Greg- As a 750 Cruzer scratch builder, I really appreciate your videos. You're a year or two ahead of me with the building, so I can learn from your successes and mistakes.
i'm 17 and This my first semester in aviation and i'm in the last airframe class and i'm doing sheet metal right now started last week. I love it so much it's really fun.
Thank you! I shoot almost everything with a GoPro Hero4 right now, which makes close-ups really tough. It also makes showing straight lines difficult, since the GoPro lens is a fish-eye, wide angle. I'm looking at a Canon T6i or T6s pretty closely right now, but I have other uses for it than this channel. Still, a bit of an expense!
Thing is, most people will never notice the distortion. We're looking at it for only a few seconds. You're the one who notices these things because you have the Real World for a reference point, and you spend hours working on these videos. I haven't looked over your technical videos yet, so maybe it would be more noticeable there; but I would encourage you to spend your time building rather than worrying about a camera distortion that 99% of the viewers will never notice. Keep up the good work!
The issues with the GoPro go much deeper than difficult close-ups and image distortion, and have much more to do with video production details that never make it to the screen. I only mentioned the image distortion and close-up issues because that's what a viewer might notice. The difficulties I have during production are far greater, which cause me to spend more time shooting and editing than I would otherwise have to do with a DSLR. But whether I buy a new camera or not, I'll keep making videos and try to increase my production quality.
Hi Greg, good job on the videos - and the progress on the 750. At some point in my future I'd like to scratch build a CH640 so I find everything you're doing to be be very informative. As for your wings/slats dilemma, I'd finish what's on the bench now and store them so they don't get any accidental damage. Plus with the slats out of the way you can focus entirely on the wing build.
Josh Vaillancourt At this point, I am planning to build the 640 as my next project. Gotta finish this one first, though! It has always been my plan to build more airplanes. I'd also like to build a TEAM Aircraft 1700R ultralight at some point, since I got my start in ultralights. I totally agree on the slats/flaperons first argument....must. resist. wings.
I look forward to your 640 build! There aren't a whole lot of videos about the plane and the majority out there are mostly flight vids. I want to see nitty gritty behind the scenes build vids :)
It will likely be a while, since I'm a few years from having the 750 done. I don't think the 640 gets nearly enough attention. It's a great looking airplane, and very capable for a 4-seat family plane. The market is dominated by the lighter 2-seat kits right now, but it still seems like there should be tons of 640s out there.
Nice work Greg , I share your frustrations with limited work space. I am 16 months into scratch building a Mustang II , Which is what drew me to your channel. Not many true scratch builders on youtube
Thank you! Although I think that one can build a plane in a modest space, certainly more space is always going to be better. Crowding simple just makes it difficult not to damage assemblies as you work. A separate cutting table would be fantastic. But I suppose we make do with what we have. I bet the Mustang is an interesting project...I wonder how it compares to building a Zenith.
Probably the biggest difference is the all sheet metal construction with standard rivets. other than that its just another 2 seat airplane....with a much bigger engine ..lol
I built my own jig out of steel tubing. You can't build the plane without it. The same jig gets used on the center section and cabin area of the fuselage.
Greg - I enjoy your videos (and Dan's) very much. Hats off to you for all time and effort you put into the channel - I had no idea that it's as much time as you've spent making parts. In terms of feedback I'd like to see some video on deburring - I went to the Zenith rudder workshop recently and can already tell that deburring will be important and time consuming. So I'd like to learn more about doing it quickly but effectively. Oh and I think your video quality is just fine so don't buy more video stuff...put that money into more aluminum! :-)
Great idea, to have a deburring video. The only reason I'd like a new camera at this point, is so that I can do more close-up shots and have zoom. the GoPro is pretty good, but there's stuff I simply just can't shoot with it. The only camera I have that has zoom (besides my cell phone) is my old Sony, which I used to shoot my earliest videos. And the quality there is garbage. A better camera would help significantly with the detailed work.
A good idea I plan to borrow from Larry Zepp is to use a 1/4" ball burr in a low-speed power screwdriver to deburr all the holes. The radius of the burr makes it much less likely to countersink the holes.
Thanks for the update Greg, I've been following your videos, the zenith is still on my short list although I'm real excited about the new 750 Super Duty. I'm flying out for the factory fly in this weekend to check it out. Any chance you're going to be there?
Troy Anderson The Super Duty looks great. The open house isn't in the cards for me this year...did too much other traveling, so I don't have enough vacation time to pull it off. However, I'm shooting for the open house and AirVenture for next year (2018). Once the plane is done, I'll definitely be making it a priority to fly to the open house and AirVenture.
Greg, Ordered my Aluminum knowing what and how much to order thanks to you! I'm planning on building almost every piece of the aircraft myself. My question to you is, What size break do I need to build for the largest pieces that will need to be bent? Thanks! Karl
Karl nicholas m The brake is the most important tool! The longest bends are just over 8.5 feet long (assuming you're building the same exact plane), and the thickest piece at that length is .040". While I think it is possible to build a brake that will do almost every bend, it would be an expensive brake. You need around a 9-foot brake capable of bending .040" to do the longest bends.
Greg-
As a 750 Cruzer scratch builder, I really appreciate your videos. You're a year or two ahead of me with the building, so I can learn from your successes and mistakes.
i'm 17 and This my first semester in aviation and i'm in the last airframe class and i'm doing sheet metal right now started last week. I love it so much it's really fun.
If you like working with your hands, you should have a very enjoyable career! I love building my airplane.
