My Zenair Super Zodiac kit arrived on 10-1-96 in a 4 foot by 4 foot by 9 foot box. That was a night I will not soon forget. As one would expect things didn't go 100% smoothly. There were problems with the trailer I intended to use to transport the craft from the Roadway terminal to my garage. We decided to put the crate into the back of a friend's truck instead. When we arrived at Roadway we found that the crate was wider than we had expected and would JUST fit between the toolboxes along the sides of the truck bed. Because the crate was sitting so tightly in the truck we removed the top and unloaded the crate. After the crate had been emptied it was disassembled to ease removal from the truck. I'd like to thank my seven friends who helped me that night, it would have taken me all night to unload the plane myself.
Due to an out of town wedding and the time it took me to inventory the many parts I didn't begin construction until 10-8-96. Most of the parts were labeled, but there were a couple mystery parts that I had to identify later. Almost every part is labeled and then wrapped in paper for shipping. This requires unwrapping the part, finding it on the inventory sheets, and then re-wrapping the part for storage until it is needed. This is an amazingly time consuming process that could be elliminated if Zenair would put labels on the wrapping paper. Some of the larger sheets are difficult to handle alone and it would be nice to just leave them wrapped until needed.
Construction began with the left wing. Here is a picture of
the ailerons being constructed:
Some wing skin stiffeners, and the wing rear spar (rear zee)
are manufactured before construction of the wing skeleton. Once
the wing skeleton is together your 4 foot by 8 foot work table is
pretty much used up so it pays to make these small parts first.
Here is a picture of the left wing skeleton: 
The "parts" supplied by Zenith Aircraft Company
generally do not have any of the holes drilled (an exception
being the pilot holes in the wing skins). After rivet holes have
been drilled parts are fastened with temporary fasteners called
clecoes (the copper things in the picture below). Parts are then
unfastened, deburred, and riveted into place. Here is a picture
of one of the wing skins being drilled and then clecoed to the
wing skeleton: 
On 11-9-96 I completed the first wing (yes!). I'll include pictures when I get the next role developed. I have been generally happy with the quality of parts received from Zenith Aircraft Company. My only suggestion to them would be to label the larger wrapped parts on the wrapper as well as the part. The answer to the question "How good are the plans?" varies depending on which model of the Zodiac you build (e-mail me if you really want my opinion).
On 12/7/96 I took my film containing the remaining wing photos to the photo shop, only to find out the roll was blank. Sorry, no more wing photos as I've completed both wings. After over 150 hours the wings have been completed and the firewall and gear ribs are ready for installation. Construction of the rear fuselage has begun. Hopefully, the pictures will turn out this time!
2/21/97 Just got back the next batch of photos. The camera was
properly loaded this time. I have completed outboard wings,
center wing, and rear fuselage bottom and sides after
approximately 300 hours of work. Now I am building up the sides
of the cockpit area and installing the control systems. Enough
words, here are more pictures: 
Compressing the bungees on the main gair:
Finished main gear:
Attaching the rear fuselage to the center wing:
Added the firewall:
The intrument panel and some more supports are added:
First fitting of the fuselage side skins before all the
supports have been added.
Adding some supporting structure to the side skins.
10/11/97 It has been a year now. I have spent four months out ot town this year leaving me only eight months for plane building. Current status on the plane isn't much different from the picture above except that I have joined the bottom & side skins, added the many L's and gussets to the fuselage sides, and de-burred everything. I'm now ready to rivet the bulk of the fuselage. Only ten steps left in the sequence manual (top skin installation), engine, instruments, controls & finish work still to come. A local fellow builder was right when he told me not to underestimate the effort in these fuselage sideds.
11/1/97 Making slow but steady progress. The following picture directly from my camcorder shows the current state of the plane with 5 steps left in the sequence manual.
2-15-98 I finally got the next roll of pictures developed. Currently the structure is mostly complete. I have to attach the horizontal tail assembly to the fuselage and add a few misc. parts to the underside of the fuselage. Getting ready to start on the engine and instruments.
8/21/1998 I got some more pictures. Work has been
slowed somewhat by the oppressive heat in my garage. It's about
100 F out there. I've been concentrating on the instrument
panel which I can work on in my air-conditioned sunroom.
July 1999. The structure of the plane is complete, minus the canopy. All that remains now is to fit the wings, adjust the controls, paint, install interior, and build the canopy. So yes, I'm 90% done with 90% to go. Here are some more recent pictures showing the engine installation. The engine is a Stratus Subaru EA81, 100hp. I opted for the dual ignition. I've been very happy so far with the engine and my dealings with Stratus. I now have over 600 hours into this plane. I'm hoping to finish in another 200 hours.
The fully working instrument panel.
There wasn't quite enough space on the firewall for the battery so I placed it behind the seat. The orange box is my ELT.
April, 2000. The canopy is finally completed. I have made some progress on the cowling as well. Unfortunately, the cowling provided by Zenith doesn't fit very well and actually leaves a huge gap at the top. I am looking at having to cut the cowling and add another piece. I think this cowling is the same as the Rotax 912 cowling with some bumps sent along. There are marks where you are supposed to cut holes for the bumps. These marks aren't in the correct place. Also, the lips on the bumps don't conform at all to the cowling which is why I had to make the radial cuts you see below. Three and a half years after beginning this journey I don't have far to go once I get past this cowling problem.
December 2001. After trying to fix the cowling that was grossly mismarked by Zenith we have had to start from scratch on a new cowling. This time we are glassing the various pieces together properly, instead of riveting the pieces together first. The end result is much stronger and better looking than what you see above. Here is a picture of us fitting the wings for a second time. We are building the front and rear attachments as well as hooking up the ailerons.
In the home stretch now. Early March, 2002 doing some engine tests.
March 20, 2002, moving day!
March 22, 2002, time for a few taxi tests. I never got more than 2/3 power because I was afraid this thing would take off on me! 100 hp is more than enough for this plane.
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