After finishing their SAAA sponsored Vans RV-12 wing build, Mueller College Aviation is about to embark on its next aircraft build project; in this case a complete aeroplane! North Queensland Aerospace teacher Mr Jon Collins from Atherton SHS has kindly donated a complete Zenith Zodiac 601HD kit aircraft to Mueller Aviation. This aircraft was donated to Atherton SHS from a gentleman named Don Burnell from Cairns in May 2020. Sadly, Don passed away and the Atherton crew were bequeathed the largely unfinished kit. Unfortunately, due to other projects that had higher priority, the Atherton crew were unable to start on the Zodiac, hence teacher Jon’s gracious gift to Mueller College.
The kit turned up in 3 large boxes last Thursday 13th May; opening these boxes was simply amazing. On top of a large number of Zodiac parts and plans/documentation, there was a plethora of brand-new tools and a good number of new instruments which by themselves, are worth quite a lot. There is office equipment and a new vacuum cleaner. We unpacked wheels (it’s a tail-dragger!), Garmin avionics, lot of metal, a spinner, wheel spats and a radiator.
The Mueller Aviation team are humbled by Jon and Don Burnell’s generosity. Special thanks also to SAAA chapter 34 who provided the tools and instruments. The great adventure has begun…
