The (first) big day - Picking up at Zenith factory

We drove down to the Zenith factory in Mexico, MO Friday night. This was the weekend of their annual open hangar days - a great opportunity to meet some Zenith enthusiasts, see some other homebuilt 750s, as well as pickup on a Saturday rather than taking a day off work.

There was an incredible turn out for the event.

We pulled the truck up to the loading dock where the fuselage and dozens of boxes and paper-wrapped parts were waiting.

The fuselage was assembled at the Zenair factory in Canada, and it seems they added a few extras that the quick build kit doesn't normally include. The door frames and stick were already fitted, and a second set of toe brakes included at no cost.

The entire staff, but especially Robin, were fantastically helpful. Robin helped ensure everything was loaded in just the right order to minimize damage.

We rented a supposedly 20 ft truck, but they cheated themselves into an extra few feet with the above-cab compartment. Luckily the fuselage just barely fit, though we had to prop it up a couple feet to get the door to clear.

We got home shortly before sunset, and opted to unload everything right away. We had everything either in the house or the shed within about an hour of nightfall. It wasn't terribly difficult, but I'm not especially eager to move the fuselage again, at least not without an extra set of hands.

The next morning, between coats of paint while finishing the shed, I took everything but the fuselage out and rearranged. We also built a mini loft, of sorts, to suspend some of the longer pieces just under the roof so we don't have a mountain of materials piled on top of the fuselage. It was time well spent, and now I can more easily retrieve and arrange things with less fear of damage.