Photograph:
Zenair CH-2000 VH-ZEA (c/n 20-0037) at Bankstown, NSW in 2000 (David C Eyre)
Country of origin:
Canada
Description:
Two-seat light training aircraft
Power Plant:
One 87 kw (116 hp) Textron Lycoming O-235-N2C four-cylinder horizontally-opposed air-cooled engine
Specifications:
- Wingspan: 8.8 m (28 ft 10 in)
- Length: 7.01 m (23 ft)
- Height: 2.10 m (6 ft 10 in)
- Wing area: 12.72 m² (137 sq ft)
- Max speed: 272 km/h (169 mph)
- Cruising speed at 75% power: 185 km/h (115 mph)
- Stalling speed full flap: 80 km/h (50 mph)
- Rate of climb at sea level: 250 m/min (820 ft/min)
- Ceiling: 3,658 m (12,000 ft)
- Max range: 804 km (500 miles)
- Empty weight: 497 kg (1,096 lb)
- Useful load: 231 kg (510 lb)
- Loaded weight: 728 kg (1,606 lb)
History:
The CH-2000, also known as the Alarus CH-2000 in its certified form, was a light, low-wing, tricycle undercarriage two-seat side-by-side aircraft of all-metal construction marketed by the Zenith Aircraft Company in Canada. The type has been marketed in the United States by Aircraft Manufacturing & Development Co at Eastman, Georgia and, along with others of the Company’s designs, was built at two facilities, Zenair at Midland, Ontario, and Zenith Aircraft at Mexico, Missouri.
Available in kit form, it was released to the market in 1995, being a development of a long-line of successful very light amateur-construction type aircraft. The CH-2000 had gull-wing doors and a fuselage 117 cm (46 in) wide, and was described as one of the roomiest aircraft in its class. The first Australian aircraft (VH-ZEA) was used for the type’s certification programme in Europe.
Following the demise of large scale production of general aircraft in the United States due to problems experienced with liability laws, the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) and others pushed for a Small Aircraft Certification Compliance Programme, ending up with the Very Light Airplane category. One of the first aircraft designed to the new category was the CH-2000, a development of the CH-200 and the CH-300 designed by Christopher Heintz. Since the Heintz Zenith flew in 1974 more than 2,000 aircraft in the series have been delivered to more than 48 countries. The Alarus CH-2000 was certified on 2 July 1994 and subsequently underwent a number of changes and up-dates.
The Zenair organisation has built many kitplanes over the years, the CH-2000 being a short-span training version of the CH-300 Tri-Z and has been produced in two variants, the CH-2T and the Alarus. It was designed and built to FAR Pt 23 and has been certified for IFR flight and spins. Construction was conventional, with light stressed aluminium skins riveted to alloy spars, ribs, formers and stringers, and the airframe was stressed to utility limits of +4.4/-2.2G.
The type has been marketed in Australia by James Beatty of Busselton, WA, the first two examples VH-ZEA (c/n 20-0037) and VH-ZEB (c/n 20-0043) being registered in February 2000. One Australian example has been fitted by Australian Performance Propellers Pty Ltd with a Rotec R-3600 radial engine. Another example became VH-WLX (c/n 20-1024) on 26 November 2009 to its owner in Western Australia.