Zuni -what happened
ddo...@gil.com.au
Whatever happened to the Zuni. Who owns the jigs - what were they
like - did they have any problems - they sure looked fantastic -
has anyone got one for sale.
Seems a shame to see such a good looking aircraft not mass produced.
Any reply to let me know about thislittle machine.
Tks
Dave
Brett Pound
Anyone else been there more recently than 2 1/2 years, who might be
able to confirm?
Skip Egdorf
Whatever happened to the Zuni. Who owns the jigs - what were they
like - did they have any problems - they sure looked fantastic -
has anyone got one for sale.
Seems a shame to see such a good looking aircraft not mass produced.
Any reply to let me know about thislittle machine.
George Appleby runs a (reportedly) very fine repair shop at the
Moriarity NM Airport. I have heard comments (ok, I have asked around)
that there was no real problem with the Zuni other than that it was
just too much effort to make compared to the more lucrative repair
business.
Sitting behind his shop on an open-air trailer, with very grey and
sagging two-by-fours propping everything up, with delaminating
weathered plywood boxing things, are the Zuni molds. The fiberglass
seems to be holding up well in the 6200' New Mexico sunlight, although
the winters seem to have taken a toll on the wood holding
everything. I think the sags in the wing molds would come out if
propped onto a new frame. Peering close into the molds, it seems that
there is a set of parts inside the molds for storage, so the mold
surfaces should still be good.
A friend of mine and I have talked casually about seeing if George
would loan us the molds for a few months...
Skip Egdorf
h...@lanl.gov
Pmasak
This aircraft initially had some bugs that were worked out on
the second generation aircraft. The side stick control wasn't
well liked, and it initially had flutter problems which required
a stiffening of the tail boom.
Aerodynamically it was good, but obviously the airfoils are
no longer contemporary. The airfoils used on this machine
were similar to the FX67K150/170 series which suffer severe
rain degradation.
The biggest obstacle was the US litigation scene, and second
to that was the fact that this sailplane was being sold into
a market where the German machines were available at a lower
price. Since that time period, some 15 years or so, the German
mark has gone up 2.5 times relative to the US dollar, and the
German rate of inflation increased faster than the US. The
net result is that a Ventus for example costs about 3-4 times
as much for an American to buy relative to an 'average' salary
than it did some 15 years ago.
It's a lovely machine and could probably be sold into the kit
market today.
Regards, Peter Masak
Jeff Knell
ddo...@gil.com.au wrote:
>
> Whatever happened to the Zuni. Who owns the jigs - what were they
> like - did they have any problems - they sure looked fantastic -
> has anyone got one for sale.
>
> Seems a shame to see such a good looking aircraft not mass produced.
>
> Any reply to let me know about thislittle machine.
>
Someone on the net has to know the story of the Zuni--let's hear it.
Wasn't the Zuni a classic case of early prototype problems and bad
press sinking a promising design? This was George Appleby's ship,
was it not? If so, he's still around; maybe we should ask him.
jeff
Kevin AstirCS 1U KO0B
George claims the thing that hurt him the most was getting good
skilled help.
Even now, but especially then, it was a rare individual who knew how
to do composite work. So, he had to grow his own. He says he had to
spend a lot of time training workers , and too many would quit within
a few months.
This combined with a lot of other factors, some of which have been
included in this thread, combined to prove out the old addage:
"The only way to make a small fortune building airplanes, is to start
with a large fortune."
-KF-
Russ Gritzo
>
> Re: Zuni -what happened
> ddo...@gil.com.au wrote:
> >
> > Whatever happened to the Zuni. Who owns the jigs - what were they
> > like - did they have any problems - they sure looked fantastic -
> > has anyone got one for sale.
> >
> > Seems a shame to see such a good looking aircraft not mass produced.
> >
> > Any reply to let me know about thislittle machine.
> >
I am not a zuni expert, but I have a bit of info I think is accurate. I
am taking soaring lessons in Moriarty, New Mexico, USA. It is the home
of George Applebay, the 'father' of the Zuni. Sitting near his hangar
are a couple of trailers with a set of female molds that I have been
told are the fuse, wings, and stab for the Zuni. As I recall there is
even a fuse still in the mold.
I have been told that some number of years ago a person crashed one
while he was doing a high speed pass some number of knots BEYOND
REDLINE, and as part of the settlement with the pilot's family George
had to agree to stop making them.
As an avid R/C pilot doing vacuum bagging for years, I have been
seriously tempted to ask George about them, but don't quite know how,
and am not sure I can stand the answer. Anyway, I agree with you it
seems a shame.
That is the story the old hands at the airport have told me. Anybody
know anything else?