The Zenair CH 50 Mini-Z is a single-seat light aircraft[1] built by Chris Heintz in Canada in the late 1970s.[2] Heintz sold plans and kits of many of his designs through his company Zenair for amateur construction, but the CH 50 was never brought to market, and remained a prototype only.[3]
The CH 50 is a low-wing, cantilever monoplane of conventional design, with an open cockpit for the pilot.[2] It has a conventional tail and fixed, tailwheel undercarriage.[2] Power is supplied by a piston engine in the nose, driving a tractor propeller.[2] Construction is of metal throughout, and the wings are removable.[2]
In a history of his designs, Heintz described the CH 50 as an offshoot of the development of the CH 100 Mono-Z.[4] Construction of the prototype began in February 1978,[2] and the aircraft first flew in 1979.[1] [2] It received Canadian registration C-GTZI in June 1979 under Transport Canada's CAR 549 regulation for amateur-built aircraft.[5]
Heintz notes work on the CH 50 ending in 1981,[4] and Jane's All The World's Aircraft ceased listing the type after its 1984–85 edition.[6] In 2024, the prototype remains on the Canadian registry.[5]