Nice to hear from you Greg!
Your video quality is good as-is. Thanks for the shop tour. I really appreciated your welding video.
Thank you! I shoot almost everything with a GoPro Hero4 right now, which makes close-ups really tough. It also makes showing straight lines difficult, since the GoPro lens is a fish-eye, wide angle. I'm looking at a Canon T6i or T6s pretty closely right now, but I have other uses for it than this channel. Still, a bit of an expense!
Thing is, most people will never notice the distortion. We're looking at it for only a few seconds. You're the one who notices these things because you have the Real World for a reference point, and you spend hours working on these videos. I haven't looked over your technical videos yet, so maybe it would be more noticeable there; but I would encourage you to spend your time building rather than worrying about a camera distortion that 99% of the viewers will never notice. Keep up the good work!
The issues with the GoPro go much deeper than difficult close-ups and image distortion, and have much more to do with video production details that never make it to the screen. I only mentioned the image distortion and close-up issues because that's what a viewer might notice. The difficulties I have during production are far greater, which cause me to spend more time shooting and editing than I would otherwise have to do with a DSLR. But whether I buy a new camera or not, I'll keep making videos and try to increase my production quality.
Keep up the great work. I'm a ways from starting my own project but I do enjoy your progress videos.
Thank you!
Great video Greg, Thanks
Hi Greg, good job on the videos - and the progress on the 750. At some point in my future I'd like to scratch build a CH640 so I find everything you're doing to be be very informative. As for your wings/slats dilemma, I'd finish what's on the bench now and store them so they don't get any accidental damage. Plus with the slats out of the way you can focus entirely on the wing build.
Josh Vaillancourt At this point, I am planning to build the 640 as my next project. Gotta finish this one first, though! It has always been my plan to build more airplanes. I'd also like to build a TEAM Aircraft 1700R ultralight at some point, since I got my start in ultralights. I totally agree on the slats/flaperons first argument....must. resist. wings.
I look forward to your 640 build! There aren't a whole lot of videos about the plane and the majority out there are mostly flight vids. I want to see nitty gritty behind the scenes build vids :)
It will likely be a while, since I'm a few years from having the 750 done. I don't think the 640 gets nearly enough attention. It's a great looking airplane, and very capable for a 4-seat family plane. The market is dominated by the lighter 2-seat kits right now, but it still seems like there should be tons of 640s out there.
Nice work Greg , I share your frustrations with limited work space. I am 16 months into scratch building a Mustang II , Which is what drew me to your channel. Not many true scratch builders on youtube
Thank you! Although I think that one can build a plane in a modest space, certainly more space is always going to be better. Crowding simple just makes it difficult not to damage assemblies as you work. A separate cutting table would be fantastic. But I suppose we make do with what we have. I bet the Mustang is an interesting project...I wonder how it compares to building a Zenith.
Probably the biggest difference is the all sheet metal construction with standard rivets. other than that its just another 2 seat airplane....with a much bigger engine ..lol
I really like the Mustang II. Are you going to use their wing jig? I've heard the wings are pretty difficult to get perfect.
I built my own jig out of steel tubing. You can't build the plane without it. The same jig gets used on the center section and cabin area of the fuselage.
You guys are lucky there's a jig for the Mustang. Zenith provides plans for a jig for the leading edge slats on the 701, but nothing for 750.
Greg - I enjoy your videos (and Dan's) very much. Hats off to you for all time and effort you put into the channel - I had no idea that it's as much time as you've spent making parts. In terms of feedback I'd like to see some video on deburring - I went to the Zenith rudder workshop recently and can already tell that deburring will be important and time consuming. So I'd like to learn more about doing it quickly but effectively. Oh and I think your video quality is just fine so don't buy more video stuff...put that money into more aluminum! :-)
Great idea, to have a deburring video. The only reason I'd like a new camera at this point, is so that I can do more close-up shots and have zoom. the GoPro is pretty good, but there's stuff I simply just can't shoot with it. The only camera I have that has zoom (besides my cell phone) is my old Sony, which I used to shoot my earliest videos. And the quality there is garbage. A better camera would help significantly with the detailed work.
A good idea I plan to borrow from Larry Zepp is to use a 1/4" ball burr in a low-speed power screwdriver to deburr all the holes. The radius of the burr makes it much less likely to countersink the holes.
Brian Thomas I'm not aware of that method...I'll have to check it out!
Thanks for the update Greg,
I've been following your videos, the zenith is still on my short list although I'm real excited about the new 750 Super Duty. I'm flying out for the factory fly in this weekend to check it out. Any chance you're going to be there?
Troy Anderson The Super Duty looks great. The open house isn't in the cards for me this year...did too much other traveling, so I don't have enough vacation time to pull it off. However, I'm shooting for the open house and AirVenture for next year (2018). Once the plane is done, I'll definitely be making it a priority to fly to the open house and AirVenture.
Greg, Ordered my Aluminum knowing what and how much to order thanks to you! I'm planning on building almost every piece of the aircraft myself. My question to you is, What size break do I need to build for the largest pieces that will need to be bent? Thanks! Karl
Karl nicholas m The brake is the most important tool! The longest bends are just over 8.5 feet long (assuming you're building the same exact plane), and the thickest piece at that length is .040". While I think it is possible to build a brake that will do almost every bend, it would be an expensive brake. You need around a 9-foot brake capable of bending .040" to do the longest bends.
9' perfect! Im just going to build it to 10' Thanks again for the info!
Angela Brainard 10' will serve you well!