Chris Heintz (aeronautical engineer)
French-Canadian aeronautical engineer known for kit aircraft designs.
Chris Heintz (21 November 1938 – 30 April 2021) was a French-Canadian aeronautical engineer whose name is tied to a long line of kit-built aircraft. Through his company Zenair, his designs have led to over 10,000 finished planes taking to the skies.
Heintz grew up in eastern France, near the German border, born about a year and a half before the 1940 invasion. His father, Erwin, was a scientific researcher; his mother, Magda, an ophthalmologist. He spoke Alsatian first, later picking up French and German, and eventually English after relocating to Canada. He studied aeronautical engineering at ETH Zurich.
After graduation, Heintz worked at Aerospatiale on general aircraft structures. He later joined Avions Pierre Robin, where he helped certify light aircraft like the Robin HR100 and HR200. In 1968, he began designing his own plane in his spare time, calling it the Zenith—an anagram of his surname. The prototype flew in 1970.
In 1973, Heintz moved his wife Annemarie and their five children to Canada, seeing better opportunities for aircraft design. He took a job at de Havilland Canada as a stress engineer on the DHC-7. There, he met fellow homebuilt enthusiasts and helped form EAA Chapter 41. When he flew his CH200 prototype to the 1974 EAA convention, the interest from amateur builders led him to write plans and a construction manual. The next year, he co-founded Zenair with Gerry Boudreau, starting in his two-car garage. The business later moved to Nobleton, Ontario, and after Boudreau’s death, to Midland, Ontario, where Heintz built a 15,000-square-foot facility at the local airport.
His designs expanded from the CH200 to include the Zenith STOL CH 701 and the Zenair CH 601 Zodiac. The CH701 led to larger models like the CH 750 and CH 801. In 1992, his son Sebastien started the US-based Zenith Aircraft Company in Mexico, Missouri, which licenses Heintz’s designs. The Zenith CH 2000 earned type certification in 1996, and Heintz launched Aircraft Manufacturing and Design in Eastman, Georgia, to produce it as the AMD Alarus. A kit version, the Zenair CH 640, followed.
At AirVenture in Oshkosh, Heintz famously organized building a complete aircraft in seven days.
Quick Facts
- Birth Date
- 1938-11-21
- Birth Place
- France
- Death Date
- 2021-04-30
- Citizenship
- French and Canadian
- Education
- ETH Zurich
- Occupation
- Aeronautical engineer
- Known For
- Light aircraft designs
- Notable Works
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- Spouse
- Annemarie Heintz
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Heintz was born in eastern France near the German border in 1938, about a year and a half before the German invasion. His father was a scientific researcher and his mother an ophthalmologist. He spoke Alsatian as a first language, later learning French, German, and English. He studied aeronautical engineering at ETH Zurich in Switzerland. After graduation, he worked at Aerospatiale on general aircraft structures, then at Avions Pierre Robin designing light aircraft such as the Robin HR100 and HR200.
In 1968, while at Robin, Heintz began designing his own aircraft in his spare time, naming it the Zenith (an anagram of his last name). The prototype first flew in 1970. In 1973, he moved with his wife and five children to Canada.
Reader's Guide
Heintz's significance lies in his prolific output of kit aircraft designs that made homebuilt aviation accessible to a wide audience. His designs, including the Zenith STOL CH 701, CH 750, CH 801, and the Zenair CH 601 Zodiac, emphasized simplicity, performance, and ease of construction. More than 10,000 examples of his aircraft have been completed and flown. He also contributed to regulatory development for amateur-built and light-sport aircraft in Canada and the United States. Heintz organized the assembly of complete aircraft during AirVenture events, notably in 2014 when 7,000 volunteers each pulled one rivet to build a Zenair CH 750 in 170 hours. He received several awards, including the EAA Dr. August Raspet Memorial Award, induction into the EAA Hall of Fame in 1999, and France's Aeronautic Medal. After retiring to France, he wrote a book on homebuilding and continued consulting until his death in 2021.
Did You Know?
- Heintz paid for his engineering studies by performing magic shows that included sword-swallowing and fire-eating.
- The name 'Zenith' is an anagram of his last name, Heintz.
- He organized the assembly of a complete Zenair CH 750 at AirVenture in 2014 using 7,000 volunteers, each pulling one rivet.
- More than 10,000 examples of his aircraft designs have been completed and flown.
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