Zenith Aircraft sells airplane kits that get customers in the sky
STORY AND PHOTOS by Paul Newton
The factory floor at the Mexico, Missouri, workshop stays busy. The bones of what will eventually become flying machines are precut, predrilled, welded and carefully wrapped. The employees at Zenith Aircraft Co. aren’t assembling these airplanes. Instead, they’re packing boxes of aluminum parts, drawings and instructions headed for garages, basements and small workshops around the world.
That’s where the real work begins.
For 34 years, Zenith Aircraft Co. has designed and manufactured light sport kit airplanes for recreational pilots who want to build and maintain their own aircraft. The kits are made in the 32,000-square foot production facility at Mexico Memorial Airport.
Owner Sebastien Heintz was surrounded by aviation at a young age. His father, Chris, was an accomplished aeronautical engineer who designed kit planes and sold them from their home in Canada. Eventually, Sebastien wanted to grow the business and thought the United States would offer more opportunities. He chose Mexico, Missouri, due to its central location in the country, with easy access to major roadways and a nice airport with two runways.
“This has been meaningful for me to carry on the legacy of my father,” says Sebastien, a member of Boone and Consolidated electric cooperatives. “I’m thankful for my dad every day that his designs have stood the test of time.”
Building at Home
Zenith’s customers are a community of pilots from around the world who tend to live in rural areas and enjoy the idea of building their own aircraft. Zenith sells a handful of different models and builders pick models depending on the type of flying they plan to do.
“The heart and soul of Zenith is really in the do-it-yourself aspect of building the planes,” Sebastien says. “That really hasn’t changed much over the years.”
Sebastien says he generally tells people to expect a build time of 500 to 1,000 hours, spread over one to two years. “My typical customer has a day job and they’re doing this on nights or weekends,” he says.
Sebastien encourages potential builders to attend one of his monthly workshops, where participants will build the rudder of a new plane. The workshops are the emotional on-ramp into the build for most to see if it’s an undertaking worth their time and resources.
“Until you’ve built an airplane, you don’t really know what the experience is,” Sebastien says. “An airplane is a reflection of the person who built it.”
Participants build a rudder because it is a complete section of an airplane and requires the same tools and skills needed for the rest of the project.
“The real takeaway from the workshop is generally the feeling that no longer are they thinking, ‘Can I build that?’ ” Sebastien says. “It changes to ‘I know I can do this.’ ”
Air Force veteran and commercial airline pilot Matt Lawton had considered ordering the rudder kit to build at home in Alaska, but decided at the last minute to travel to Mexico to take part in the January workshop. The workshop includes the rudder kit and costs the same as ordering that same kit to build at home, making the hands-on training, factory tour and test flight an added confidence booster.
“Of course I ran into small, common problems,” says Matt, who completed the rudder in about 8 hours. “The Zenith staff was right there to walk me through their best practices. It gave me confidence that the kit is more a test of endurance and perseverance than one of highly developed skills.”
That idea shapes how Zenith designs its kits. Rather than overwhelming builders with a single massive task, the company breaks the aircraft into manageable pieces — a rudder, wing kit, tail kit or fuselage section. Each part can be completed on a workbench with common tools.
Simplifying the Build
The basic airplane designs have stayed mostly the same over the years, however, the way Zenith builds its kits hasn’t. Early builders received raw materials that required extensive measuring, cutting and fitting. Today, Zenith kits are manufactured using advanced CNC equipment that cuts and drills parts with precision before they ever leave the factory.
Builders still do the work and expend the energy, but they spend less time figuring out where things go and more time putting them together correctly. This opens the build up to a wider range of people, according to Zenith’s Production Manager Travis Kobush.
“When I started here 33 years ago, our average customer might have been a retired guy looking for a hobby, now there a lot more people who want a plane,” he says. “Back then it might have required a skill level of 7 out of 10 to build a plane. Today it might be 2 out of 10.”
Customers might be the backbone of Zenith Aircraft. Sebastien says he doesn’t employ a sales team. His best sales force is made up of people who have built and flown a Zenith airplane. That’s never more apparent than one weekend every September when the Mexico airport is flooded with homebuilt planes that began in mid-Missouri.
Coming Home
Zenith’s Homecoming brings customers from across the country. What started years ago as a simple open house has grown into a two-day gathering with technical seminars, factory tours and rows of hand-built aircraft. No two airplanes are alike. Builders compare notes, share fixes and talk shop. “They built the airplane here, and then they fly it back,” Sebastien says.
For Zenith, the annual Homecoming is less about celebration and more about confirmation and proof that the work done in garages and workshops eventually makes it into the sky. “They know every rivet, every decision that went into it,” he says. “They’re flying back here on their own wings.”
For more information on Zenith Aircraft Co., visit www.zenithair.net or call 573-581-9000. The 2026 Homecoming will take place on Sept. 18-19.
Email Paul Newton at pnewton@ruralmissouri.coop.