stolspeed(at)gmail.com
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 Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2011 6:22 pm Post subject: Origin of 701 and Savannah designs |
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*The Origins of both the 701 and the **Savannah** aircraft designs*
* *
*We keep hearing the accusation that the ICP **Savannah** is a rip-off copy
of the CH701. *
*Well, that’s not true at all. *
*This is the true story of how it all happened.*
* *
*At Sun’nFun 1983, Chris Heintz and Max Tedesco, who had first met in 1980,
started considering the possibility of designing an all-metal ultralight
using conventional aircraft construction. At that time most ultralights
were very basic tube and fabric construction. *
* *
*First sketches started on scraps of paper and napkins right then, at a **
Lakeland** café, one evening from **6 pm** to **midnight**, with Max’s
younger daughter sleeping on a chair… This was followed by six trips from
**Columbia** to **Canada** by Tedesco, to work on the design with Heintz,
and to check the flying characteristics of the plane, Max being a very
experienced pilot, and a good test pilot. Several modifications were
incorporated to the design following these test flights. That’s a
considerable involvement on his part! Max is a very modest man, so when he
emphasizes to me that he contributed a lot to that process, I take that to
mean a whole lot. *
* *
*So the 701 itself wasn’t designed only by Chris Heitz, it was already very
much a joint venture. *
*Now that’s a surprise to all of you, eh!!! *
*But as Max says, “An aircraft design needs only one ‘father’, so Chris took
on that roll and Max stayed in the background.*
* *
*At this point we need to introduce Max Tedesco. Born in **Colombia**, he
went to a **Technical** **High School** in **Italy**, studied Mechanical
Engineering at MIT, then Aeronautical Engineering at **McGill** **University
**, specializing in monocoque and semi-monocoque construction. He set up an
aircraft factory in **Colombia** and built a variety of aircraft under
license, often modified for agricultural spraying. These are ideal
qualifications and experience to work on the design of an aircraft such as
the 701. To learn more about Max have a look at
http://aeroandina.com/eng/maximo.htm *
*http://www.aeroandina.com/eng/historia.htm*
* *
*When the prototype 701 was flying, Heintz began selling plans and kits from
**Canada**, while Tedesco returned to **Colombia** and commenced
manufacturing ready-to-fly 701s. By 1990, when I first met him at Sun’nFun,
Tedesco had built 112 701s for the South American market, and had introduced
in 1989, the first 80% ready kit as a world exclusive. *
* *
*In those days, Zenair used to assemble a 701 during the week of Sun’nFun
and fly it at the end of the air show. I noticed that the quick-build kit
that we assembled at Sun’nFun in 1990 was one of those made in **Colombia**,
not **Canada**.... *
* *
*Max is an innovative and experimental engineer, and couldn’t help seeking
improvements to the 701. Any designer will know that a first prototype can
almost always be improved, and evolution leads to better and better results
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