair companies join forces to acquire the SAM Aircraft and its production rights, the prototype aircraft ended up at the Zenair location in Midland, Ontario, Canada. It was decided that the Mexico, MO based Zenith guys needed to evaluate the new airplane, and Zenith owner, Sebastien Heintz tells the story on the Zenith Builder’s Blog. Here is an abridged version of what Sebastian wrote on the blog. The full details, pictures, and videos are provided on the link at the end of the story.

Sebastien Heintz writes, “Since announcing that we'd purchased the assets of SAM Aircraft earlier this year, Zenith Aircraft demo pilot Roger Dubbert and I recently traveled to Zenair Ltd. in Midland, Ontario, Canada to fly the prototype aircraft (that my brother Nicholas had previously flown back from Quebec). The purpose of the visit was to fly the aircraft and to have a better look at its construction, configuration and overall appearance and continue on with the discussion of when and how to integrate this outside design into the Zenith line-up of aircraft.

“It turned out we picked the coldest weekend of the year (so far) to visit, with temperatures ranging from -25 degrees Celsius to well below -30 degrees Celsius (on the ground!), and conditions ranging from clear blue skies to blizzards with low ceilings (all in the same hour).”

Sebastian explains that the prototype was used for all the original flight tests. It's configured as the Light Sport model with the 100-hp Rotax 912 ULS engine and ground-adjustable Sensenich propeller. It has a gross weight of 1,320 lbs. and a 28.5 foot wingspan. It's configured to be piloted from the front seat with dual controls in the back but not rear seat instruments.

Sebastian commented that it was easy to get in the airplane and that the cockpit was surprisingly roomy. He also remarks on the canopy as being very sporty and providing great visibility, and he said the controls were well-placed.

Sebastian continued, “One of the first things I noticed when seated in the airplane was that I was a couple of feet higher above the ground (than what I'm used to), giving the impression I was in a bigger airplane, and giving me excellent visibility over the wings and around the airplane. The nosewheel is steerable with a steering dampener (as opposed to direct linkage with Zeniths) and allows for nice tight turns with minimal need for brakes (the effective toe brakes allow for differential braking).

“We started the take-off roll with the stick pulled mainly back, lightening the back pressure as nose started to rise, and maintaining a gentle nose-up attitude until gentle lift off at around 60 mph, using about 300-400 feet (gross weight, cold day but snowy runway). Once airborne we continued with a gentle climb, allowing airspeed to pick up to about 90 mph, climbing at approximately 750 fpm (at 5,500 rpm on the Rotax 912 ULS engine). This is a much flatter climb angle than we're used to in Zeniths, giving us excellent over-the-nose visibility.

“Leveling off, we remarked on the good pitch stability (not too sensitive at all) and noticed very little adverse yaw and balanced control forces that are not heavy at all but also quite responsive. The rudder forces are responsive and quite light in steep turns (compared to Zenith) and we continued to notice the excellent visibility. Sitting up high above the wing and relatively forward (in the front seat) yields surprisingly great visibility! In level flight and keeping the engine rpm at 5500 indicated a cruise speed of about 125 mph.”

Sebastian said about the landing, “With full flaps down we approached at about 70 mph, with good forward visibility and good directional control (we were a little fast since it’s such a clean airplane...). Maintaining a slight nose-up attitude over the numbers at the end of the runway and the SAM Aircraft plane lands itself at approx. 55 mph (like most low wing airplanes the aircraft lands itself once it's in ground affect, without the tendency to float too much, even in the very dense cold air). The airplane maintains adequate control at low speeds and is not too sensitive, and demonstrated good cross-wind handling capability.”

Sebastian summarize their experienced by saying, “We both really liked flying this prototype aircraft! It was fun to fly, with good performance and nice handing, and fun even in the back seat. While we've become accustomed to flying Zenith airplanes (and love their features and characteristics) we had a lot of fun with this very unique (to us) design and look forward to flying it more. I think it has the potential to be a very capable light aircraft, and is unique in many aspects, and will make a welcome new design, not only to the Zenith line-up, but to the light kit industry in general.”

(Images furnished by Zenith. Top: Sebastien and Brother Nicholas with the SAM. Below: Roger in front and Sebastien in back…Cold but fun!)

FMI: Source